Five Questions with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf is courageous. She takes on topics others tread lightly on. So it’s not surprising that she’s written about (shhh, don’t say it out loud) menopause. Do not click out right now if you’re not female. What she has to say is for you too, gentlemen. She joined us to discuss her work and her new book, When in Menopause, due out on October 6.
Jennifer serves as executive director of NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center. She also leads partnerships and strategy at Ms., the feminist movement-making magazine. A passionate writer on and advocate for issues of gender and politics, Jen was dubbed the “architect of the U.S. campaign to squash the tampon tax” by Newsweek. She has presented on issues related to her area of expertise—menstruation, menopause, and the law—at the White House and before Congress, as well as in state legislatures and major city governmental bodies, and she is a widely published author. You may know her work from many national publications, including here on Substack at The Contrarian. She recently testified before the Senate about menopause.
Jennifer’s new book, When in Menopause: A User’s Manual and Citizen’s Guide, is about helping to pave the way forward so that everyday people can ensure the best possible treatment from doctors and healthcare providers; protect their wallets and privacy while navigating commerce, tech, and menopause; manage menopause on the job—and understand the limitations of workplace benefits and protection under the law; and press lawmakers to fund modern menopause research and improve equitable access to care. The book also unpacks why Gen X women are a mighty force to be reckoned with and what that holds not only for the future of menopause care, but for the fight for democracy itself.
“Five Questions” is a Friday feature for paid subscribers, built around the conversations that don’t fit into a news cycle driven by headlines and hot takes. It’s a chance to spend time with the people shaping the law, politics, and democracy—and to ask the questions that matter most, not just the ones everyone else is asking. Keeping the daily legal analysis free has always been important to me, and it will stay that way. These Friday conversations give me a chance to thank paid subscribers for their help ensuring that Civil Discourse remains available to everyone who wants to follow the law beyond the day’s headlines. Whether you’re a paid subscriber or a free subscriber, I’m grateful you’re here.