Menopause, Misogyny and the Medical System: Dr Sharon Malone Sets the Record Straight

unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Mary Claire Media, LLC

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 89 minutes

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Summary

Dr. Sharon Malone has spent decades fighting for women to get the healthcare they deserve, and she's not slowing down. As Chief Medical Advisor at Alloy Women's Health, host of "The Second Opinion" podcast, and author of the New York Times bestseller "Grown Woman Talk," Dr. Malone joins Dr. Mary Claire Haver in this episode to talk about reshaping how we think about menopause, aging, and women's health advocacy. For too long, women have been told to accept suffering as normal. Hot flashes, brain fog, joint pain, sleep problems, the complete unraveling of quality of life during perimenopause and menopause? Dr. Malone talks about being done with that narrative. In this conversation, she explains how the medical system has systematically failed women, from keeping them out of research studies to applying male-centric data to female bodies, from dismissing their menopause symptoms to perpetuating dangerous myths about estrogen and hormone therapy that have left an entire generation undertreated. She breaks down the Women's Health Initiative, the deeply flawed study that scared women away from hormone replacement therapy (HRT). She explains exactly what went wrong, why the study enrolled women who were too old to answer the questions it claimed to address, and why doctors are still getting it wrong today, decades after the original findings were walked back. The cost? A generation of women suffering unnecessarily while billions in research dollars went elsewhere. Dr. Malone also tackles the intersection of gender and racial bias in medicine, explaining why your zip code matters more than your genetic code when it comes to health outcomes. From her own journey navigating medical school as a Black woman in the 1980s to losing her mother to cancer at just 12, she points out the healthcare disparities from both sides of the exam table. At 66, Dr. Malone is proof that midlife isn't about decline. It's about stepping into your power. And she shares a clear message, that women have accepted suffering for far too long, and it's time to demand better. Guest links: Dr. Sharon Malone Dr. Sharon Malone (Alloy) Dr. Sharon Malone (Instagram) Dr. Sharon Malone (X/Twitter) Dr. Sharon Malone (Threads) Dr. Sharon Malone (Facebook) Dr. Sharon Malone (Alloy/YouTube) Dr. Sharon Malone (LinkedIn) The Second Opinion with Dr. Sharon Books “Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy,” by Dr. Sharon Malone“The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver “The New Perimenopause,”⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver ⁠"The New Menopause"⁠ by Dr. Mary Claire Haver For full show notes, please click here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is what I want women to understand is that once you get to be 50, 60 years old,
0:06.0	you have never been more experienced. You have never had more wisdom. You need to share that with someone.
0:13.7	And the only thing that stands in your way is not being well enough or not being physically fit enough for being able to pursue something.
0:24.3	But it's not because you don't have the mental capacity to do it.
0:28.3	And that's what I think is so important about the work that we do with menopause is that
0:33.6	showing women that there is a path forward.
0:36.6	Yeah.
0:36.7	That doesn't just lead to decrepitude and death.
0:40.8	Yeah.
0:41.1	Weakness.
0:41.7	No.
0:42.2	No, no, no.
0:42.9	The views and opinions expressed on unpaused are those of the talent and guests alone and
0:57.0	are provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. No part of this podcast or any related materials are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
1:08.0	Every time I hear our next guest, Dr. Sharon Malone speak, I learned
1:13.6	something new. The first time this happened was three years ago when she was moderating a panel
1:18.4	on the Women's Health Initiative and the misinformation that caused a generation of women to get
1:23.6	incomplete menopause care. At that time, I thought, this is a message I need to spread.
1:29.7	Up until then, my focus had been on nutrition and the Galveston diet. But that moment was the pivot.
1:35.9	Everything changed, and I will forever be grateful to Sharon for opening that door for me.
1:40.9	In the years since, Dr. Malone and I have become friends. We've shared stages at
1:45.7	menopause conferences across the country, and every time I hear her speak, I learn something new.
	...

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