Midlife Crisis at 30

Last month I said I would talk about some of the books I read when researching what it means to turn 30 for modern women. One of those books is

Midlife Crisis at 30: How the Stakes have Changed for a New Generation-And What to Do About It by Lia Macko & Kerry Rubin.

What's NOT to like about this book:

1. Turning 30 is presented as a crisis. Instead of presenting women turning 30 as successful or empowered or even just hardworking and ambitious, the book offers that we are all part of a "series of parallel individual meltdowns" instead of actively progressing like our mothers did when they were fighting for equal pay and freedom from our bras.
2. They rely heavily upon research by Daniel Levinson (Season's of a Woman's Life - which I will eventually discuss when I have the energy) including quoting him when he states the following:

• More women enter therapy at 30 than at any other point in their lives.
• Thirty is a milestone at which you realize the dress rehearsal is over - this is your real life.

3. They tear us down before trying to build us back up. I understand that any inspiring, self-help styled book has to do this. It is the genre formula. Tear them down, make them miserable and doubting of themselves and their lives - then tell them they can be better. How depressing is it that books cannot be inspiring and positive without first making readers want to hide in their closet.

What is good about this book:

1. The introduction starts out positive, aware of the benefits of growing up with mothers who actively took part in making the world a better place to be a woman. The second sentence states "Over the past 30 years...what it means to be a successful woman has changed completely." With this - I agree.

2. Glimpses into our future. The one redeeming quality of this book is found in the second half. The authors introduce readers to women who have reached 30 and found success. These are women who were usually starting a career or pursuing one path at 30 and progressed later to find their success, some in different fields altogether. Their list included short bios for the women who became successful be they senators, artists, writers, professors or doctors.