The first of the baby-boomers have reached the half-century mark. And, as always, they're changing our cultural view of things. Dowling shares her own transition to maturity. She takes a look at the issues affecting women as they age in our culture: sex after menopause, marrying more than once and finances, to name a few. Armed with enough information, maybe we women can start to view age as a good thing.


From Publishers Weekly
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.


From Library Journal
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.


From Booklist
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


Book Description
Colette Dowling's uplifting book celebrates the myriad possibilities for women who are now turning 50. "Red hot mamas" are the dozens of women (some famous, some not) who are defying stereotypes to discover renewed power and vitality at midlife. In honest, empowering language, the women share with readers their energetic approaches to menopause, career changes, family life, and intimacy.


From the Publisher
Here's a compulsively readable dispatch from the frontiers of fifty--funny and bracing, savvy and inspiring. "Red hot mamas" are the dozens of women (some famous, some not) Colette Dowling interviewed who are discovering their power and vitality at midlife--many for the first time. Defying the stereotype of the woman who is on-the-shelf at fifty, they are reinventing themselves: redefining family responsibilities, changing jobs and careers, discovering new approaches to menopause, and remaking their intimate relationships.Dowling is honest about the pitfalls, pinpointing the key dilemmas women must solve if they are to keep moving forward through the "age barriers" of our culture. But whether she's discussing new sexual strategies, the politics of face-lifts, the lure of a red sports car or the lure of a new marriage, there's no mistaking the mood of celebration. Red Hot Mamas is the best fiftieth birthday present ever for a ground-breaking generation of women now poised to take off on the second half of their adult lives.


From the Inside Flap
Colette Dowling's uplifting book celebrates the myriad possibilities for women who are now turning 50. "Red hot mamas" are the dozens of women (some famous, some not) who are defying stereotypes to discover renewed power and vitality at midlife. In honest, empowering language, the women share with readers their energetic approaches to menopause, career changes, family life, and intimacy.

ANNOTATION

From the bestselling author of The Cinderella Complex comes a joyously on-target new book for the hottest and fastest growing market in North America--Baby Boomers about to hit fifty. Learn how dozens of women are discovering their power and vitality at midlife and defying the stereotype of the woman who is "on-the-shelf" at 50.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Colette Dowling offers a gift to every woman edging up to, at, or just beyond age fifty - the gift of meeting the "Red Hot Mamas," women who have arrived at midlife to find that they're getting another chance. Listen to their stories - of moving beyond fears of aging and changing, of learning to steer their own course and discovering a new sense of freedom and power. Funny and poignant, savvy and intimately personal, Red Hot Mamas doesn't skirt the issues. Colette Dowling's account of her own midlife transition is bracingly honest about the challenges of growing older as a woman in our society - from the politics of appearance to the need to come to grips, once and for all, with money issues, and the family pressures created by older parents and departing children. But whether she's discussing the latest scientific debates over hormone replacement, the risks of career change at fifty, or strategies for midlife sexual satisfaction, she gives readers the information they need to make life-changing decisions - and to comfort the really big questions: What is the most exciting and fruitful way I can make use of the next thirty or forty years? Where, how, and in whose company shall I spend them? and How can I best protect my options and harness my energy?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

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.'' (Feb.)

Library Journal