From Menarche through Menopause: A Journey through Time

AUTHOR'S NAME: Dr. Margaret Aranda

TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT: From Menses to Menarche: A Journey through Time

GENRE: Adult Non-Fiction

WORD COUNT: 120.000

Query:  

Femininity is equated with passages through the pagan symbolism of the Three Goddesses:  The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone.   At Menarche, we had our First Talk.  At Motherhood, we didn't really need a formal 'talk'; it just happened over the course of months and years.  At Menopause, we had...we had our...we had our well, nothing.  We never had The Second Talk.  So many of us Baby Boomers are peri-menopausal, and what is a woman to do?  First, estrogens cause uterine cancer and breast cancer, then progesterone makes it better.  And what about testosterone for women?  

From Menses to Menopause starts with menstruation; its history, culture, and conceptions since the time of Aristotle.   Then it accompanies today's Spirited, Fit and Forty Woman's speedy life, fast-forwarded to the here and now.  Let's give you that Second Talk, ripe for today.  You do remember where you were when you started your first period, don't you?  You do remember who gave you The First Talk.  Well, sit right down and get your Mother in this room.  Her journey through The Second Talk is about to begin.

First 150 Words:

My "First Talk" wasn't actually a "talk" talk.  I was 13 years old, and my Mother handed me a red hardcover book.  The Red Book.  I was told to turn to say, the seventh Chapter.  Okay, basic Anatomy.  The vagina was depicted in a large color illustration of the uterus and Fallopian tubes, and there was a small illustration of the penis. 

No preamble, no introduction, no warning.  Initially it was pretty boring.  A couple was sitting on the couch.  A married couple.  They made a big deal about that part.  Horrified, my eyes widened as the penis was inserted into the vagina.  What?  I had to read it over again.  How did that happen so fast?  What?  How did that happen so fast?  How could that happen with their clothes on?  I read it again.  They definitely still had their clothes on.