Boomer Life

Who’ll stop the gray? (Sung to the tune by CCR, ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’)

I came across a Facebook support group for women undergoing this transformation. Their reasons were varied, as were their ages. Women in their 20s and 30s who wanted to embrace their early gray (but then, they had their sun-kissed young faces), more mature women who were ready to become their “real selves” as well as those who wanted to take back the two hours of time (and money) on a regular, monthly basis spent in the stylist’s chair. That Facebook group, however, didn’t feature anyone who had short, curly hair like mine. ☹ READ MORE

Boomer Life

Retirement Barbie: Imagine that

I was at the gym Monday talking with my fellow exercisers at the Y in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, following the opening of the Barbie movie (which none of us had seen), noting that Barbie, in people years, would be facing retirement soon, as she was “born” in 1959. Born in 1959, she can retire at 66 years, 10 months. READ MORE

Boomer Life

I’m on Team Barbie, and not for the reason you think

In the 1950s, her creator, Ruth Handler, noticed that her son, Kenneth (Get it: Ken) played with toy guns, trucks, and soldiers, while daughter Barbara (“Barbie”) played with baby dolls, enforcing the idea that little girls would grow up to be mothers and housewives. A prescient Handler wanted to develop a doll that would allow little girls to believe they could do and be anything. Hander and her husband Elliott with friend Harold “Matt” Matson created Mattel and there was no looking back. Daughter Barbara took part in the ceremony immortalizing Barbie’s (full name: Barbara Millicent Roberts) hand and footprints in cement on Hollywood Boulevard in 2002. READ MORE