Red Hot Mamas: Coming Into Our Own at Fifty

by Colette Dowling

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553374958
• ISBN13: 9780553374957
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

It's a Wonderful Life

I admit it's been a while since I read this book. On the other hand, I found it so pivotal I have given it to friends and gone out to buy more copies, one of which I am starting to reread now. This book is funny and it is sad. Most of all, I found it realistic and affirmative. I am a relatively conservative person, so I found some parts of the book a little over-the-top, but the underlying affirmative message is one we shouldn't ignore. I encountered the book just as I was dipping my toes into graduate school at the age of 50+. I had lived a fulfilling life as stay-at-home wife and mother and had run my own home-based business for years. I never intended to go back to school, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time and with my husband's blessings and my children's encouragement, off I went in a totally new direction. Somehow I felt this book gave me permission to go for it.Red Hot Mammas is about attitude as much as anything else. I loved its feisty attitude and I took that into the classroom where I discovered that not only could I hold my own, but that I had greater perspective than so many younger students. And the best part was that I wasn't crippled by their social and future-oriented worries. I already had a husband, children, fulfilling work. I was there not to get a mate or a job or a "future", but because I genuinely wanted to learn. I was doing what I WANTED.To make a long story short, I lost my husband tragically during my two years in grad school. I have since gone on to a high tech consultancy job (about as far removed from my former life as you can imagine). I now live alone, with complete freedom, fully invested in my two somewhat grown children as well as my career and completely happy with everything except the loss of my husband.My younger sister visited me last weekend, suffering burnout from family and work responsibilities. My message to her was, "Relax - we can do anything anything we want." That's Colleen Dowling's message really. It's very empowering. Check it out. And don't forget your sense of humor.

Cinderella Comes of Age...

Years ago I read Dowling's The Cinderella Complex and found I shared many of her views on being female in the 70's. Red Hot Mamas carries us onto the Middle Years for emancipated women. Much of it was interesting - this book isn't information about menopause only (thank goodness - sometimes an evolving woman needs a break), but is about female aging in America.From the squeeze caused by needs of children and parents (middle squeeze), to the realizations that we are no longer fertile, svelte and young, Red Hot Mamas offers positive looks at the major changes in the Fifty Something woman's life. She does offer a lot of information on Hormone Replacement Therapy, giving women food for thought. She also addresses the changes in our relationships with our partners, financial independence and our generation's waning interest in marriage - not entirely because fewer men are available. Although the author is a feminist, it is clear she is NOT a separatist, but she strongly supports older women who are more often finding it possible to have relationships with men based on the needs of both. This book is certainly not for everyone - traditionalist will no doubt find this book, and probably this review, not helpful to them. The rest of us will find this a nice read for women going through menopause and feeling down. It offers offers positive stories of what other women have done with their lives. Would be a terrific group discussion read, but also is good as a stand-alone book.Read it and smile.

Mamas should be #1 on the list for women looking at 50.

I am 47, and this book has confirmed my strange feeling that that the 50's will be outstanding! Once we make peace with the wrinkles, bags & sags, we can truly leave behind all the emotional constraints of our first half-century. We can finally move beyond our frenzied and frustrating lives to realize the dreams we had at age 12. What, quit the corporate rat race & become a dancer? Yes! Let our hair turn gray, don long flowered skirts and start a greenhouse? Yes, these and even more "bizarre" pursuits! Collette Dowling shows us how the brick walls defining our lives can be dismantled to reveal the paths of our dreams. I for one can hardly wait for menopause!! This is more than just a breezy book about life transitions. This book opens the spy glass onto the real opportunities of mid-life and presents the complexities of 50ish women as gifts rather than curses. Please write more and more, Ms. Dowling!