Multi Award Winning Female Saxophonist, Birmingham, UK, Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, Blues, Soul and Originals. 'Music for the soul'
Articles, blogs and other texts written by Millicent
Sleep issues are the part of my menopause journey that I’ve found the most detrimental. I figured out early on that I needed to tackle them. Here I share ten strategies that have been effective to achieve a good night’s rest.
Millicent Stephenson explores the impact of the Windrush Generation on both her personal musical development, and on the development of music in the UK as a whole.
Read my speech for (MU) Motion 20 ‘Being Black in the UK music industry’, delivered at the TUC Black Workers Conference.
Four month after Desmond Tutu passed away, I reflect on his impact on millions of lives across the world, and also about his role in my life. It’s actually a funny story!
I did not expect the article I wrote for the Musicians’ Union in occasion of World Menopause Day 2020 to have such an impact. It makes me happy to see how all these healthy and very necessary conversations sparkled from it!
I bet that’s not a question most people ask themselves frequently. We are used to sweep that kind of topics under the rug. However, this is only a disservice to the entire community of musicians, including those that undergo menopause and those who don’t. For that reason, I wrote an article with all about it for the Musicians’ Union.
Towards the end of December, the Musicians Union shared my article on menopausal musicians on their Twitter account. I am glad they keep the articles rotating to ensure more people who might benefit from them can read them.
“Femininity is cherished and exploited in the music industry. Producers make their fortunes by selling a version of feminine sexual perfection and we see this through comments such as ‘You sound ok but you just don’t have the right look’ which is mentioned in TV music competitions. The winner goes through a complete make-over with additional air brushing to personify ultimate beauty and achievement. But then, years later, what happens when the menopause hits?”
October 18th was established as World Menopause Day to raise awareness about the issues, experiences and challenges that this natural stage of life brings to a bit more than half the population of the world, yet is hardly spoken about and even considered a bit “taboo”. To contribute to this campaign, I wrote an article for the Musician’s Union to shed some light over life as a menopausal musician.
