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. Because in 2025, I, Halle Berry and women of my age, are simply devalued in this country. Our culture thinks that at 59 years old, I am past my prime and that women my age start to become invisible. In Hollywood, in the workplace, on social media, women are pressured to stay forever 35. Now, at almost 60, I deeply understand that aging is a privilege. I also deeply understand that if I don’t fight, if women don’t fight to get the quality health care that we need and that we deserve, that privilege ultimately may become a source of our greatest suffering. I’m also fighting when I go to Washington, and I introduce a bill that will ensure that $275 million go towards research and medical education, I’m also fighting on a state level when I help states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois stand up menopause bills. 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. But that’s OK because he’s not going to be governor forever. And with the way he’s overlooked women — half the population — by devaluing us in midlife, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying. I need every woman in this country to fight with me. But the truth is, the fight isn’t just for us women. We need men too. We need all of the leaders, every single one of you in this room. This fight needs you. We need you to stay curious. We need you to ask questions. We need you to care, even when the topic feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable. We need you to have the conversation anyway. Because when women are struggling silently through perimenopause and menopause, trying to hold their families, careers, relationships and communities together, it doesn’t just affect women. It affects every household. It affects the workplace. It affects the economy.
