In recent years, women’s reproductive health has taken center stage in modern media. Headlines have chronicled the rollback of Roe v. Wade, rising maternal mortality rates, and the ongoing fight for equitable access to reproductive care.
Within the past decade, another dimension of reproductive health has begun to enter the public domain, one previously shrouded in secrecy, and even shame. Menopause, and the discussion emerging around it, gained concrete urgency in 2019, when a UN report highlighted that by 2025, more than 1 billion people across the globe will have reached this life-changing milestone. And yet, even as this demographic shift looms worldwide, the conversation has remained frustratingly flat and narrow, framed by biomedical models, celebrity voices, and industry interests. The perspectives of the Global Majority, queer, trans, nonbinary, and incarcerated communities are still largely absent, leaving their experiences invisible and their needs unaddressed.
Mainstream discourse around menopause has largely been dictated by a limited set of voices and priorities. Biomedical models — approaches that frame menopause primarily as a medical condition defined by hormonal decline — often reduce it to a problem to be managed with pharmaceutical or clinical interventions. Research in this vein has disproportionately centered white, cisgender women in the Global North, leaving many experiences unexamined.
Celebrity endorsements, from Oprah Winfrey’s televised specials to branded product lines by stars like Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, and Gwyneth Paltrow, may bring visibility, but they tend to individualize the experience, framing it as a matter of personal wellness or luxury access. Meanwhile, commercial agendas are capitalizing on the so-called “menopause market,” selling everything from hormone therapies to anti-aging creams, often without addressing the deeper cultural, structural, and political dimensions of this life passage. Together, these framings flatten menopause into either a medical problem to be fixed or a commercial opportunity to be exploited, leaving little room for nuance.
Though frustrating to many, the greatest harm is borne by those living at the margins. The Global Majority (a term that refers to Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, and other nonwhite populations who collectively make up most of the world) continues to face intersecting crises of healthcare inequity, reproductive injustice, incarceration, and climate change.
Poor and working-class people, who often have the least access to adequate medical care, are also pushed aside in this conversation. Queer, trans, and nonbinary people are rendered invisible in narratives that presume menopause is a universal cisgender experience. And formerly incarcerated people, as well as those who remain behind bars (most of whom endure reproductive neglect and medical abandonment within the system), are almost never considered in policy or cultural discussions about menopause. By excluding these communities, mainstream narratives not only erase their realities but also reinforce systems of oppression that already limit access to care, safety, and dignity.
So where does one go to spark a conversation with such high stakes? Well, the center of the universe, of course: Durham, North Carolina. This southeastern city, home to the historic Black Wall Street, the legacy of queer activist and author Pauli Murray, and a vibrant tradition of Black cultural innovation, is also home to the nonprofit The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM). And this month, Durham will also become the birthplace of the organization’s first-ever Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀, an international gathering centering the menopausal experience of the world’s most marginalized communities.
Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀, which in the Yoruba language translates to “remembering blood,” is at once a symposium, a ritual, a cultural celebration, and the radical, artistic vision of Omisade Burney-Scott, founder of BGG2SM. Burney-Scott launched the organization in 2019, as both a resource for her community and a means of reshaping the narrative.
“In 2023, we hit the road for a diasporic tour to connect with other Black and Brown folks across the globe committed to normalizing menopause for all people,” Burney-Scott says. “Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀ is the next evolution of that work, a space to gather, remember, and insist on visibility.”
While Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀ includes elements familiar to a traditional conference — presentations, panel discussions, vendors, and keynote speakers — the gathering is anything but conventional. Rather than celebrity influencers, it features movement-shaping voices whose work has transformed communities and cultural thought: adrienne maree brown, Sonya Renee Taylor, Austen Smith, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, among others. Additional offerings include an apothecary, live performances that infuse art and ritual, a “Red Tent” experience offered by doula and reproductive justice advocate Chelsea VonChaz, and two curated book shopping experiences.
The panel discussions will dive into the heart of what sets this gathering apart. Unlike typical menopause conferences, which often focus narrowly on biomedical or commercialized topics, these talks explore a wide spectrum of experiences and perspectives, centering the voices of the Global Majority, queer, trans, nonbinary, and formerly incarcerated communities. Examples include “Rooted in Remedy,” which focuses on naturopathic treatments, an abolition salon where participants can explore the role of prison abolition in reproductive and healing justice, and a discussion about sexuality during the menopausal transition — a dimension that remains largely absent from public discourse.
Another distinguishing feature of Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀ is its intentional intergenerational design. Many people enter menopause with little guidance from family, friends, or community beyond recognizing the occasional hot flash. This gathering — and BGG2SM as a whole — creates spaces for younger participants to connect with those currently experiencing menopause or those who have already lived through it. It also acknowledges that menopause can begin earlier than expected due to factors like breast cancer, hysterectomy, or other circumstances.
Initiatives like this one disrupt the current climate of menopause’s growing industrialization, presenting instead a transformative intervention. Without projects like this, the menopausal experience remains at risk of becoming yet another arena where marginalized bodies suffer violent erasure, threatening their dignity and survival. We hope Iranti Ẹ̀jẹ̀ can paint a fuller, more inclusive picture of what it means to move through this radical passage.
Alexandra Jane is a North Carolina-based curator, writer, and cultural strategist whose work centers Black, queer, and feminist perspectives across art and community practice. She serves as the Director of Communications and Cultural Strategy for The Black Girl’s Guide to Surviving Menopause and as the Artists Programs Manager at Artspace in Raleigh, North Carolina.
