Menopause is a natural process that continues to be surrounded by many taboos, so those who are going through it do not easily find spaces where they can talk about what this process is like in a frank and straightforward way.
Actress Salma Hayek was one of the guests on the program Red Table Talk, conducted and created by Jada Pinkett Smith, in which she showed that she is not afraid to talk about things as they are, without shame or lies, as she talked about her experience with menopause, including some symptoms that she went through that are not so common.
“I’ll tell you what they don’t tell you”
In addition to the typical symptoms like hot flashes and mood swings, Salma spoke of the less openly discussed side effects that she went through during menopause.
I’ll tell you what they don’t tell you. The breasts grow, a lot. For some women they get smaller. But there are some women who when you gain weight, your breasts grow, and other women who when you have children and breastfeed, your breasts grow and do not go down again, and then in some cases, when you are in menopause, they return to grow. And I happen to be one of those women where it happened at every turn! When I gained weight, when I got pregnant, and when I went through menopause.
Denies cosmetic surgeries
These comments stemmed from rumors, which have been circulating for years, that Salma had undergone breast augmentation surgery.
Many people said they had a breast augmentation. I do not blame them! They were smaller. Also the rest of my body. But they have just continued to grow. Many, many sizes. And my back has really been hurting from it. And not many people talk about this.
The Mexican actress said that she started having menopause symptoms around 45 years of age and when she went to her doctor to learn more about how she could handle this process, she affirms that they asked her frightening questions that painted menopause as a nightmare stage.
They would ask me things like, ‘Are your ears growing and are they growing hair? Are you growing a mustache and beard? Are you easily irritable? Are you crying for no reason? Are you gaining a lot of weight that doesn’t go away no matter what you do? Are you shrinking? ‘ And then they ask you: ‘Do you have a dry vagina?’
“There is no expiration date for women”
Another issue that is not talked about much when dealing with the subject of menopause is that many women have problems assimilating it, since, since they are no longer fertile, they feel that they lose a part of themselves. Salma also spoke a bit about this.
There is no expiration date for women. That has to go away, because you can be strong and effective at any age. You can stand up for yourself at any age, you can dream at any age, and you can be romantic at any age. Women are not here to have children or to care for men or all the people around us.