If you've ever witnessed a boyfriend or dad try to buy tampons at the pharmacy, you have a pretty good idea how out of their element dudes can be when it comes to the menstrual cycle. While making this video, we learned that that actually extends beyond periods to menopause as well.
To find out just how much average guys knew, we asked, What is menopause? “I think it has something to do with the hormones?” one participant stated (correctly, though not all that confidently).
Jokes aside, the boys did get quite a bit right about menopause, including that menopause occurs once a woman stops menstruating and is accompanied by a drop in estrogen levels. They also knew that the ovaries stop producing eggs during menopause, so women are no longer fertile.
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When it came to perimenopause, our cast was slightly less informed. One guy guessed that perimenopause was early onset menopause. Another thought it might be a second wave of menopause that women experienced later in life (thankfully, no).
Perimenopause is the phase before menopause during which women start to experience symptoms of declining estrogen levels, like hot flashes, irregular periods, fluctuating moods, hair loss, and decreased bone density. Though every woman is different, these changes typically start in the mid-40s.
Okay, so not every guy got a 100% on our menopause test, but we have to give them an A for effort—and creativity—for attempting to understand what happens to women’s bodies in middle age. Consider yourselves educated, boys!