The Conversations Men Were Never Taught to Have

While writing about inherited silence and the way “taboo” shapes how we talk about bodies, I realised something important: this conversation doesn’t just belong to women.We talk so little about what men go through as they age, change, and carry stress and that silence affects families too.

This next piece is an invitation to widen the conversation, gently and without blame, because openness works best when it goes both ways.

When we talk about “taboo” subjects, the focus is often on women’s bodies, periods, menopause, hormones, sex, ageing. These topics have been wrapped in silence for generations. But while navigating my own experience of perimenopause, I’ve become increasingly aware of something else that feels just as important, and just as quiet.

We rarely talk about what men go through either.

Beyond puberty, there’s very little open conversation about male hormonal changes, emotional shifts, ageing, stress, or how responsibility and pressure land over time. These experiences exist but they’re often unnamed, unexplained, and carried alone.

And that silence doesn’t just affect men.It affects the people who love them.

As a partner and a parent, I want to understand what my husband and my son experience as their bodies and inner worlds change. I want to support them with the same empathy and context I hope to receive myself. But so often, there’s no shared language only assumptions, jokes, or quiet withdrawal.

Just like women, men are taught early on what not to talk about.

They’re encouraged to push through discomfort.
To minimise emotional shifts.
To "just deal with"  bodily changes 
To carry stress silently and privately.

Over time, silence becomes normal not because nothing is happening, but because there’s no permission to speak.

This isn’t about asking men to overshare or perform vulnerability.
It’s about allowing honesty.It’s about recognising that men also experience:

• hormonal changes

• emotional fluctuations

• physical shifts

• mental load

• fear around ageing, health, and identity

And that these things deserve understanding, not dismissal.

When these conversations don’t happen, everyone loses. Partners struggle to support what they don’t understand. Children grow up without language for their own future experiences. Normal life stages become isolating rather than shared.

We talk a lot about preparing the next generation, and this is part of that work.

If boys grow up seeing men allowed to talk about their bodies and inner lives, they don’t grow weaker. They grow more grounded. More emotionally literate. More capable of connection.If girls grow up hearing those conversations too, they learn empathy that flows both ways.

Silence doesn’t protect anyone here.
It just keeps people apart.

Breaking inherited silence doesn’t require grand declarations. Sometimes it starts with a single sentence:

• “I don’t really understand what’s happening, but I want to.”

• “Something feels different lately.”

• “Can we talk about this?”

At VE Cosmetics, we believe compassion, autonomy, and honesty matter, not just in what we create, but in how we care for one another. These conversations belong to all of us.

Men deserve language for their experiences. Families deserve shared understanding.
And future generations deserve better than silence.

Because openness isn’t weakness. It’s connection.

If this resonates, you’re welcome to share your thoughts or experiences in the comments