Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Affects of menopause on sex life.

I Saw this article in the news paper, and I found it rather interesting for a few different reasons.

A) I'm quite surprised that the mining industry and a bunch of coalminers in the Hunter Valley are trying to tackle this issue. I think it's a great thing, I'm all for blokes starting to tackle issues like this, and I'm all for industry helping people to do this because they recognize a happy worker is a productive one.

B) Being quite young, the issue of menopause and it's affects on a sexual relationship is just not something I've ever had to think about. So I guess I'm kinda keen to hear peoples experiences and perspectives on it, just out of curiosity.

So here is the article, taken from here

Quote:

MENTION extra-virgin olive oil to a room full of coalminers and there are snickers all round, but when the subject turns to cranky, menopausal wives rejecting their advances, it's no laughing matter.

Hundreds of men at the Bulga Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley have been attending classes on menopause and foreplay because a sex-deprived miner "can get mighty grumpy at work" and affect production, says management.

The men, aged between 20 and 60, have been transfixed, asking why women menstruate and seeking tips on how they can "explore the wife again".

Xstrata Coal's communications manager, James Rickards, said yesterday the classes had been highly successful because most men were keen to learn about the physiological and emotional changes associated with menopause and why their sex lives might be suffering.

"Most of our men have wives or mothers going through this and it's important they know what's going on and why the woman in their life might be snappy or feeling unwell," Mr Rickards said.

"The program is in place because we want our staff to be happy, and if we can help them improve their lifestyle at home, they will have greater capacity as a worker.

"Men don't tend to ask the right questions at the right time and if we can provide an environment where they feel comfortable talking about these topics among their peers, then everyone wins."

The Toolbox Talks, running since the start of the year, also cover nutrition, heart disease, sleep apnoea, fatigue management, alcohol abuse, smoking, depression and prostate cancer. One course, called Big Rigs, is specifically for obese workers.

Course co-ordinator and registered nurse Tammy Farrell said yesterday that there were smirks and giggles when she mentioned extra-virgin olive oil in a nutrition talk, but when the miners were told they needed to put more effort into arousing a post-menopausal woman they became "very serious".

"There was no laughter then, just a lot of interest.

"I told them that they needed to start exploring their wives like they did when they were 18 and they were all extremely attentive," Ms Farrell said.

"And they snapped up all the flyers left out after the talk so we've obviously got some cranky men with cranky wives out there who want some help."

So, thoughts? Theories? Input?