Halle Berry says she’s ‘solidly in my womanhood’ as she approaches menopause

‘I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause,’ actor says

Halle Berry has opened up about embracing her sexuality, with the actress describing how she’s “solidly in” her “womanhood” as she approaches menopause.

Berry, 56, shared her perspective about ageing and menopause during an interview with Women’s Health, published on 7 August. As noted by the Mayo Clinic, menopause is “the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles”, with some symptoms in the months leading up to it including “hot flashes, chills, and night sweats”.

During the interview with Women’s Health, the actress spoke candidly about the importance of “owning your sexuality as a woman” and “embracing that”, which she said she’s been doing as she’s “smack dab in the middle of menopause”. She also hit back at some of the misconceptions surrounding the time a woman reaches menopause.

“I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause,”  Berry explained. “Things like: ‘Your life is over.’ ‘You are disposable.’ Society no longer has a place for you.’ ‘You should retire.’ ‘You should pack it up.’”

The Catwoman star noted that as she’s been “challenging all those stereotypes” about how she should look or feels, she become more confident in herself. She then described how she’s reached a pivotal point in her “womanhood” while in her fifties.

“I’m my best self now that I reached 56 years old. I have the most to offer. I have zero blanks to give anymore,” she said. “I’m solidly in my womanhood. I finally realize what I have to say is valuable, even if no one else agrees.”

She also added that people “can make talking about women’s health issues less taboo by daring to talk about it”.

“It’s something that we’re dying to do,” she said. “It’s something that we’ve been deprived of, and it’s something that we want to share with one another. We just need the permission to do it.”

Berry went on to praise the “community” that women have created, noting that “we learn from one another when we talk about it, when we become curious, and when we share with each other what we’re going through”.

Elsewhere in her conversation with Women’s Health, the Swordfish star shared some advice to women that she’s continued to follow: “Own wherever you are.” For example, she told women in their thirties not to be “bogged down by the idea that you have to have children by a certain age”. She also added that if people do choose to have children, it should be because they want to, and not because they felt trapped by the “old ideologies” that women “have” to start a family.

“Do it only if you want to, because you give up a lot of your personal life to growing those other lives,”  she said. “And maybe you’re not a woman who wants to do that. No harm, no foul, no judgment.”

This isn’t the first time that Berry has shared her thoughts about menopause. Earlier this year, she hit back at online criticism she received for sharing a nude photo of herself drinking wine on a  balcony.

In a since deleted response to a troll - who claimed that she was looking for “attention in menopause” - Berry playfully responded, “Did you guys know the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?,” as reported by Entertainment Tonight in April.

During an interview with AARP in January 2022, Berry shared her thoughts about ageing. She explained that while everyone is “going to get older” and “going to look different”, she’s “always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body”.

“I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold on to a youthful face and not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful—how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself,” she explained. “The most beautiful people have something radiating inside.”