RED HOT MAMAS Coming Into Our Own at Fifty

The stories of dozens of middle-aged women addresses such topics as redefined family responsibilities, career changes, menopause, intimate relationships, face-lifts, and remarriage.

Dowling (The Cinderella Complex), who is herself 50-plus, strives for a celebratory attitude in this self-help manual designed to guide women through the changes that occur at midlife. Drawing on interviews with 65 women and sociological research, she tackles a variety of subjects including menopause, caretaking of elderly parents, career change, appearance, sexuality, relationships and managing money. Dowling's target group is the baby boom generation, and her upbeat anecdotes deal chiefly with the experiences of middle-class to upper-middle-class women. She argues that, despite the challenges inherent in growing older, the 50s can be years of growth if women are open to change, willing to take chances and ready to invest in their strengths and abilities. In a controversial chapter, Dowling advises the use of estrogen replacement therapy both to relieve the symptoms of menopause and to protect women from disease. She labels those feminists who disagree "reactionary."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The author of the best-selling You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way? (LJ 1/92) reports on the many women who have found new life after a half-century.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Three years ago--"when menopause came out of the closet" --Dowling started work on this book. As the author of The Cinderella Complex (1990), she was well aware of the myths and stereotypes that challenge the modern woman. Here her targeted audience is women at or over the age of 50. Sixty-five women leading full, exciting lives in their fifties along with several therapists and social scientists were interviewed; their experiences as well as her own are deftly blended with the topics discussed. These include: how 50 looks, changes involved with menopause and the pros/cons of estrogen supplements, the burden of caregiving (which can become overwhelming when a woman is sandwiched between the demands of her children and her parents), intimate relationships, sexual changes and expectations, and the necessity of taking financial control. By learning about the physical, emotional, social, and economic changes that are occurring or soon will, each woman can move beyond ageist and sexist misconceptions toward a more satisfying, productive, even red-hot midlife. Jennifer Henderson