Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Former Twitter execs endure a congressional hearing, we take a closer look at the term “work wife,” and guest writer Alexa Mikhail shares her reporting on aging women at work. Have a peaceful Thursday!
– Crisis of confidence. My aunt recently opened up to me about the host of menopause symptoms that took her by complete surprise a few years ago. Amid the memory lapses and hot flashes, she feared her reputation at work would suffer if she acknowledged her ailments or took time off, especially in a male-dominated workplace. So she trudged along, never wanting to draw attention to herself.
My recent work as one of Fortune’s health and wellness reporters confirms that my aunt is far from alone in her experience.
Again and again, I’ve heard stories from women who reach the pinnacle of their careers, only to have symptoms of discomfort barge through the doors unannounced—hot flashes, brain fog, night sweats, and anxiety, to name a few.
One of the most compelling accounts was from Pamela Hutchinson OBE, Bloomberg’s head of diversity and inclusion, whom I met at an event for C-suite women in New York; they’d gathered to discuss their experiences with menopause at work.
Outwardly, Hutchinson seemed to have it all together. She was stellar at her job and had a knack for ad-libbing on stage. Yet she captured the room’s attention by admitting she was battling to maintain her professional confidence amid the onslaught of symptoms.
“I wasn’t firing on all cylinders at all,” she told me. “There were times I just didn’t feel like I was showing up well.”
She said she cried before publishing a LinkedIn post in August 2021 about how menopause impacted her self-worth at work. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?” the post begins.
Hutchinson’s post went viral, launching a global conversation around the support women deserve in the workplace. Managing menopause at work is a health issue, a diversity and inclusion issue, and at its core, a business issue, she wrote in her post.
“It’s an issue that has the potential to impact women’s performance in the workplace, and consequently, the performance of the business,” she shares in her post.
Yet when I attended the National Press Foundation’s Reporting on Aging fellowship in Washington, D.C., this fall, I learned about how workplaces have overtly failed to support older female employees. Many women lack the education, support, and community resources to navigate aging in a youth-obsessed society, sending them—like Hutchinson—into a crisis of confidence.
A 2022 survey from Elektra Health, a health care company focused on providing menopause education and care through community support and expert coaching, found that 18% of working menopausal women have not gone for a promotion due to their symptoms, and 20% say they have left or considered leaving a job because of menopause.
Despite the problem’s wide reach, speaking about menopause at work feels forbidden. As I wrote in my piece on women aging in the workplace—which pulls together my months of reporting—the stigma stems from our cultural obsession with anti-aging, which sends a message that the most desirable way to age is to not look like you’re aging at all.
So where do we go from here? We continue the conversation and normalize aging because women deserve better. We need to get to a place where menopause and aging aren’t inherently fraught. And businesses need to offer age-inclusive benefits that mirror other more widely-instituted health benefits to show older employees that they matter so people like my aunt—and one day me—can stop conflating getting older in the workplace with losing relevance.
Read my full story here.
Alexa Mikhail
alexa.mikhail@fortune.com
@MikhailAlexa
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Kinsey Crowley. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Twitter takes the stand. Former Twitter executives endured a heated hearing by the House Oversight Committee yesterday, prompted by Republicans who want to investigate President Joe Biden and his family. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke her piece about having her account suspended while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) highlighted how Twitter has become a hostile place for LGBTQ youth. CNN
- Special election flip. Three Democrats, including lawyer Abigail Salisbury, won their special elections giving the party control of the Pennsylvania house for the first time in 12 years. The previous Republican legislature has focused on voter suppression and anti-abortion bills. New York Times
- Not a walk in Ivy Park. Beyoncé's fashion brand Ivy Park brought in far less money for Adidas than projected for 2022. Beyoncé receives $20 million a year for the partnership, but sales last year came up short by $200 million, a more than 50% decline. Wall Street Journal
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Stephanie Kramer was named chief human resources officer at L’Oréal USA. Rebecca Angus Smith has been appointed chief marketing and creative officer at Sakara Life.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Work wife. Many people have that special someone in the office who they aren't dating, yet know intimately. But the term "work wife" or "work husband" has a complicated history, with origins in gendered expectations for secretaries and illicit connotations. The Atlantic
- Threading the needle. Sarah Burton started at Alexander McQueen as an intern and stuck around to become Lee McQueen’s only assistant. Now, she is the brand’s creative director and finding the courage to bring her own vision to the luxury fashion line. The Cut
- Makes cents. Cecilia Cruz, a Cuban American singer, will be the first Afro-Latina to appear on the U.S. quarter as part of the U.S. Mint's American Women Quarters Program. Cruz was an esteemed salsa singer, recording 37 albums in her lifetime. Variety
- Hunger strike. Stella Jean, Italy's only Black designer on the fashion council, has announced that she will not participate in the upcoming Milan Fashion Week. She said that the council's commitment to young, diverse designers through the We Are Made in Italy collective has waned since its creation in 2020. She has committed to a hunger strike to prevent retaliation against the designers in the program. Associated Press
ON MY RADAR
The second coming of Erykah Badu Vogue
Should child acting just be banned already? Huffpost
The Mormon Church won’t let Heather Gay make merch Vulture
Salma Hayek Pinault just keeps getting better Glamour
PARTING WORDS
“The reality is we're all trying to find empowerment from really dark places in our lives.”
—Musician Rebecca Black on her return to making music 12 years after "Friday" went viral.
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