Why Angelina Jolie is the menopause fairy

In the film ‘Maleficent’ Angelina Jolie transformed Sleeping Beauty’s Bad Fairy into a wonderful, powerful soaring sexy wonder.

Jolie is now transforming the conversation about cancer and, as of today, about menopause. Two years ago the actress and activist wrote about her preventative double mastectomy after discovering she carried a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that causes a heightened risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Her mother Marcheline died of ovarian cancer in 2007.

Now, after a blood test showed worrying signs of possible early cancer, she’s written about her quick decision to bring forward the surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.

In the article Angelina Jolie Pitt reveals that the operation has brought on menopause. She says:

‘Regardless of the hormone replacements I’m taking, I am now in menopause. I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes. But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared’

Menopause is often discussed quietly and only between women of a certain age. There are hidden conversations in workplace bathrooms while women splash cold water on hot flushes, whispered exchanges about anxiety over coffee and quips about a loss of libido over a glass of wine or three. Only yesterday I had a quiet chat to a friend bolting out for some medication to stop the rising raging heat in her body.

Read more: "Angelina Jolie has had more radical preventative surgery"

Jolie has used her power as an international brand and star to turn the secret whispers into a rebel yell. And so say all of us.

Hollywood and indeed modern society don’t like women to age, let alone hear about the consequences. We like women to be plumped, perfect, slim, youthful and sexy. We like women to be fertile.  But by writing about the fact she is going through menopause Jolie is opening up the conversation, claiming high visibility and telling women it’s OK.

Last year comedian Jean Kittson did the same, releasing a book ‘You’re still hot to me’ about the joys of menopause. I remember both the shock and illicit thrill I felt when hearing her on the radio talking about hot flushes and vaginal dryness. She talked about how women in cafes are now whispering symptoms to her in a furtive style reminiscent of how she discussed puberty and pads as a teenager.

Kittson writes about the fact that menopause is poorly researched, understood and rarely discussed. She wants to crack open the coverage about a lack of eggs.

Women can often feel that our body betrays us. A lack of recognition and discussion about menopause only adds to feelings of loss, betrayal, fear and shame.  But menopause is not a disease or an affliction; it’s a natural process that’s as inevitable as puberty. While there can be a mourning for the loss of the ability to have children, Jean Kittson wants menopause to be redefined as an exciting, joyful, liberating experience that pushes women into an age of wisdom.

For 46 year old Jackie Cross,  Jolie’s post means even more than a high profile promotion of menopause. Cross has the same gene as Jolie and she has had the same surgery three years ago. Jackie's mother also died tragically from cancer.

Jolie’s writing and the renewed discussion in the media about the BRCA gene has made Jackie feel extremely emotional today. “She nailed it in her piece, I relived the whole thing and I think she’s saved many lives. It’s phenomenal that she can help us get rid of the silent killer that is ovarian cancer”

Jackie says as a woman in her early forties she found the mastectomy more physically scaring than the operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.  But she says the  menopause was ‘brutal’. “Normal menopause is like erosion it takes a place over a period of time, but two days after my surgery I had my first hot flush."  But for Jackie it was all worth it "Yes there is dry skin and emotional and mental side affects that can be depressing … but what’s a bit of weight gain and grey hairs between friends? Menopause is just a side effect. I now have the gift of being able to get up in the morning and breathe".

Since Angelina removed her breasts in 2013 - woman all over the world have started opening up about it:

Early menopause presents special challenges for women such as Jackie Cross and Angelina Jolie. But we should thank them for putting it in perspective. Menopause is a part of life that is not to be feared or despised.

It’ll be interesting to see if Jolie continues to write so beautifully about how she copes with ‘the change’. Many would love her to discuss the weight gain, the flushes, the fury and how she and Brad Pitt negotiate sex and the suffocating hot doona.

But even if she doesn’t we should admire her for her magnificent candor. I hereby christen Jolie the menopause fairy – showing us that women can continue to soar with power and beauty with or without working ovaries.

 Angelina Jolie throughout the years: