Seen a Menopause ad lately? Notice how there are no mid-30s people hanging out there? Let’s discuss why representation matters — and why it needs to change now!
I’m 37, and I’m in perimenopause.
I am in the lovely in-between.
When I say that out loud—whether to friends, family or even on my socials—I’m often met with surprise. And I get it. Because if you believe the adverts, the social media campaigns, or the wellness industry’s polished offerings, menopause is something that happens to silver-haired women in their fifties, sipping herbal tea while smiling in flowy cardigans. Even articles about women who are trying to change the stigma around menopause rarely include celebrities below 50 years old.
But here’s the truth: menopause doesn’t have a look.
It doesn’t ask your age or check your hair colour. It can hit you in your thirties, your forties, or your fifties. It can catch you off guard in the middle of raising kids, chasing career goals, or just figuring yourself out. And yet, the way menopause is portrayed—both in media and in marketing—creates a dangerous, damaging myth: that it’s something to worry about later.
That myth leaves women like me feeling unseen, unsupported, and often silenced.
The Grey-Haired Woman Problem
Let’s be clear: grey-haired women should be part of the menopause conversation. They’ve been through it. They have wisdom and insight that is invaluable. But the problem is that society views grey hair as old. So, when you see an advert populated with it, it sends a message that menopause is a distant problem.
It makes perimenopause—a phase that can last for years—feel like a lost subject. Where are the adverts about the women in their mid to late-thirties going through both stages of life at the same time?
Where are the women who are juggling hormone changes while still in the thick of parenting, working, and living? Where are the women in the ads who are sold tampons and menopause vitamins at the checkout?
Menopause is not a life stage that only belongs to a certain demographic. And when we limit representation, we limit the conversation—and the support that so many of us need.
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We Need Real Stories, Not Just Products
There’s another problem too. So much of the current menopause conversation is driven by marketing. Products. Supplements. Shampoos promising to “fix” thinning hair. Cooling sprays for hot flushes. It’s all well and good, but it often feels like we’re being sold a solution to a “problem” we didn’t know we had until the ad told us.
What we really need is more real talk. We need to hear from women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s sharing their stories—their confusion, their frustration, their triumphs. We need resources that talk about perimenopause and its wide, weird range of symptoms. We need doctors who take us seriously when we say we’re struggling, even if we don’t “look the part.”
Most of all, we need to stop treating menopause like a finish line at the end of womanhood. It’s not the end of our story. It’s a chapter—one that can be full of change, yes, but also of growth, power, and freedom.
Let’s Change the Picture
Imagine a world where menopause representation included women of all ages, all backgrounds, and all stages of life. Where the faces of menopause weren’t just the grey-haired models in linen trousers, but also the mum in her 30s who’s wondering why her anxiety is through the roof. The woman in her 40s who’s juggling work deadlines with night sweats. The woman in her 50s who’s learning to fall in love with herself again. We need Andie MacDowell and *insert name here because my generation doesn’t have anyone to look to, which is the entire problem*.
Let’s tell those stories. Let’s see those faces. Let’s make space for all of us.
Because menopause isn’t just for later. It’s happening now, and it’s time we all need to feel seen.
Want to know my honest take on being diagnosed with Perimenopause? You can read it here now!
