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

“We suffer from cramps, we suffer in childbirth, we suffer from premenstrual syndrome. These things that exclusively affect women have been understudied across the board. Because the expectation is that women suffer, it is not deemed worthy of redress.”

Watts confronts the historical neglect of women’s health by highlighting the deeply ingrained societal expectation that women’s suffering is both normal and inevitable. She uses anaphora in her repetition of “we suffer,” emphasizing the ongoing, cyclical nature of pain that women endure throughout their lives. By stating that these issues have been “understudied across the board,” she critiques the medical field’s long-standing failure to prioritize women’s health, reinforcing the broader theme of systemic indifference. The final sentence delivers the most damning observation—that women’s pain is not just ignored but actively dismissed as unworthy of attention or resolution. Through this passage, Watts underscores the message that menopause, like so many other aspects of women’s health, has been overlooked due to deeply embedded patriarchal assumptions.

“We don’t need anyone else’s permission. All we need are the tools and the information to unapologetically stride into the powerful, joyful age ahead of us.”

This quote reflects the empowering tone of Watts’s book, framing menopause not as a loss but as an opportunity for transformation and self-assertion, Redefining Aging for Women. The phrase “we don’t need anyone else’s permission” rejects the idea that women must seek external validation to embrace their aging process, instead advocating for autonomy and confidence.