Halle Berry, 59, Blasts Treatment of Menopausal Women in America

Once considered a taboo topic, menopause is more talked-about than ever. Still, America’s treatment of menopausal women is severely lacking, says Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry.

On December 3, Berry took the stage at the DealBook Summit, an annual live journalism event hosted by The New York Times. In her talk, the 59-year-old actress shared her views on the current state of women’s health, wellness, and aging.

“Our culture thinks that, at 59 years old, I am past my prime,” the Catwoman star said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. She claimed that, at her age, women “start to become invisible in Hollywood, in the workplace, on social media.”

Berry said she feels women are “pressured to stay forever 35,” and expressed her opposition to this culture.

“We’re complimented if we seem to be aging backwards or defying gravity, as if that’s even possible,” she told the audience. “And if we somehow manage to look younger than our years, it’s suggested that’s the gold standard that our worth should be measured by.”

Even as one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses and a former beauty queen (Berry was crowned Miss Ohio in 1986), the acclaimed Monster’s Ball star is not immune to external pressures. “We’re encouraged to contort our bodies and our faces in truly extreme ways to chase this elusive fountain of youth,” she said, admitting to feeling that pressure “every single day,” to change herself in order “to stay seen relevant and desirable.”

The actress has long been a prominent advocate for menopause awareness. In 2020, she founded a wellness site, Respin Health Clinic, which she later rebranded to focus solely on menopause and women’s midlife wellness. The organization “offers hormone therapy guidance from licensed, menopause-trained experts—100% virtual, no insurance needed," according to its website.

In February, she told WWD that she was one of the many women who get misdiagnosed for their menopause symptoms every single year. According to her, when she visited a gynecologist for help with vaginal dryness, a common symptom of menopause, at 54, the health care expert suggested she had herpes.

In her passionate speech, Berry emphasized the need for better support for menopausal women.

“In 2025, there is a lot to still be talked about and discovered and uncovered, especially if you are a woman who is navigating midlife and thoughtfully considering your longevity,” she said. “Because in 2025, I, Halle Berry, and women of my age are simply devalued in this country.”

Berry recently backed the Menopause Care Equity Act in California to improve healthcare conditions for menopausal women, which Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed in October. She took a moment on the DealBook stage to address her disappointment with the decision. “Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one, but two years in a row,” Berry said.

Berry went on to say that “the way [Gavin Newsom] has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying.”

According to the schedule, Newsom spoke at the same event, with just two speakers between Berry and him. This fact did not appear to make Berry any shyer. “At this stage in my life, I have zero f---s left to give,” she said.