Menopause is coming out of the shadows. Many women looking for answers say it's about time

Menopause. It's hot, it's flashy and it's having a moment. Just ask Erin Keaney — or better yet, catch one of her shows.

"O-M-G, I started sweating at four this morning," Keaney tells the audience after bounding on stage sporting a cape and feather boa while a friend points a leaf blower in her direction, as much to cool her down as to create a glamorous windblown effect.

Hot flashes, belly fat and mood swings — nothing is off limits when Keaney takes the stage. A Toronto-based Realtor by day, occasional comic by night, her campy act is part of a growing movement dragging menopause out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

At her latest gig in Toronto, more than 200 people turned up, most of them mid-life women laughingly commiserating as Keaney joked about constantly perspiring and gaining weight.

"Your hormones are slowing down and your body is making pillows for when you fall down," Keaney quipped as the audience erupted in laughter.

Keaney, who is 52, says poking fun at her menopause journey is one way of normalizing a topic that is often spoken about in hushed tones — or not at all.

"I'm just kind of telling my story," Keaney said. "Why should we be ashamed, right? Why is it such a secret, such a mystery?"

More women are asking that question as the push to rebrand menopause gains momentum, driven in part by a demographic that is both growing and becoming more vocal.

The average age of menopause is 51, which means 12 months have passed since a woman's last period. But the symptoms before that — known as perimenopause — and after, post-menopause, can last for years.

According to a December 2022 Statistics Canada population estimate, there are more than 10 million women over the age of 40 in Canada, a cohort that often feels their menopausal symptoms are dismissed or trivialized.

Samantha Montpetit-Huynh, 52, is a personal trainer based in Toronto. When she started to feel the "change" herself, she started tailoring the workouts she offered to the needs of menopausal women — and the conversation that came with it was immediate.

"Everybody was like, 'Thank God, where have you been?'" Montpetit-Huynh said.

She says the hormonal fluctuations affect women in their 40s and 50s, a time when they're often in the prime of their careers and juggling family responsibilities.

"They're leading a very stressful lifestyle, they're managing their career and kids and home," she said. "My business went through the roof because I was talking to these women and listening to them and giving them some support."