Menopause is one of those IYKYK (if you know, you know) topics. Tammeca Rochester is trying to change that, especially for women of color.
“So many things that are happening to you at 40, whether you want to pivot in your career, [or] you’re taking care of two generations,” said Rochester, who founded and runs Harlem Cycle. She refers to the stress of being in a “sandwich generation” — middle-aged adults raising children while caring for elderly parents. “So I was like, ‘wait, why aren’t we talking about this? Well, let’s talk about it.’”
Rochester knew the perfect conversation partner: Nikki Kimbrough, a fellow fitness trainer and the founder of Get Fit with Nik. They had met through Rochester’s podcast, “Wellness Redefined,” about the myths of what it means to be fit. Like the stereotypes debunked on the show, they envisioned disrupting the tropes around this life stage — things like caricaturesque depictions of hot flashes.
“Let’s get a whole bunch of women 40-plus in a row, let’s share with each other, let’s dig deeper into the issues that are really prevalent to us at this pivotal moment in our lives,” Rochester said.
Last spring, she and her partner-in-wellness hosted a multi-day event to celebrate their fitness in all aspects of their lives: physical, emotional, financial, mental, and sexual.
“Redefining” wellness at a local level
The demand for more was loud and swift. So on March 27, the Redefining Wellness: Find Your Fit over 40 is back, with more time to connect over issues such as perimenopause. The three-day event takes place across venues in Harlem and is catered by local spots. “Community matters,” Rochester said. “We wanted local businesses to benefit, for the energy to stay right where it belongs.”
Often, the media’s new focus on menopause centers around elite women outside Harlem. Celebrities and influencers are speaking out about body image issues and endorsing menopause supplements. Suddenly, the end of women’s reproductive years, long a source of shame, is a hot topic, the stuff of recent bestsellers by the likes of Naomi Watts and Miranda July.
But women of color are not always captured in this narrative.
A different kind of “moment”
Menopause and perimenopause (the transition stage) tends to look different for Black women. They often experience more intense symptoms than white women. On average, they deal with menopausal symptoms for about 10 years, compared to six years for white women, with more severe hot flashes, night sweats, and mood changes. Systemic inequalities, such as access to healthcare and hormone therapy, can make Black women’s menopause journey even tougher.
These racial disparities were already clear in one of the largest studies on menopause, the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Between 1996 and 1997, researchers started tracking the health of women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, following them over 25 years. They used annual surveys, blood and urine samples, and hormone assessments to paint a picture of what menopause meant for women’s health and wellbeing.
Among other disparities, the SWAN study also found that Black women are more likely to undergo surgical menopause, where both of their ovaries are removed. It’s partly due to uterine fibroids, or noncancerous tumors in the uterus. They can cause heavy bleeding and pain, and disproportionately affect Black women.
“So if women don’t have the luxury of a) being able to stay home when they have their periods or b) privacy to be going to take care of their sanitary needs, … it’s interfering more in their ability to carry out their daily life,” said Dr. Sioban Harlow, the leading author of the SWAN Study. Black women are also less likely to access or be offered medical treatments.
What plastic, pollution, and pressure have to do with it
Structural factors such as lower education levels and unemployment also play a role, according to Dr. Harlow, who is professor emerita of epidemiology and global public health and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan. These systemic issues disproportionately affect Black women and contribute to earlier menopause. After all, lower education levels and unemployment are linked to a lower socioeconomic status, which is associated with poor health outcomes. A more compromised health system can compromise the reproductive system.
Dr. Harlow also points to environmental stressors as factors: In the U.S., Black women are more likely to live in areas with higher pollution and have more exposure to heavy metals and harmful chemicals like PFAS. They’re also more likely to live in neighborhoods with noise pollution, which also affects the reproductive system.
“Weathering,” a term coined to describe the toll of chronic stress and discrimination on Black women’s bodies, is at its core. Accumulated stress and other health issues are linked to earlier mortality, earlier aging, and earlier onset of illnesses. Menopause, in a way, reflects weathering.
Getting started early
It’s not hard to imagine Black women are also more likely to experience perimenopause prematurely — before age 40 — in the first place. It’s part of why the Redefining Wellness event, despite its “over 40” tagline, is also open to women in their 30s, Rochester says: “Things are happening to us at all different times, and that’s the beauty of this, recognizing that we’re all different … but being able to share in a safe space about it.”
There’s a cultural barrier for women, especially women of color in the sandwich generation, to make space for this kind of community. “It’s hard to pause from your day of taking care of people and saying, ‘I’m going to be selfish’ — and the fact that we call it ‘selfish’ instead of self care, right?” Rochester said. “The world has taught us that to take care of ourselves is selfish.”
That includes taking care of their sexual needs. Rochester says there’s still a lot of work to do in that area due to generational norms around propriety.
“But now we’re talking about it, and we’re saying, ‘I’m 40, but I’m not dead, and my body still has needs, and I still have desires and I can be liberated through my sexuality,” Rochester said.
Thus, selfishness and sex talk become revolutionary acts. Rochester and her co-founder gifted participants a belt bag at last year’s event. As Rochester walks through Harlem and spots someone wearing one, it’s an instant bond, she says.
“We see each other, and it’s like we’ve created this community of women who were going through things and are now just like connected forever, through conversation and through life experiences, and through really finding that space where they could just be themselves.”
To join Redefining Wellness: Find Your Fit over 40 on March 27-30, sign up here. The event series will include local catering, opportunities for mindfulness and reflection, expert panels on sexual health and wellness, financial fitness, and other issues.
A 10 % discount is offered to Epicenter members; the code at checkout is “epicenter”.
The kick-off event, on Thursday, March 27, is free to the public. It takes place at PB Brasserie on 60 W. 125th St in Harlem. Learn more here.
