The Ladies Are Waiting

Four women in their early fifties receive an invitation for a free "wellness day" and find themselves in a spa, where a hair and make-up artist spells out the horrors of their womanhood, from anorexia to menopause. They may have very different lives - Ms. Luhmann (single mother, office employee), Ms. Gray (pathologist and single, no children out of choice), Mrs. Merz-Dulschmann (housewife and mother) as well as Ms. Töss (lawyer and permanent girlfriend) - but they share a common set of problems: the apparent disappearance of sexual attraction, or else outright social rejection, being judged on their looks regardless of their intelligence; the unspoken decree of male judgements and norms. But there is a sinister plan hidden behind all the focus on the body, the cosmetics, the fashion and hair care. The women discover it just in time - and begin to plan their counterattack.

Sibylle Berg masterfully frees her ladies from the purgatory of all the world's women's magazines, and replaces discussions about liposuction with a feminist discourse of bitter experiences and nasty, sarcastic remarks. For if they overlook where the real battle line is, women will become women's worst enemies - a state of affairs that needs to end.

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