# @thekoreanvegan on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C_g00llSQSb
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/22911616-thekoreanvegan-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/c7d7ab8656.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-09-04T23:00:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Joanne L. Molinaro, The Korean Vegan (@thekoreanvegan) — https://gondola.cc/thekoreanvegan

## Caption

Earlier this week, I woke up after a night of “sleep” consisting of 45-minute naps between 12 trips to the bathroom. Putting my workout clothes on was a workout, in and of itself. I walked downstairs to feed my dog, each step weighed down by a fatigue I couldn’t even describe.
.
The idea of hitting the treadmill and then “heavy lifting,” as prescribed to women who are going through what I’m going through—it made me want to cry. The idea of chugging the protein shake for breakfast—also prescribed to women who are going through what I’m going through—it made me want to barf. In the end, I did neither. Instead, I plopped down on the couch with my dog and played “catch my slipper” with her for 30 minutes before diving into my workday, feeling a little bit like a failure.
.
There is some part of me saying, “Oh STFU and snap out of it, you whiney weak little girl.” That part of me warns me against talking about perimenopause, about airing my stained laundry for all to see. Because it’s shameful. Not the airing, mind you. But the literal audacity of BEING a woman. Of BEING.
.
I was at a conference earlier this year, chatting with other women about this lovely stage in life, and one quipped, “No, you should talk about it. Because it’s not like we can skip it. We all have to go through it.” And yet… I continue to wonder why I am so ill-prepared for this non-skippable chapter.
.
I go back to something my aesthetician once told me. It was the day I’d decided to get a divorce. She waxed my eyebrows, my underarms, and even down there, because, of course, that’s what we’re told, right? That this is what it means to BE a woman—pluck all the hairs that otherwise grow out of our bodies. Afterwards, shrugging into my blouse, she asked me, “Is everything all right, dear?” I turned around, crumpled into her arms, and started sobbing. And she whispered to me,

“We are women. We are strong. We are women. We are fierce.”

To all my strong, fierce sisters, I promise to share the recipe for this divine “Biscoff Misu” in the days to come. <3

#wearewomen #perimenosquad #cookingstorytime #dessert

## Stats

- **Views:** 149,974
- **Likes:** 26,111
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 347

## Tags

dessert, cookingstorytime, perimenosquad, wearewomen

---
Copyright (c) Gondola