I received a catalogue in the mail. No surprise at this time of year. What did surprise me was my reaction to the name of the catalogue. I was insulted. The offending sales piece was called, As We Change. A quick flip through its pages validated the indignity I suspected I was suffering. There were jeans, referred to as "tummy tuck jeans" with some girdle like contraption sewn into the the front to lessen that mid gut bulge that supposedly happens to women with middle age. By the way, if it does happen to a majority of older women, why hide it, if it's a natural marker of "the change." Also featured in the catalogue were pills designed to enhance lagging libidos. And of course there were "mature" models looking ever so content next to products like those promising stress relief and better sleep. Okay but couldn't these universal issues be due to any number of other causes, like financial strains, work/life imbalance, caregiver blues or perhaps battles with the co-op board, all things unrelated to "the change"?

What really galls me is the cryptic yet in your face allusion to menopause and the erosion that goes with it. "As we change." Linda, a friend of mine said, "Change what, I've been changing all of my life." No she's not dense, she just doesn't want to be told in a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" kind of way that she's doomed to head down the invisibility road, unless she takes some immediate action like suck on the same beauty pills as Mudd's Women did in one of the original Star Trek episodes.

This catalogue retailer hit a nerve because of its not so veiled implication that women in their 40's, 50's and beyond are entering a problematic future marked by physical deterioration, loss of passion and desire, as well as neverending searches for restrooms everytime they leave the house. Don't young nubile pregnant women face this? Even the tag line for the catalogue makes the case, "Feel Better, Look Better, Live Better". I haven't been feeling bad, I don't think I look bad, and I know that I took on the challenge of living better ten years ago, well before I even neared midlife. This tag line supports a supposition that suggests I'm just not up to snuff. I don't buy this and thankfully neither do my friends. Hopefully, neither will any other woman regardless of what age she happens to be.