User:Becha/Hacking-Menopause

Page for collecting info about Hacking Menopause

Workshop at /etc, Berlin

• Web Page https://pretalx.com/etc2024/talk/XTFWJX/
  • for /etc: https://pretalx.com/etc2024/me/submissions/XTFWJX/

I have noticed that more & more of my fellow "women in tech" are aging into the life-phase known as "menopause". 
In this workshop, I want to have a group discussion to explore challenges & joys of menopause. I'd like us to share tips&tricks, and collectively generate knowledge, that will be primarily useful to us - but might result in some resources to publish, too.   
Although my personal experience is as a cis-woman, I would specifically like to invite trans-gender-hackers to share the experiences of  DIY hormonal therapies. 
I do not want to "teach" : my role is to be a workshop facilitator & to make it possible to pluck the berries of our collective creativity. 

Goals

• Exchange of experiences about challenges of menopause
• Collective harvesting of suggestions, practices, solutions
• Creative outcomes

Results

• Slides File:xs-hacking-menopause-etc-berlin-vesna.pdf
• Pad https://pad.riseup.net/p/hack-menopause-etc-2024-keep

• Outcomes:
  • Solidarity & understanding: trans persons / cis-women
  • Connections with bio-hack-labs
  • Learn about plant medicine
  • Use the transformation for rewiring, rediscovering.. with help of trauma healing, neurodiversity-acceptance…
  • Stay connected: /etc mailing list

• Resources added later:
  • anarchist herbal medicine : book, course, podcast https://solidarityapothecary.org/about/ “contribute to developing healthcare infrastructure that builds autonomy beyond the state, capitalism, white supremacy and patriarchy.”
  • Movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Luck_to_You,_Leo_Grande “an older woman who seeks a young sex worker to help her experience pleasurable sex.”
  • Mental Help helpful tips https://wiki.techinc.nl/User:Becha/mental-health-help
  • Embrace Neurodiversity https://labs.ripe.net/author/becha/ripe-community-resilience-embracing-neurodiversity/

Time Plan

• New time plan = 55 minutes (1 hour & finishing 5 minute before)
  • 5 minute intro
  • 15 minutes exercise in groups 3-5 people
  • 20 minute round of presenting outcomes
  • 15 minute closing

• 2 hours
  • 10 minute intro
  • 10 minute exchange in pairs
  • 20 minutes exercise in groups 3-5 people (illustrating challenges)
  • 20 minute round of presenting outcomes
  • 5 minute break
  • 25 minute exercise in groups 3-5 people (illustrating solutions)
  • 20 minutes round of presenting outcomes
  • 10 minutes closing

Material

• Large papers
• Pens or markers
• floor space or tables or walls

• And/or, we can use any other creativity tools, for online cooperation or zine making...
  • https://wiki.techinc.nl/User:Becha/mental-health-help#Art_2024
  • https://thecreativeindependent.com/guides/how-to-make-a-zine/

Possible Practices

• Resting: pausing, napping, nixing, relaxing...
• Physical activity: movement, stretching, dancing...
• Herbal treats: medicinal plants, tea/infusions, oils, smells...
• Awareness: noticing, focusing, meditating...
• Connecting: with animals, with landscape, with plants, with other humans...

Info

Links

• https://transfemscience.org/
• https://diyhrt.github.io/transfem
• https://wisepause.com
• https://rebelliousmagazine.com/the-long-overdue-inclusive-feminist-guide-to-menopause/
• https://salvage.zone/making-and-getting-made-towards-a-cyborg-transfeminism/
• https://www.feministgiant.com/p/essay-the-menopause-multiverse
• https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/04/menopause-transgender-care-estrogen-testosterone/678095/?gift=loMUPFjoDDPjM6gSlVzmw7GnBEtnoWwT3gBNnlOHjRo
• https://www.redschool.net/resources-for-menopause
  • https://www.redschool.net/menopause
• Menopause: a biocultural perspective (Slides for a teaching session on menopause: a biocultural perspective) October 18, 2023 https://osf.io/esmuz : Rebecca Sear:
• A qualitative study spotlighting autistic voices on menopause https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7376624/
• https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2018/menopause-symptoms-doctors-relief-treatment.html
• https://balance-menopause.com/
• www.menopause.org
• https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/menopause-advice
• https://www.treesisters.org/post/reciprocity-with-nature
• https://www.herbazest.com/wellness/top-5-herbs-to-relieve-menopause-symptoms
• https://mednl.net/omgaan-met-de-menopauze (in Dutch)
• https://www.everydayhealth.com/menopause/perimenopause-symptoms/
• https://www.npr.org/2024/03/22/1198909539/menopause-humans-whales-evolution
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07159-9

Documents

• File:Menopause's Pleasures.pdf
• File:The-Ultimate-Guide-To-Losing-Menopause-Belly-Fat_April-4-2.pdf
• File:Manage My Menopause Tailored Advice 21_08_2021-17103.pdf
• File:menopause -- NG23 guideline 20151112 - Unknown.pdf
• File:Menopause and ADHD.pdf
• File:Kate Muir book review Everything You Need To Know About The Menopause.pdf
• File:Essay-Mona-Menopause is Shit_Menopause is Amazing.pdf
• File:Mental-health-and-emotional-wellbeing-booklet-menopause.pdf

Books

• Rest is Resistance, Tricia Herst
• How to Keep House While Drowning
• Passage to Power, Leslie Kenton
• The Menopause Manifesto, Jen Gunter
• Oestrogen Matters
• etc (see photo)

Quotes

"Imagine a world in which menopause is recognized as a healthy, organic step in a woman’s evolutionary journey. Where each woman willingly accepts the necessary challenge of menopause, knowing that post-menopause, she’ll step into the vital and powerful role of serving her community and the world.
Imagine a world where she knows she’ll be profoundly met and respected as a smart, wise, authoritative and beautiful older woman.
It’s time for us to recognise the wisdom that our elders carry and re-frame the menopausal phase of a woman’s life."

Images

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