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  "path": "/2026/02/10/women-prison-jail-menopause-healthcare-air-conditioning-texas/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-10T15:10:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://msmagazine.com",
  "tags": [
    "Health",
    "Justice & Law",
    "National",
    "Flipping the Menopause Script Is Essential to Democracy (Series)",
    "Healthcare",
    "Medical Sexism",
    "Menopause and Perimenopause",
    "Mental Health",
    "Older Women and Aging",
    "Public Health",
    "Sexual and Reproductive Health",
    "Women in Journalism",
    "Women in Prison",
    "‘We Will Not Disappear With Age’: An Incarcerated Journalist on Menopause Behind Bars",
    "Ms. Magazine"
  ],
  "textContent": "Speaking from a Texas prison, journalist Kwaneta Harris reveals how menopause is neglected and punished for those living under state control.\n\n\"You know what menopause looks like for most folks? Maybe some hot flashes at work, some joint pain and mood swings. Perhaps you adjust your thermostat frequently or get hormone therapy from your doctor.\n\n\"Now let me tell you what menopause looks like under state control. Imagine having a hot flash in a non air-conditioned cell with a recorded temperature of 119 degrees. The guards won’t let you have ice water. You’re bleeding through your state-issued white uniform because you had to beg an 18-year-old man-child for a pad this morning, and he said, 'Maybe later.' You get exactly five tampons a month, along with a handful of pads, if you’re lucky. Your hormones are all over the place, but there’s no hormone replacement therapy. Just Tylenol—if the guards remember.\n\n\"And here’s the kicker: They write you up for having an 'attitude problem' when you’re actually having hormone-induced mood swings from perimenopause. Those write-ups? They keep you from getting parole. So now you’re not just dealing with your biology changing, you’re trapped here longer because your biology is being criminalized.\"\n\n(This essay is part of the latest **Women & Democracy** installment, published in the middle of Black History Month, in partnership with **Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause**. Menopause is not only a physical transition—it is also cultural, social and political. Recognizing its full scope is essential to advancing true health and civic equity.)\n\nThe post ‘We Will Not Disappear With Age’: An Incarcerated Journalist on Menopause Behind Bars appeared first on Ms. Magazine.",
  "title": "‘We Will Not Disappear With Age’: An Incarcerated Journalist on Menopause Behind Bars"
}