Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known as Whoopi Goldberg is one of the few entertainers who have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. She was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar.
She may always be known as Celie from "The Color Purple" or or Sister Mary Clarence from the "Sister Act" franchise, just make sure you add entrepreneur to that list. The comedian, actor and now business owner has partnered with marijuana edibles creator, Maya Elisabeth, to create Whoopi and Maya. The San Francisco-based company will offer products created specifically to relieve menstrual pain and cramping.
READ: Pelvic Pain: The Silent Burden
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Goldberg told VICE the vision came from a personal history of bad menstrual cycles. After not being able to find products that suited her needs she sought out other avenues for relief.
“I have a daughter and three granddaughters and, once upon a time, I too suffered from horrible cramps. In talking with different people about the medicinal aspects of marijuana, however, I would tell them that smoking a joint (before I stopped smoking) used to help dramatically, but I’ve never found a cannabis product specifically designed to treat menstrual discomfort.”
Her new business is a gigantic move for women seeking relief from not only the physical woes of a menstrual cycle, but also the psychological and social implications as well. Women face a number of challenges during their cycle. Abdominal and pelvic contracting, debilitating pain, mood swings and fatigue are a few of the major changes a woman goes through during her cycle. Some women experience even more extreme cases of the blues during their time of the month.
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According to the American Academy of Family Physicans, pain associated with menstruation is called dysmenorrhea, which can be severe enough to interfere with activities such as going to work, driving and other everyday activities.
The pain is broken down into two categories primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea. Primary dysmenorrhea is more common, and consists of cramping in the lower part of the abdomen during menstruation. Secondary dysmenorrhea is a “disorder in the reproductive system,” according to the ACOG, and may begin later in life. Conditions that fall under this category include endometriosis and fibroids which affect Black women disproportionally. According to a new study , “Black women pose a “40 percent higher risk of endometrial cancer.”
READ: How Fibroids Affect Black Women Differently
Luckily , Whoopi and Maya have an expansive offering of products to soothe every cramp and ache during this uncomfortable time. Their line of therapy is sure to hit on all five senses. Whoopi describes what the new company offers and how to reap all of it’s benefits in an interview with MUNCHIES (no pun intended).
“You can start by relaxing in a healing cannabis bath soak. Then you can try sipping a little raw drinking chocolate, which we offer infused with either THC or CBD, the two primary medicinal compounds found in pot—one that’s psychoactive, and one that’s not, so you can figure out which works best for you. And we also offer a topical cannabis rub for localized pain and an herbal tincture, an application that goes back to the days of Queen Victoria, who was prescribed something similar to alleviate her cramps. Now, is this going to work for 100 percent of women? Nothing does, but it’s going to work for a lot of them if they’re willing to try something new.”
Hopefully the new idea will be a savior for women desperately needing a cure for this troublesome time. Issues such as wage gaps, sick days and societal shame leave many women without a solution, putting them further at risk for reproductive health issues. In an economy that leaves many women check to check, taking days off for menstrual pain is not an option in most cases. However, many countries are giving women their much needed time off as a result of this knowledge. According to the Atlantic, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, parts of China and the UK have similar policies. UK social enterprise company Coexist recently announced a “period policy,” which will allow women to take time off while menstruating.
Goldberg’s business is up and running in San Francisco. While other local leaders have been vying for a place in the booming business dominated by White males. Rev. Amos C.Brown, President of the San Francisco NAACP chapter wrote a letter to the Planning Commission on behalf of Tikisha Ong’s prospective medicinal marijuana business calling them out for their exclusionary practices.
Whoopi has also met resistance but was able to hold true to her vision and connect with a like-minded visionary.
“And their response was always, 'Well, it’s such a niche market.' Anyway, after having this conversation several times, a friend of mine connected me with a wonderful woman named Maya Elisabeth. I explained what I’d been hearing and she said, “You will never hear that from me. What kind of medicine do you want to make?” And thus began Whoopi and Maya. From the beginning, I told her I feel very strongly that if our names are on something, we both have to stand behind it. This is not me leasing my name out. We’re making this shit. She’s an extraordinary grower and she’s been creating medicinal marijuana-infused products through her company, Om Edibles, for years. So it’s kind of fabulous.”
The products sold under the Whoopi & Maya brand will only be available in California to people with medical marijuana cards according to USA Today. The new therapeutic way to get through the cycle will be on shelves in the next several weeks in at least five marijuana dispensaries around California . Check out Whoopi and Maya’s new business here. The salves, balms and edibles will hit the market sometime next month.
