A caricature.
She can be found in all facets of social interaction. She is the bank teller lady, the lady at church, the one who talks to you on the bus, your friend's mother, your mother.She is the middle aged woman, and skepticism is her middle name. There is something that people are not telling them and they need to seek the truth for themselves.
She does not trust common knowledge. She makes sacred the "facts" delivered by tabloid magazines and current affair programs which reveal secrets of all sorts -- dieting secrets, secrets to riches, cures for cancer. From Womans Day to Today Tonight she is empowered with medical, financial and legal knowledge.
She does not trust modern medicine. She is an avid follower of alternative treatment. She will push boxes of vitamins on you. HRT is evil. Weeds and animal oils are lifesaving (even though they would never eat grass or the skin off chicken wings), but they literally cured Susan's mother's neighbour's hairdresser and therefore they must work.
She does not trust big brand cosmetic brands. They test on animals or use slave labour or cause cancer. What really works is stuff that you can only order by mail. They can be trusted because they are promoted by similarly inclined middle aged women, or one of 'us'. Having a sister's colleague's niece swear that it works always reassures.
She does not trust technology. Microwaves will fry your brain, mobile phones will make you infertile. The power lines you live near will give you leukaemia, the internet is full of porn and viruses.
She does not trust her children. They are doing drugs or sleeping around or being conned into a gang. She will call five times a day to find out where they are, who they're with, what time they will be home, whether they will be properly fed, whether they will get home okay, who they can call if something were to happen to them.
She can only trust herself. For once she is convinced of something, no amount of persuasion will change her mind. She does not care that subsequent research has found no links between eating bananas and having deformed babies -- Auntie Jane ate bananas and her child was retarded so that must be true. She seeks understanding from other middle aged women and it is from them that she draws most of her knowledge and exacerbates most of her distrust.
She is the middle aged woman, hear her roar.
(The funniest thing is, one day I'll probably end up being one...)
posted by me. @ 3:23 PM
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