Dare I Say It

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

so-so

Definitely a mixed bag.
Insofar as I picked it up as the first book I'll be reading about menopause, it worked to start blunting the fangs of the nebulous fears I harbour about what may start in the next decade of my life.
I think if you look at it as half memoir, half helpful advice/anecdotes about menopause and being a woman in middle age, it works better than considering it purely a how-to resource. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Watts sharing her own experiences and those of friends, as well as the words of various doctors known to specialize in menopause makes it quite readable, approachable. It feels like a flawed starter kit, an introductory text with a few sections I'm less on board with.
I appreciate that Watts doesn't attempt to over-apply her own experience, recognizing the breadth of experiences different people 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? have during peri-menopause and menopause, that she does acknowledge the price range of various treatments, what may or may not be covered by insurance, and the deplorable state of the medical system in the U.S, but this is very much a text that reflects the mindset of a cis, white woman of a certain income bracket. There is, I believe one statistic about how people of colour's experience of menopause will differ and one about how they are 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? treated by the medical system. There is no language that acknowledges the spectrum of gender identity, how those who identify as other than cis women who have a uterus, ovaries, vagina, vulva might experience this change and how their process of seeking treatment to alleviate symptoms might differ. One of the doctor's cited repeatedly, Carol Tavris, I believe has been noted as producing anti-trans, TERF statements. 2mo

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? The section on nutrition, which I would advise anybody with a previous history of ED to skip, mentions weight-loss drugs, and beyond my aversion to their existence in general there is one brand that, thanks to the Maintenance Phase podcast, I would never consider. Watts is careful not to advocate for it, mentions she hasn't used it herself though friends have, to varying degrees of success or abuse, but is citing a doctor who's 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/? comfortable with making it part of a weight loss plan. Similarly, Watts is okay with Botox and plastic surgery being part of the discussion about how women feel about looking as they age, I suppose in a broad-minded discussion of women's choices, it should be among the options, but I wonder how much internalized misogyny, the need, that she does acknowledge may be part of Hollywood's influence, to stay looking a certain way, 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 7/? youthful, sexy, factors in to the decision to include more drastic aesthetic options. And then there's the part where she's got a line of products marketed to menopausal women, the development of the company being kind of its own chapter. I'm glad she's part of a movement not to stay silent about what she acknowledged many women feel shame about, but there's a lot in this book that makes me feel like 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 8/? a) she's got a particular angle, a stake in the game , as it were and b) that there are many excluded based on the way she talks about her experience.
It may be too much to put on this book to expect a career actress with a beauty line to go in depth on the alluded to medical risks of various options, the breadth of experiences that various people will have. 2mo

Robotswithpersonality 9/9 I can be glad this book has made me eager to dive more into the subject, and use the bibliography she offers at the end of the books as a starting point to further reading.

⚠️discussions of internalized misogyny around traditional gender roles(women's value as a mother), the beauty standards that emphasize looking young and sexy, infertility, miscarriage 2mo

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Robotswithpersonality

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

Find. 👏🏻 A. 👏🏻 New. 👏🏻 Doctor. 👏🏻

10 likes

Robotswithpersonality

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

“Swoon.“ 😆
“We were in it together, this aging thing.“ 💕

10 likes

Robotswithpersonality

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

*Snrk* And the prize for best pun in a chapter title goes to... 🏆😆

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Melismatic

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

pick

Soft pick. I enjoy Naomi‘s charm & humor but I found this to be lacking on much of the research I was expecting. This was a solid overview - but doesn‘t offer much in terms of nitty gritty regarding menopause.

It does offer a fab new idiom though: “must-erbation”. Feeling like you “must” do things even when over extended.

28 likes

Melismatic

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

My #Feminist perspective results. 💪🏻💖 Thanks for the link @Catsandbooks ! #riseupreads

Catsandbooks 👏🏼🎉✊🏼🔥❤️ 6mo

26 likes1 comment

Melismatic

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause | Naomi Watts

Spied a whole table of signed copies of my current audiobook read. I‘m enjoying it so far - it‘s the perfect blend of serious medical insight with personal experience.

As an almost-38 year old, I‘ve been noticing odd symptoms that lend itself to perimenopause over the last few years. Definitely think this book provides a more general introduction of what to expect. 😵‍💫

31 likes

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