Halle Berry just said what a lot of women have been thinking for years.
In a recent interview with HuffPost, the Oscar-winning actor got candid about why she avoided gynecological appointments for so long. Her reason? The dreaded speculum. “I did not like it. I didn’t like white-knuckling it. I didn’t like how I felt,” she admitted.
And she’s far from alone. Berry pointed out that 72% of women skip their pelvic floor exams because of fear around the procedure. That’s a staggering number, and it points to something bigger than just discomfort. It speaks to a system that hasn’t prioritized women’s experience in exam rooms for far too long.
The Stigma That’s Keeping Women Away
Dr. Tamika Auguste, a board-certified OB-GYN, explained why these appointments cause so much anxiety. “I think there is an element of shame around the pelvic area of a woman,” she said. “It’s uncomfortable. It’s not like easy-peasy.”
That’s an understatement. Beyond the physical discomfort, there’s the fear of what the visit might reveal: infections, abnormalities, cancer. And let’s be honest, the vulnerable position itself is enough to make anyone uneasy. Throw in a cold metal instrument that hasn’t changed much in decades, and you’ve got a perfect storm driving women away from care they actually need.
This is where things get interesting. Berry has partnered with Nella, a women’s health company that developed a polymer speculum designed to be quieter and less intimidating than traditional metal ones. It’s not a miracle solution, but it represents a shift toward thinking about the patient experience rather than just the procedure itself.
More Than Just a Better Speculum
The conversation Berry is starting goes deeper than one exam room tool. In recent years, she’s become one of the most visible celebrity advocates for women’s health, particularly around menopause.
“I have not cared about women the way we should have,” Berry told HuffPost. “We deserve more dollars, more funding, more education, more research, because we have a right to understand how our bodies operate.”
That’s a bold statement, and honestly? She’s not wrong. Women’s health has been notoriously underfunded in research circles for decades. Remember how long it took for menopause to be taken seriously as something more than “just getting old”? Meanwhile, men got Viagra jokes and instant solutions.
Berry put her money where her mouth is. In May 2024, she traveled to Washington, D.C. and stood outside the Capitol Building shouting “I’m in menopause!” to challenge the silence around a life stage that affects half the population. She also launched Respin, a wellness platform focused on midlife and beyond.
The Real Win Here
Dr. Auguste made a point worth sitting with: “Gone are the days where women should suffer through pelvic pain, suffer through menopausal symptoms. Come to your gynecologist and have a discussion about it.”
That feels like the real message underneath all of this. It’s not about one product or one celebrity endorsement. It’s about giving women permission to demand better care, to speak up about pain, to refuse to suffer silently because “that’s just how it is.”
The gynecologist isn’t just for the pelvic exam. It’s a space for conversations that shape your entire reproductive and post-reproductive life.
Maybe that’s the conversation we should actually be having.
