Raging menopausal socialists

The above name belongs to a Facebook group that I was recently invited to join. I find that much of what is posted is interesting. However as with most things there are areas with which I cannot agree. More of that later.

I have found it interesting that the menopause, once an extremely dirty word, is now beginning to be talked about. However even now the issues surrounding it are not often openly discussed. The impact on a woman and her body is certainly not acknowledged in wider society.

In some respects I am having it relatively easy. I have hot flushes, disturbed sleep and brain fog. I had a terrible time throughout the years in which I was menstruating, so I think I deserve an easier time now. However having said this it is frightening to think what some women are living with. The brain fog or amnesia is something that I find particularly difficult to deal with. I sometimes feel that people will think that I am stupid because I forget words and don’t know how to find them again. The last year I was working I found that occasionally during a lecture I would lose my thread and forget what it was that I was saying. I found this extremely embarrassing because it was often difficult to pick up the purpose of the session.

Last week Davina McCall presented a programme on Channel 4; Sex, myths and the menopause. Unfortunately I only managed to see part of the programme however I have managed to catch up with some of the issues that were discussed. I have to say though that I was particularly struck by McCall’s own words when she said that she had been told that she shouldn’t talk about it because it’s aging. What a terrible thing to have said. The reality of life is that we are all aging, all of the time and the only other option is that we are dead. As with so many things that are associated with women and women’s health they are under-researched. They don’t attract the funding that other health issues do, for want of a better word, they aren’t sexy enough. I think that we really need to start this conversation be it here, or in cafes and bars. We need to persuade the powers that be that research and support for this life changing event is long overdue and not a luxury but an essential. As we are expected to work longer the impact within the work place needs to be assessed. Perhaps we should be raging.

This brings me to the title of this post. The group that I have joined has many positives but also a seemingly unquestioning support of Palestine. I don’t want to pretend for one minute that I understand the issues of Israel, Gaza, Palestine and the peoples that live there. I think that unfortunately the issues are extremely complex and multi-dimensional and it is not possible to simply say that I am with the Palestinians and against the Israelis. It seems to me that there is much more to made of this.

Last night on Newsnight the actress, Tracy-Ann Oberman, discussed what is happening to Jewish actors in the UK at the moment. The union, that all actors have to a member of in order to work – Equity, has announced that it is standing with Palestine against the actions of the Israeli government. This has led to UK actors leaving the union and others trying to hide their Jewish identity. None of which can be right.

One of my children went to Auschwitz with the Holocaust Education Trust and has since become an ambassador for them. The impact that the experience had on him was immense. Even two or three years afterwards he cannot talk to me about what he witnessed and how it impacted on him. What I do know is that he has an understanding of the experience of Jews during the holocaust that I can only conceive of through the books I have read and the documentaries that I have watched.

It seems to me that more and more those in positions of power use it in order that those of us without that power begin to turn on each other. Of course whilst that is happening it is much less likely that we will notice what they are doing. Our own experiences through life frame who we are and how we view the world. Sometimes it is difficult to take the perspective of others but perhaps we need to try to do so. As a raging menopausal socialist I am trying to recognise that many will have a different perspective to mine. I just hope that rather than being goaded into turning on those that do not share my view, I am able to appreciate the need for compassion and to help us all to live in peace and harmony.

So from this raging menopausal socialist, until tomorrow. I hope that you have a peaceful evening.