Thursdays with Tina: The Menopause Edition
It's that time again. Please put that compact down and read our translation of Tina Brown.
Tina-speakWhat it meansThe wives of the Democratic candidates have been something of a visual relief to those of us who have overdosed on fabulousness. Enough of the long, waxed legs of the Oscars and the silk-sheathed golden globes of the Golden Globes, enough of Paris, Nicole, J. Lo and Jennifer. Here come the worthy women of politics.Does this make me look fat?They're none of them cupcakes, but they don't pretend to bake cupcakes either.No, really. Does it? There is such a surfeit of glitz imagery we have started to forget what a real middle-aged woman looks like except on the news (or, some of us, when we look in the mirror).Yeaaaaaggghhh! Turn it around! Don't make me look!The Democratic primaries are news, of course, but they are also the political version of "American Idol."Has Maureen used that one already? Shit.So we're inevitably conditioned to view Teresa, Judith, Elizabeth and Gert through the same ferocious glamour lens.Can I get one of those? And, really, these slacks? They give me thunder thighs, no?It's refreshing to see Elizabeth Edwards's big, concerned face blown up even bigger on a TV screen usually filled with post-adolescent midriffs.Why does my husband watch so much pornography?While Matthews keeps on yelling like an overexcited husband, Teresa metaphorically yawns and turns over in bed.What happened to my sex life?Even if you were in the pro-Judith [Dean] camp, it was tiring to have to pretend she'd be running some outpatient clinic in the White House basement.Unless maybe she would give Botox injections. That would be great."I'm not a 'thing' person," [Judith Dean] told a nation whose favorite new magazine, Lucky, is all about shopping.She's not the type to give Botox injections, is she?We are all less censorious about Botox now.I'm going to vote for Kerry.At the age of 65 [Teresa Heinz Kerry] can sashay down the aisle of the campaign plane in a Chanel pantsuit and filmy white blouse.It's OK to tell me: I should change, right?