Madonna does menopause

So Madonna's been in the press in the not-too-distant past because of what's considered her extreme fitness undertakings. People are ogling at her biceps. Marveling at her endurance. They're spellbound by her dedication. Etc.

Well, guess what? Madonna's my age--less than 6 months my senior. She's doing fitness--the subject of my blog--so she's on-topic here, right?

I really can't tell you much about Madonna other than that she's a singer. I guess I missed the Madonna boat--along with the boats of a lot of other entertainment figures that post-date about 1980. I occassionally catch wind of some thing or other she's done but I'm not too enamored of pop culture so I sort of missed all the hubub. And so far as I can tell, I didn't miss much.

I have no idea what songs she's sung, though I vaguely remember a title like "Modern Girl" or something along those lines. Nope, no idea what the melody for that one is. The only melody of any song of hers I know is her remake of "Santa Baby," a song that became popular among the playboy/nightclub crowd in the 50's. I heard the song in the drugstore once and became curious about it so I looked it up online and found out she was the singer of this new version.

But anyway, I think I know what's going on with Madonna these days. It's called menopause. As is commonly understood, women undergoing menopause--like those undergoing the other big feminine hormonal change, puberty--can have odd reactions. There are hot flashes, mood swings, physiological changes. People around these women sometimes feel they've gone a little batty in the initial phases.

Well, here's my proposition: what happens when a woman whose life and business is her public persona and she has limitless funding to devote to those things, when she hits menopause? Might not Madonna's answer be to go on an extreme fitness binge, hire the best personal trainers, buy the best exercise equipment, and spend hours working out? I submit that the answer to that question is "yes."

I further submit that she's, well, gone a bit bonkers with it. But hey, that's what women do when they hit this point in their lives. I do think it's a good thing for women to do fitness, especially right around menopause, when they start to lose bone density. So I don't begrudge her working out. But I do think she's gone overboard with it and that this can be explained by the hormonal imbalance.

And no, I don't care of you think I'm sexist for saying that.