Entertainment
1 March, 2026
Taboo subject for all to hear
A FRANK and humorous conversation about menopause, with personal stories and lived experience, is coming to Cairns.
Author Chantal Munro will be at the City Library on Friday 6 March at 10.30am to talk about her book ‘Surviving the Change and the Secret Society of the Sweaty Sisters’.
“So, when menopause hit me, it absolutely rocked my world,” she said.
Ms Munro said the idea for the book was sparked during a hot flush at Rusty’s Markets.
“I was down at Rusty’s market one day and I had a massive hot flush and uttered the words menopause and these three women swooped upon me and hugged me, which didn’t help the hot flush,” she said.
“As I ran from them, I realised I had just joined a secret torture club that nobody spoke about and it was time to speak about it.”
She said menopause had long been treated as a taboo topic, but believes that is changing.
“I think generationally, it has been a taboo topic,” she said.
“Our generation of women are a little bit different … it’s no longer about me. It’s about my daughter.”
Ms Munro approaches the subject with humour, saying laughter is essential.
“I think laughter is integral, integral as a survival skill for any human with pretty much any situation on the planet,” she said.
She said one of the biggest surprises was the silence surrounding menopause.
The talk at City Library is free, with books on sale.
