Peri-Tales

Amy Agigian, PhD, is associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Suffolk University (Boston), where she is the founding director of the Center for Women's Health and Human Rights. She is honored and thrilled to be pursuing her feminist dreams as executive director of Our Bodies Ourselves, which brings critical, intersectional feminist health and sexuality information to further generations of women and gender-expansive people.

The OBOS Menopause & Perimenopause landing page: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/what-is/menopause-perimenopause

Shifting the Narrative around Menopause: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/shifting-the-narrative-around-menopause

The Menopause Morass: Media, Marketing, Misinformation: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/the-menopause-morass-media-marketing-misinformation

Treating Vaginal Dryness in Menopause: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/health-info/treating-vaginal-dryness-in-menopause

On this episode Nicole and Danielle interview their guest Phoebe who discusses advocating for yourself with your medical team and their experience doing that while starting perimenopause in their 30's. 

Phoebe Gutierrez is a healthcare strategist, entrepreneur, co-host of the Telemedicine Talks podcast, a mom to four boys. After working in healthcare for so many years, it wasn't until she started feeling early signs of perimenopause that she realized the stark reality of trying to get women's health services in the United States. 

Based on her experiences and through both, Camino Strategy Group and Single Aim, she partners with clinicians and healthcare organizations to build their own concierge businesses aimed at expanding access. 

Companies referenced: Gliss Wellness

In this episode Nicole and Danielle discuss perimenopause with their cousin Kristen (she/they). 

They talk about what it is like being non-binary and going through perimenopause in Texas. 

They also relive some family moments and discuss the importance of communication between the generations.

Danielle and Nicole discuss how they deal, and not deal, with overwhelm and how perimenopause and the present events are adding on to the stresses of peri. 

Movement Memos Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/movement-memos/id1498485210?i=1000672491644

Emily Nagoski:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/burnout-the-secret-to-unlocking-the-stress-cycle-emily-nagoski/9572582?ean=9781984818324&next=t

Welcome to episode 11 of Peri Tales. We are joined by Ūna who Danielle was fortunate to meet while on a Take a Breath retreat for social justice organizers and artists put on by Action Lab in NY. We talk about a range of things related to perimenopause and menopause, and have a good time doing it!

In this episode Nicole and Danielle are joined by their mother Eileen to discuss how they all feel about the aging process during peri and menopause. Eileen shares her personal experiences with going through perimenopause and menopause at an early age and the advice she gives to people going through that transition.

Nicole and Danielle discuss what 2024 meant to them and what they are expecting, and not expecting, with perimenopause in 2025. 
They also discuss their hopes for better community support with perimenopause and how they are going to try to make that a reality not only for themselves, but for others as well. 

Book discussed in podcast by Nicole:
"Vagina Obscura" by Rachel E. Gross 

Dr Jacqueline Arellano is a licensed acupuncturist and organizer living and practicing in the California borderlands she calls home. In both her border aid work and healthcare practice, she is committed to supportive medicine that is accessible, integrative, and comprehensive for all.

Nicole and Danielle speak with her about healthcare access in the US for immigrant farm workers and how her community shaped her understanding of perimenopause. 

She also supports undocumented immigrants in Southern California and at the border through the organization Border Kindness.

Instagram- @borderkindness

Article from NYT that Nicole and Danielle talk about:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/health/hysterectomy-ovaries-women.html

Nicole and Danielle are joined by Heather Corinna, author of "What Fresh Hell Is This?" to discuss their book, why they wrote it and their personal experiences with perimenopause. This was a fun, political discussion about who is being left out of this "menopause moment" and why we need to adopt a feminist, inclusive, and intersectional lens instead.  

Heather (they/them) is a dedicated queer feminist activist, author, educator, artist, teacher, organizer and innovator who grows big things from small seeds and works to create, cultivate and support positive growth and change. Heather is the founder, director, designer and editor of the web clearinghouse and organization Scarleteen, the first truly comprehensive sex, sexuality and relationships education site and resource for young people of its kind.

https://heathercorinna.com

What Fresh Hell Is This?

Instagram:
@heather.corinna
@scarleteenorg

In this episode, Nicole and Danielle discuss the new PBS Documentary The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause which came out in mid-October. There is rightfully a lot of hype surrounding it, but there are also some critiques that need to be aired. Take a listen!

You can watch the documentary for free on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/show/the-m-factor-shredding-the-silence-on-menopause/

You can read the review by Dr. Jen Gunter at:

https://vajenda.substack.com/p/reviewing-the-m-factor-menopause

The report that Danielle references are:

Health Care for Women: How the U.S. Compares Internationally: 

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2024/aug/health-care-women-how-us-compares-internationally

Health Disparities in Rural Women

https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2014/02/health-disparities-in-rural-women

Understanding Racial Disparities for Women with Uterine Fibroids

https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/understanding-racial-disparities-women-uterine-fibroids