Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations ed. by Kathleen Woodward (review)

the apathy of the pervert as well as in MacCannell's discussions of hysteria and the "isms" symptomatic of our culture. While MacCannell anticipates this criticism by remarking that, for Lacan, the feminine "Thing" also has its "dignity," a "sympathetic side," and offers "away out oftheworld ofgoods" (250), not everyone who follows or admires her reasoning will agree with it. Then there are feminists and cultural theorists who will argue that efforts to construct a viable female subject based on irreducible sexual difference and segregation lack practicality in dealing widi the real world. Finally, what troubles me most about this sustained and otherwise excellent effort is the abstraction of the model provided for the future female subject. As I reached the end ofMacCannell's book, I found myself questioning its applicability. I was left to wonderwhat exacdy "the subjective side of the Lady" means? How, precisely, does the Lady that MacCannell ends with relate to a flesh-and-blood girl? And how does this Lady and the hysterical girl that MacCannell begins with translate into the lives ofordinary women? In other words, what meaning, what relevance, what practical value does her model have for me as an aging housewife or for my daughter, just now becoming a woman? The connections here are faint. And so, in a book audacious, ambitious, and appealing , I was left to wonder and wanting more. Perhaps MacCannell will write a sequel that will more fully define "the subjective side ofthe Lady" in her new relation tojouissance. The Hysteric's Guide to TheFuture FemaU Subject calls for one. But, putting any quibbles aside, MacCannell is not afraid to embrace controversy or to stimulate thought. And she initiates a much needed dialogue aboutwomen's ethical relation to society. As such, her book demands response. I recommend it to cultural theorists, to students ofpsychoanalysis, to artists, and to those willing to think carefully about how girls grow into women in our culture. ^ Kathleen Woodward, ed. FiguringAge: Women, Bodies, Generations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. 362p. Jeannette E. Riley Kent State University, Stark Campus As I read FiguringAge: Women, Bodies, Generations, I began to wonder about the influence ofaging in my own life and family. After all, I was just turning thirtytwo , and I found myself thinking more about my parents and what they must think ofgrowing older. So, while visiting during the Christmas break, I asked my mother, who recently turned sixty-two, "what do you think ofaging and age?" At first she looked surprised at the question, and then she laughed. "I don't," she responded, "I simply don't feel old and I just keep moving forward." I wasn't sur138 * ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * FALL 2000 prised; my mother never seems to slow down to think about such things. Looking for more feedback, I turned to my father and asked him what he considered to be "old." Without hesitation he stated: "anyone 10 to 15 years older than me." And dien he went on to say age was something he tries not to think about very often for it isn't something that he can "control." Most people, unlike my parents, do think about age a great deal, which is not surprising with the continuing growth ofwhat many refer to as the "graying of America." At this time, we have a significant generation ofolder adults who continue to play an active role in our society. Age no longer necessarily means illness and a withdrawal from public life. Yet, interestingly enough, unlike gender and race and other social constructs that affect our identities, age has been often overlooked as a subject ofstudy. In doing so, we have disregarded how our culture has assigned various behaviors to different ages, and we have avoided examining how age is portrayed in our culture and how, in particular, women are aged by culture. However, in recent years, many have turned their attention to what is called Age Studies, an area "concerned with understanding how differences are produced by discursive formations, social practices, and material conditions" (x). This attention has resulted in the collected essays found in FiguringAge: Women, Bodies, Generations. Edited by Kathleen Woodward, the Director ofthe Center forTwentieth Century Studies...