Comments on: Rhymes with chick

By: Cat

Cat — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:45:38 +0000

Okay, I’ve got to say, you have hit a cultural nerve, and I will be reading your book. I’m 39, and I was at the mall recently wondering what I was supposed to do for the next decade - while I’m not going to be buying clothes at “Forever 21″, I’m also not quite ready to start shopping exclusively at JC Penney. I’m working on a master’s degree, and I regularly find myself in gym class with people who could easily be my children. I want to kick the prof whenever she tells me, “Try to relax” - you try standing in your underwear in a roomful of fit, tan, lithe 20-something girls (including said prof) when you’ve got cellulite, stretch marks, and spider veins to call your own, and see how relaxed you feel. It’s as if even admitting that these facts exist breaks some kind of cultural taboo - we’re all supposed to spring effortlessly from being Britney Spears to being Dame Judy Dench at a single blow, with nothing in between. As for the haters, let me quote Gloria Steinem: “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

By: Laurel

Laurel — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:07:33 +0000

You know, I wasn’t going to buy your book, only because I’m cheap. All the negative comments made me change my mind. I love myself and my life, but growing old stinks. Every time I need surgery or physical therapy for another ailment, when I look in the mirror and see my mother or contemplate the indignities of aging, I have to work on coming to terms with it. Mortality is the great and terrifying definer of our lives, and every sign of aging slaps us in the face with it. I believe in Jesus, I’m not worried about the afterlife, it’s what happens between now and then that bothers me. It isn’t superficial, no one wants to be old, needing help with daily tasks, but it beats the alternative. It takes work to have equanimity in aging. If you can laugh, it really helps. I think the negative comments you receive simply reflect the angst of this subject.

By: DianeWT

DianeWT — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:09:25 +0000

I’m on a friend’s computer and don’t want to create an aol account to leave this comment, but this is my comment to that screed.

“The question remains: why would women in their 30s and 40s feel that the best years of their lives are past?”
That’s precisely the point Dolgoff is making in her book. She is in the middle of her best years . . . even while society has decided not to look at her so much anymore. Did you read past the first two pages? It’s a laugh-and-think-at-the-same-time kind of book. It skewers our youth obsessed culture and at the same time complains about some of the indignities of middle age. She’s funny and she’s not wearing a feminist sign around her neck, but this is basically a feminist book that answers most of the questions you raised in this review.

By: Joel

Joel — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:22:34 +0000

Okay, I get the not naming writers, but why can’t you say the various names for female genitalia? This post was such a letdown.

By: Denise

Denise — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:31:20 +0000

Hi I am turning 40 in November and a little upset about it but I hope your book will ease me into the transitions of this new decade. I hope this will be a turning point in my life a much better part of it. My children are older now I have friends that are having children now so I kind of feel out of touch but then again, it can get complicated I just need some advice …

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:58:07 +0000

It’s been a long day and I’m probably confused…but the article you link to (from Politics Daily) was written by a woman, not a guy. (?)

One thing to note…in spite of the negative intent of her statement:
“It’s funny, not to say ridiculous, that such a superficial and opportunistic book can make it to the point that we are talking and writing about it.”

…the reality is that people ARE talking and writing about it. You’ve obviously hit a nerve! Whether people love it or hate it, I love that you’ve made people talk…and think. That’s a good thing!