Response to reading 10/19/2010

Here is the ambivalence: when reading LEAN AND MEAN by Susan J. Douglas, I thought I will never take any cosmetic surgery; however, when reading HORMONAL HURRICANES: MENSTRUATION, MENOPAUSE, AND FEMALE BEHAVIOR, I just cannot help thinking the possibility and methods that can keep me being a real female as long as possible. I do not know where does it from, but I do have the opinion that menopause can be a disaster that deprived women not only of reproductive ability but also of the real joy of being women. I just realized that I am a real victim of the current beauty culture not because I keep myself to be a size-zero but because although I am only 17 now, I am already in fear of growing old. It is really hard to remain untouched in such a society where fashion magazines and Tv shows always suggest that how terrible it is to be old with cosmetic surgery ads keep telling you that how simple it is to remain youth. We are keeping told things like “Always remember to wear sun-block”, ”Start taking cosmetic surgery as young as possible”, and “Do not eat these things that may ruin your beauty” as if being old is an disaster. This society always celebrate pathological beauty. And I think it is absurd for women to start worrying about old aging skin when we are still young. The time women used to keep our youth actually deprived us of enjoying the real part of being youth. Although HORMONAL HURRICANES: MENSTRUATION, MENOPAUSE, AND FEMALE BEHAVIOR really did a good job in introducing the history of the methods of research and views towards menstruation and menopause, I really want it to tell me the best parts of being old. If people can know more about the benefits of becoming old, women will stop being “lean and mean” and will spend more time to do something of more worth.