Gywneth Paltrow is certainly no prude when it comes to sharing intimate details of her sex life. Now, she has opened up about her sex life in a candid conversation on the latest episode of her Goop podcast, where she got real about how experiencing a 'hardcore perimenopause' was affecting her sex drive.
'My sexuality has changed, and it makes me feel like I don't know myself anymore,' she said in a conversation with Michaela Boehm, a relationships expert. 'When my sexuality wanes or libido whatever hormonally, I feel, like, a grief,' adding 'My sexuality was such a huge and important part of who I was.'
Gywneth has spoken before about the importance of sex in her life. In 2021, Gywneth admitted she was having the best sex of her life with husband Brad Falchuk because she's a 'newlywed', and has praised the benefits of orgasms in the past.
In 2021, she launched a supplement designed to boost female libido and support women's sexual health called DTF, an acronym for the colloquial phrase 'down to f***', as part of her wellness empire, Goop. 'As a female-founded sexual wellness companies buck the conventions of the male-dominated industry, women’s pleasure is finally getting its moment in the sun. It’s paved the way for greater autonomy, better sex, and—yes—more orgasms,' Goop said on their launch of the brand. And who can forget that candle which reportedly smelt like Gwyneth's orgasm.
Now, it appears that the impact on her sex drive is affecting other areas of her life, too. 'I do notice there’s a bit of, like, anhedonia lately,' she said, explaining that while she loves her work and family life, 'there’s something about this time hormonally where it’s like the pleasure all around is just dulled.'
Gwyneth isn't the only one. It's not uncommon for women to lose their sex drive in perimenopause. Surveys have found that up to 40-50% of women going through the perimenopause and menopause experience loss of sex drive. This is thanks to the unpredictable fluctuations of your oestrogen levels and the decline of progesterone.
On the podcast, Gwyneth shared a recent anecdote about walking through LA with her husband's nice, who is 17. 'This man was coming towards us and I just saw him look straight through me and down onto her,' she said. “You know, she had, like, her boobs out' she said. 'And I was like wow, this is so interesting. I could feel what I hear so many of my friends and older women friends talk about – this idea of becoming invisible when you’re not reproductively viable any more.'
However, Gwyneth admitted it wasn't all bad when it came to the perimenopause. 'I've noticed for myself that bumping up against menopause, there is a kind of not giving a shit that I find really, deeply relaxing in my bones, because I don't care,' she said. 'I don’t even brush my hair any more.'