Monday, April 02, 2012

midlife monday: currently on my night stand

Jason - such a little plane
such a little plane!

Currently enjoying;
  • Betty Friedan's feminist wake up call-to-arms, The Feminine Mystique. I admit I haven't read much feminist literature. When I was growing up, sensible girls were encouraged to think of career first and not get sucked into the marriage trap as described in Marilyn French's The Women's Room (which I read waaaay back in the early 80's). All the thinking had been done for us and the theory, as per Friedan's discourse, considered old hat. As a midlife stay-at-home mum I'm only just now going through the same kind of experience and revelation described in Feminine Mystique; even though I'm only two chapters in to the 10th anniversary edition, every second paragraph wrings a beat of recognition from me. It all makes perfect sense. Does this kind of feminism only have resonance for mothers though, I wonder?
  • Iris Krasnow's The Secret Lives of Wives finally dropped into my library account. It's been in hot demand since arriving on the shelves earlier this year and I've finally got my mitts on it. Wow! Again, only two chapters inside and already I'm nodding my head in total agreement. Krasnow interviews and animates her discussion on how marriages last with first-hand evidence from women who have stayed married through sickness and health, and not opted out of their contracts. I must admit, this is a refreshing read in the midst of so much dissolution and statistical evidence to the contrary. Currently it seems almost unfashionable not to be separated, divorced or splitting up. There seems very little popular support for staying together; it doesn't seem in vogue. Inspiring to read therefore that marriages can work, although partners do best when they admit that relationships change with age and endurance.
  • And last but not least, a lime green dino mite from Fun Factory. NB: link NSFW
    Sweet dreams :)
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