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In two podcasts that combine witness statements and expert opinions, Elsa Wolinski and Claire Fournier address the complexity of this time in the life of a woman who often lived without support and in secret.
“The goal was to unravel the silence. I experienced menopause like a brick wall and had no one to talk to about it. I was groping in the dark, at the bottom of the abyss…” Passionate, lively, feminist journalist and entrepreneur Elsa Wolinski says that at the origins of the “Allez j’ose” podcast was the desire to break the silence: “In France there are more than 14 million women are postmenopausal. It’s a passage that affects them all, but that they often go through alone.” The first episode of this podcast will be released this Saturday. Coincidentally, another podcast – Chaud dans – with a similar perspective was just created by Claire Fournier and launched at the end of November 2023 with the aim of “liberating language”. “There are 400,000 new members of the Menopause Club every year,” explains Claire Fournier. So let’s support each other. Let’s talk together. The battle will be won when we can say we are menopausal without having to lower our voices.”
The two podcasts have a lot in common, starting with the same activist energy that pushes two very different women to put their feet up. Who dares to talk openly about hot flashes? For Elsa Wolinski, everything starts with an observation: We don’t dare to address the topic. Result: “We have no one to show us the way. And in this moment that is happening to all of us, we are experiencing it very badly because of the lack of exchange, the lack of mutual help. It was her menopause experience that served as the trigger. “I complained about it a lot on Instagram. A real emotional lift. The doctors simply told me that I had to do some exercise.” She shared her plight on social networks, and as luck would have it, Nathalie Cottet, producer of the show Bel et Bien (where Wolinski works), also joined in on a podcast on this topic.
“Nobody told me about it”
The Chaud dans series project also took shape thanks to a crisis: Claire Fournier, business columnist at LCI, was just 47 years old when the symptoms of perimenopause began. A real storm. “It was last year. I was a young mother. This surprised me. Nobody had spoken to me about it, not my mother, not my friends, not my gynecologist…” Claire Fournier gathered up the courage and contacted Binge Audio to offer them one series. “It’s actually quite therapeutic,” she laughs. I wanted to create this podcast to find answers to the questions I’ve been asking myself. It also helps me a lot to meet all these amazing women who talk about it … Because that’s my goal: to put an end to the taboo.” Because if young girls could now talk about their periods without shame, she adds, why should women who no longer have them remain silent?
Elsa Wolinski makes the same case: “Look at the United States: Michelle Obama dares to talk about it on a television show. We have to change the perspective in France. Something has to change here too.” She points to the case of women who continue to buy tampons to deceive those around them and regrets that “menopause” is perceived as the equivalent of the word “expired”. Claire Fournier agrees: “Pamela Anderson showed up at Cannes without make-up. Flavie Flament, almost 50 years old, showed her buttocks on Instagram… For many women this is a relief. Why be ashamed of this aging body? There is of course the fear of slipping into the camp of old age. We don’t necessarily want to talk about it with our lover or partner. And yet…”
“The demonized, devalued woman”
Since her podcast has been running for two months now, Claire Fournier has had the big surprise of receiving emails from men: “Many people listen to me to understand what their partner is going through,” she explains. Although her audience consists primarily of listeners aged 40 to 60, Claire Fournier feels that the topic of menopause is not an anecdote. It involves essential questions about couple relationships, but also about the values of society. “In terms of representation,” she says, “menopause remains synonymous with loss.” Memory loss, hair loss, sex appeal… That’s why we need to talk about it, to move away from this negative vision of the demonized, devalued woman. We lack role models. I want to give a voice to strong personalities that women can proudly identify with.”
In her podcast Allez j’ose, Elsa Wolinski, driven by the desire for civic engagement, pursues a similar strategy: approach well-known women and get them to talk. In the coming weeks you will be able to hear at her microphone the painter and ex-model Azucena Caamaño (wife of Florent Pagny), the comedian Michèle Bernier (author of Tango de la Menopause), the stylist Isabel Marant and the journalist Sophie Fontanel or the Actress Sophia Aram. The tone of his podcast is intended to be free, friendly and intimate. It can seem easy at times. It is the exact opposite of the Chaud dans podcast, which is similar to the work of a goldsmith: Claire Fournier conceives each show as an opportunity to examine a different aspect of the problem. Deciphering menopause from ever different perspectives – historical, symbolic, physiological, etc. – the journalist constantly renews the topic. In fact, she makes it so enjoyable that we almost get lost in the game of talking about “menopause” with passion and enthusiasm.
Come on, I Dare by Elsa Wolinski (Martange). One episode per week.
Hot Inside by Claire Fournier (Audio Binge). One episode every two weeks.
#podcasts #break #taboo #Liberation