Oscar-winner Halle Berry has a bone to pick with how women's health has been handled. Specifically, the fact that for years, her own symptoms were waved off as "just getting old" while men, well, men got Viagra. Let that dry observation sink in.
Berry recently opened up about her aversion to routine gynecological exams, admitting she skipped them for years. The culprit? The traditional, and let's be honest, medieval-looking metal speculum. "I didn’t like white-knuckling it," she said, perfectly capturing the universal experience.
Now, with her 18-year-old daughter facing her first exam, Berry is on a mission. She wants to tackle the fear that keeps a staggering 72% of women from regular pelvic exams. Because apparently, a cold metal instrument is a pretty effective deterrent.
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Her research led her to Nella, a women’s health company that's finally dragged the speculum into the 21st century. They've developed a polymer version designed to be quieter, less intimidating, and presumably, less like a medieval torture device.
Dr. Tamika Auguste, a board-certified OB-GYN, confirms the anxiety is real, stemming from cultural stigma, vulnerability, and the ever-present fear of bad news. "I think there is an element of shame around the pelvic area of a woman," Auguste noted. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty absurd thing to feel about a literal body part.
Making these exams more comfortable is crucial, Auguste says, because no one should suffer in silence. "Gone are the days where women should suffer through pelvic pain, suffer through menopausal symptoms." Hear, hear.
Shouting Menopause from the Capitol
For Berry, this conversation is part of a much larger advocacy push. She's become a vocal champion for women’s health, especially around menopause and the frankly baffling lack of research into women's bodies. "We have not cared about women the way we should have," Berry stated. "We deserve more dollars, more funding, more education, more research."
In a move that should become legendary, Berry went to Washington, D.C., in May 2024 and famously shouted, "I’m in menopause!" outside the Capitol. Because sometimes, you just have to yell it to make people listen. This was her way of shattering the stigma around a life stage that affects millions but is often treated like a secret.
Her own journey through perimenopause was met with frustrating dismissals. "How many times did I hear people say, ‘Well, that’s aging, you’re just getting old?’" she recalled. "You didn’t tell men that. They got Viagra." The mic, it seems, has been dropped.
This experience fueled her wellness platform, Respin, aimed at empowering women through midlife. Now, armed with better information and the right hormones, Berry claims she feels better at 60 than she did at 40. Which, if it means less white-knuckling and more shouting from the Capitol, sounds like a pretty good deal.
