Wednesday, November 30, 2011

That Time of Life

(My guy readers can skip this one.)

Many years ago a stand-up comedian Roseann Barr had her own television show.  It was the counterpoint to Bill Cosby's upper middle class black family.  It was about the lower blue collar white family.  It was brash, loud and different.  While I did not like Roseann's character nor her real personality I did find the show worth watching as they tried to deal with issues of the day.  For some reason the show was almost like the reality shows today, in that you sometimes forgot it was people acting.  The dialogue was real.

Last week Roseann Barr, who now lives like a retired farm lady in Hawaii, guest wrote a column in Newsweek on how she had changed since she went through "the change."  She said she was mellower, calmer, less angry and more laid back.  She was an angry bitch in her earlier years, and that is why I didn't really like her.  But this column was so well-written  with touchstones you can believe that she wrote much of her own show.

Below just a few quotes that I found worth 're-quoting' on this article about menopause.

  • In discussing Madonna's May-December romance:  "Despite the Botox, spas and youthful boyfriends, about the time you acquire gray pubes, a clothing line not with Dolce Gabanna, but at Macy's, will be all the haute couture your dusty old brand can muster."
  • "After menopause, I discovered the joy of drinking wine, and of sinking deeply into writing and time alone."
  • "My three daughters are approaching middle age themselves, the age when the libido of a woman speeds up for a time, just before it has a stroke, goes blind and dies."
  •  "Hey for starters, we only get old if we are lucky!  Can we let the logic of that sink in Sisters?"
  • "Menopause is the victory lap over the curse of being born female!"
  • "Sometimes, as the months whip past now, like telephone poles from the window of a bullet train, I continue to realize how much of my life I spent firmly under the thumb of Mother Nature..."
  • "...what do I do with some of the time that I don't spend being whipped around by the desperate process of staving off the appearance of aging and all the rest of the crap we're sold 24/7?  For one thing, I meditate, and then think for a bit."
  • "I am here to say, we could use a lot more women who don't beome mothers of their own offspring, but instead Mother the world in a more expansive way..."
  • "You don't need a young athletic body or piles of money to read some of the world's great books; or to soak up brilliant music and art; or to grow something beautiful (and edible?) in a garden spot.  May your uterus remain relatively undisturbed during these, your glorious turban years!"
Seems that I have more in agreement with this lady than I thought...

15 comments:

  1. I did like Rosanne, the show, for the writing. I still quote it occasionally. These are some good ones, thanks for sharing.

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  2. I remember 'kinda a first joke I ever heard Rosanne say... something about if men could have riding lawn mowers, women should have riding vacuum cleaners... (I thought that was funny)

    Like you, I didn't always care for Roseanne, but I did enjoy this post!!

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  3. She usually did make me laugh and cringe. Good quotes.

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  4. Amen Sista!!! Ha! I have to admit that she always made me laugh!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. So THAT'S what happened to my libido!!??

    I always liked Roseanne, except for when she butchered the National Anthem; even though she was often crass and brash.

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  6. We were poor. I may not have been blue collar but the children and I could relate to the Connors family and that show was among our favorites. Roseanne said so many relevant things to women especially and as crass as she could be, she was honest. Who did not love being identified as a "Domestic Goddess". I have only seen one episode of her latest "Roseanne's Nuts" but I can relate to that also since I now have chickens and goats:) My spouse, on the other hand, hates even the mention of Roseanne.

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  7. I often find I agree with some of the unlikliest people....all but the drinking.

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  8. "Glorious turban years"!!!!! Yeah baby, yeah.

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  9. My favorite was when she talked about how her husband always expected her to know where everything was....she said something like "does my uterus look like a homing device?"
    She really is a very wise woman but sometimes her delivery is harsh. LOL

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  10. I didn't watch the show then but saw her on Oprah recently and found her refreshing, especially when she blurted out 'after menopause you don't like sex as much.' The reason being that Oprah is always portraying women after menopause as the hottest they've every been and I find that portrayal kind of depressingly dishonest.

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  11. some of that was very funny; I found myself nodding in agreement about it all

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  12. I couldn't stand her in her younger days but find her an interesting, bright.. even sweet person these days. I've seen a few interviews and have walked away impressed.

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  13. I liked that show- Especially Becky the middle daughter- I was a middle too. I liked the sarcastic humor.
    I didn't read the article, thanks for the quotes.

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  14. I loved the Roseanne show. I could relate to the Connor's family and the issues they dealt with.

    I've seen all the episodes of her new reality show and in those episodes she is still quite an angry person. She is very wise though and has a good heart, I just wish she could be a little less volatile.

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