Review: Bloody Hell!

This starred review appeared in Publishers Weekly.

Menopause is both “shit” and “amazing,” according to this spirited anthology edited by journalist Eltahawy (The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls). Aiming to present an “antidote” to a type of taboo-busting feminist approach to the topic that mainly appeals to “white, wealthy, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied women,” Eltahawy gathers a variety of perspectives on both menopause and the transitional period before it. Jenn Salib Huber, a registered dietitian, takes aim at diet culture in “The Curse of Puberty,” asking, “Is it really so hard to accept that it’s normal for human bodies to change?” In “Sex and the Menopausal Vagina in the Suburbs,” public speaker Susan Cole, who is HIV positive, describes her chemotherapy-induced menopause during treatment for breast cancer, noting that she “didn’t expect to be alive to go through the menopause.” “My Bleeding Life” sees filmmaker Emmett Jack Lundberg outline the symptoms of menopause, which he entered “just shy” of his 30th birthday while undergoing hormone replacement therapy. It adds up to a fascinating look at not only the physical aspects of menopause but the social and political; readers seeking a shame-free approach to the subject will find solidarity in no short supply. Loud and proud, this hits all the marks.

Read an excerpt from Bloody Hell!

Read an interview about Bloody Hell!

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Mona Eltahawy is a feminist author, commentator and disruptor of patriarchy. Her new book, an anthology on menopause called Bloody Hell!: Adventures in Menopause from Around the World, will be published March 5, 2025. Her first book Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution (2015) targeted patriarchy in the Middle East and North Africa and her second The Seven Necessary Sins For Women and Girls (2019) took her disruption worldwide. It is now available in Ireland and the UK. Her commentary has appeared in media around the world and she makes video essays and writes a newsletter as FEMINIST GIANT.

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