How We Love Now

November 7, 2011
Founding Ms. magazine editor Levine (Feisty Side of Fifty) reports from the trenches of “second adulthood” to survey baby boomer women’s love lives. The responses are as varied as the aging of Aquarius respondents themselves. The sexual revolution veteran brags that intercourse has “never been better” because “his time my enjoyment comes first.” Others search for Mr. Goodbar in cyberspace. “We are weather-beaten, but not browbeaten,” one feisty 75-year-old declares—reason enough, Levine concludes, for giddy optimism for a generation galloping into old age.

November 15, 2011

Levine, former editor of Ms. Magazine, writes about relationships for women in their fifties and older. She argues that confidence, financial independence, social networking, and maturity all contribute to new opportunities for fulfillment in relationships with one's spouse, family, and friends. Levine gathers vignettes from her experience and surveys research to show how relationships, particularly love and sex, are changing for women. To Levine, this is the "new intimacy" women are discovering as they move through life's changes: the experience of children growing up and leaving home, falling in love with one's husband again, or even divorce and learning to love again. VERDICT The anecdotes are upbeat stories of successful outcomes and emphasize the naivete of the novel experience. One has to suspect not all "second adulthood" relationships end happily or remain fresh. Still, Levine captures how relationships bring opportunity for fulfillment and satisfaction for women in this stage of life. Recommended for women in their fifties and older interested in relationships and sexuality.--Scott Vieira, Sam Houston State Univ. Lib., Huntsville, TX

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