By Dr. Jennifer Berman
Women have fought for equality in every arena , the boardroom, the ballot box, and the bedroom . However, as we age, the playing field is definitely not level. Men have access to more than 20 FDA-approved testosterone therapies to preserve their focus, strength, and vitality. Women have none. The result is a generation of women entering midlife biochemically disadvantaged , unable to sustain the same stamina, drive, and cognitive clarity that keep men thriving well into their seventies.
That inequity isn’t a matter of choice. It’s basic physiology and it’s being summarily ignored.
Every major study to date , from the British Menopause Society to the Global Consensus Statement on Testosterone Therapy for Women shows that properly dosed testosterone is both safe and effective, with data suggesting it reduces breast cancer risk, supports cardiovascular health, and enhance cognitive performance. Yet the FDA still refuses to approve a single formulation for women.
The reason isn’t medical. It’s cultural bias. Women’s hormones have been dismissed as “too complex,” their symptoms as “psychological,” and their suffering as inevitable. The result is a quiet form of systemic bias that sidelines women at the peak of their experience, leadership, and influence.
This isn’t about feminism or vanity it’s about economic and executive survival.
Hormones drive focus, motivation, and resilience , the same attributes that power leadership. When women are hormonally unsupported, they are more likely to experience fatigue, cognitive fog, mood instability, and burnout which makes it nearly impossible to perform at a CEO level at 60 or 70.
If men can optimize their biochemistry to stay sharp and competitive into late life, women should have that same biological right. Denying it creates a silent attrition of female leadership . These women who could and should still be leading companies, shaping industries, and mentoring the next generation are all being forced out by a preventable and treatable medical condition , menopause .
Access to safe, evidence-based hormone therapy should not depend on geography, luck, or a sympathetic doctor. It should be recognized as a fundamental right tied to a woman’s ability to think clearly, perform consistently, and age powerfully. Denying women that right is unfair, unjust and simply bad business. Women make exceptional leaders: they are proven to be better communicators, multitaskers, and collaborative decision-makers, often driving higher team engagement and productivity. When midlife women lose hormonal support, companies lose experienced managers, institutional memory, and emotional intelligence , assets that make organizations resilient. Investing in women’s hormonal health isn’t just a wellness perk; it should be considered a neccessity for leadership retention.
When I founded UCLA’s Female Sexual Medicine Center, it was the first of its kind , a space where women could finally discuss desire, dysfunction, and hormones without shame. Two decades later, I’m still fighting the same systemic neglect, now armed with genomic tools and AI-driven diagnostics to individualize care. My latest work, the Menopause Biotype™, eliminates hormone guesswork, creating precision therapy so women can stay at full capacity in mind, body, and career for decades longer.
We’ve fought for equal pay and representation. But equality means nothing if the biology of longevity and our healthcare system favors only one gender. True parity demands biochemical parity.
The real glass ceiling isn’t corporate. It’s the marginalization of women by our healthcare system, our political leaders and the FDA.
Author Bio
Dr. Jennifer Berman is a urologist, women’s health specialist, and founder of the Female Sexual Medicine Center at UCLA. She is the creator of the Menopause Biotype™, a DNA-based diagnostic that personalizes hormone therapy for midlife women.
