The Resource Guide

Online Support Communities and Information Hubs

Black Girls Guide to Surviving Menopause – www.blackgirlsguidetosurvivingmenopause.com – a multidisciplinary narrative and culture shift platform centering the stories and needs of Black women, femmes, trans, genderqueer, and gender expansive people.

Black Women’s Health Imperative – www.powerinthepause.bwhi.org – launched Power in the Pause to reshape how Black women experience and talk about perimenopause and menopause.

Let’s Talk Menopause – www.letstalkmenopause.org – aims to change the conversation around menopause by envisioning a world in which menopause is broadly understood and comprehensive menopause care is standard.

Perry: Perimenopause Community – www.heyperry.com – a digital platform designed to build community among women in perimenopause, featuring webinars and community meet ups.

Menopause Mandate – www.menopausemandateus.com – is a coalition of campaigners, politicians, experts, advocates, celebrities, and journalists committed to revolutionizing the support and advice women receive. 

The National Menopause Foundation – www.nationalmenopausefoundation.org – is a community “to gain knowledge, be inspired, connect with others, and ultimately, feel as prepared as possible for the changes that come with perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause.

Queer Menopause – www.queermenopause.com – is a U.K.-based site that raises awareness of LGBTQIA+ experiences of menopause, provides links to inclusive menopause resources, and promotes inclusive education for therapists and health care practitioners about the needs of LGBTQIA+ people in menopause.

Society for Women’s Health Research – www.swhr.org – is dedicated to promoting research and policy that optimizes women’s health. It has a dedicated menopause practice and set of website resources.

Women’s Health Advocates – www.womenshealthadvocates.org – is a coalition of experts that focuses on educating government decision-makers on policies and funding needed to advance the health of women.

The Resource Guide

Books and Essential Reading

Written by noted medical and/or sexual health leaders – or have the imprimatur of medical experts – each of these is digestible for non-expert readers:

Estrogen Matters. Drs. Avrum Bluming (medical oncologist) and Carl Tavris (social psychologist) provide a thorough rebuttal of the WHI with fact upon fact about estrogen.

The Menopause Moment Mindset, Hormones and Science for Optimal Longevity. Dr. Kelly Casperson provides a deep dive into what happens to your body in midlife vis-a-vis hormones, supported by evidence-based strategies to live well and science-backed strategies to live longer.

What Fresh Hell Is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You. Sex educator Heather Corinna brings fresh perspective to perimenopause, especially in making the discourse inclusive for folks who are LGBTQ, non-binary, intersex, and/or gender nonconforming. (2021)

Hot and Bothered: What No-One Tells You About Menopause* (*And How to Feel Like Yourself Again). In New York Times health reporter Jancee Dunn’s own words as a veteran journalist: “Learn everything you can about menopause, share your experience with others, seek treatment if you need it, and refrain from freaking out.”

How To Menopause: Take Charge of Your Health, Reclaim Your Life, and Feel Even Better than Before. Journalist, documentary producer, and social media powerhouse Tamsen Fadal tapped 42 leading experts to provide one consummate resource – actionable steps and evidence-based tools for every aspect of menopause, from health and wellness, to fashion to relationships.

The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health With Facts and Feminism. One of the trilogy of books by Dr. Jen Gunter, joined by The Vagina Bible and Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation. (2021)

The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts and The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again. Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s books empower patients to advocate for midlife wellness in the doctor’s office and beyond. 

Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy. Dr. Sharon Malone’s book is part medical memoir, part practical advice, with an indispensable resource guide (and a killer playlist). The perimenopause and menopause sections are comprehensive; so too is her advice on how to choose a doctor, map one’s family’s health history, and understand the health realities of Black women in the U.S.

The Menopause Brain. Dr. Lisa Mosconi is quite literally a rocket scientist – a world-renowned neuroscientist and expert in women’s brain health. Her perspective is fascinating and practical in unraveling how menopause and hormones do not just impact the ovaries, but our brains.

Generation M: Living Well in Perimenopause and Menopause by Dr. Jessica Shepherd guides readers to live vibrantly with tools to sustain the marathon of this life stage.

The Bedroom Gap: Rewrite the Rules and Roles of Sex in Midlife. Dr. Maria Sophocles not only clarifies the physical changes of menopause but opens the door to new possibilities for sex in midlife.

Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging with Power by Dr. Vonda Wright brings to bear her expertise as an orthopedic surgeon to help readers tackle the “musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause” and commit to bone health and muscular strength.

Millennial Menopause: Preparing for Perimenopause, Menopause, and Life’s Next Period. Lawyer turned counselor Lauren Tetenbaum kicks it off for the next generation with an empowering handbook for understanding early on the path modern menopause.

The New Rules of Menopause: A Mayo Clinic Guide to Perimenopause and Beyond. Mayo Clinic Director of the Center on Women’s Health, Dr. Stephanie S. Faubion, offers a combination of science and practical advice in this guide to how to be a savvy health care consumer.

Our Bodies, Ourselves. The iconic 1972 volume originally produced by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective has a dedicated standalone resource, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause.