It happens at some point in every woman’s life, but the way society views this all-important stage can have a huge impact on how she sees it herself. Even though it is marketed to older women, menopause is still seen as a joke in many films and shows. Here’s how JuliaHBO Max breaks this mold and presents menopause as a positive life-changer. However, it also acknowledges the real problems women face.
Julia Child’s All Too Common Experience
From the very beginning of the series, Julia Child’s experience with menopause has been treated with a degree of dignity and realism that’s sorely missing from depictions in other shows and films. Even the most recent episode Sex and the City reboot, It’s as Simple As That… spent a scant amount of time on the subject late in the season. Instead of treating it as a sight gag, it reduced it to an afterthought.
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The HBO Max series is on the other side. JuliaChild suffers from hot flashes, and she visits the doctor to discuss the topic. After explaining her symptoms and adding that she’s just not feeling as “frisky” anymore, the doctor coldly and somewhat distractedly informs her that she’s undergoing menopause.
A heart-breaking moment
She likely shared her reaction with other women going through the same life stage. “Of course,”She said that her face was swollen with shame. “How embarrassing.”
There’s nothing wrong or embarrassing about menopause, but it does signal a change in the way you’re treated as a woman by society. Hot flashes and mood swings, which can have a huge impact on a woman’s personal life, are punchlines.
Older women who are past reproductive age often feel as if they’ve been forgotten or that they’re being ignored, but what makes Child, and by extension, JuliaIt is so unique how they turned that script on its head.
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How to turn heartbreak into success, purpose and fulfillment
Though Child struggled to tell her husband what was happening, she channeled her energy into her career, bringing French cooking to salivating American audiences—and now she’s considered one of the most famous chefs to ever live. For the show to make the direct connection between Child’s experience with menopause and her subsequent take off into culinary superstardom was smart and exactly what modern women need to see.
Menopause might signal the end of one season of life, but in no way does it diminish a woman’s potential for the rest of it.
