Naomi Watts is Breaking the Stigma around Menopause

Talks in the periphery of a woman's journey from her first menstrual cycle to attaining menopause has not always been comfortable. Even a biological phenomena such as menopause has been stigmatized and has experienced outlooks of shame. Additionally, even ageing has been a subject of shame at times, especially in the case of women. This has cornered women into believing that once they reach menopause, they have lost a bright phase of their live, when in reality they are just starting another.

Menopause, in fact, improves the quality of a woman's life. However, knowledge of a topic like menopause has been rare in many parts of society. This has resulted in a wide knowledge gap to the extent that the phenomena is treated like a disease by a significant section of the mass. A major percentage of women in the society still has not created a space comfortable enough for women to discuss this freely. As a result, the symptoms, treatments and measures required to take care of oneself has been non-existent for most of the women. Unless they are aware of the symptoms and everything around it, they will never be able to comfortably discuss it in front of their friends, family and peers.

Many women have made efforts to raise awareness about menopause and normalise the talk, while bringing in healthy perspectives towards it.

Naomi Ellon Watts, the renowned British actress is one such women who has made efforts to eradicate the present stigma around menopause and is teaching the world to celebrate the ups of menopause.

Naomi Watts is making it her job to scrap off the silence and shame surrounding menopause. The actress put the topic on a table where it was never placed before - a table of humour. The 53-year-old actress who is a mother of two, is launching a brand called 'Stripes' which would cater to menopause. Additionally, the actress has also partnered with Em & Friends for her line of menopause-themed greeting cards - The Naomi Watts Menopause Collection.

The card collection comes in with four variations, all of which are decorated with a funny perspective. According to Naomi, humour has the capability of accessing uncomfortable conversations. She adds that existence of pain faces the need of defusing it. "...and yes, if we can't laugh, we'll just cry and god knows we've done enough crying by now,'' says Naomi. The motive behind this is to empower women while they are going through their menopausal transition.

The four variation of the cards are: I Have Some Questions Menopause Card; Breath-taking Power Menopause card; Watch Out for Each Other Menopause Card and It's Like Puberty Menopause Card.

When Naomi started experiencing perimenopause (the period when the body starts transforming naturally towards menopause), she noticed that any sort of conversation around it was rare to receive or initiate. She felt lonely and shameful and realized the plight of others going through the same, further figuring out the need for change in perspective in the society.

This was a reason which compelled to launch the greeting cards. Founder Emily McDowell's designs aligned with Naomi's mission of normalizing candid conversations, thus leading to the launch of the line of cards. Naomi hopes that these cards would inspire women in spreading out their arms for one another, as they move forward towards Menopause Awareness Month this October and beyond.

The actress also took to the social media platform, Instagram and posted a joyous video, celebrating the upsides of menopause. The clip featured Naomi sharing all the benefits of undergoing menopause, as an effort to ease out the conversation and motivate other women for the same.

Netizens posted various positive comments supporting her and sharing positive answers to Naomi's question of "The Upsides of menopause?", which she asks in the video.

Watts is still undergoing the various physical conditions of menopause all the time.

Naomi believes that the menopause movement is on its way and hopes that the present generation would be the last to suffer in silence.

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