The woman who knows Gen X women deserve better sex. And how to get it.
From taking five lovers at 49 (yes, five!), to the style hack that fixes wardrobe fatigue to grabbing a free trip to Turkey with a friend. Welcome to your weekly dose of MID-spo.
Holly Wainwright writes:
Just not feeling it at the moment.
Completely touched-out.
Don't care if it never happens again
Hormones snatching libidos, responsibilities crowding out pleasure.
Body feeling like a hostile stranger.
I asked a lot of midlife women about sex for a fresh episode of the podcast MID, a show for Generation X women. And my messages were flooded with sadness, resignation, and a few sprigs of colourful, fragrant joy. We'll get to those in a moment.
First, to the sadness.
Whatever sexy is now, she doesn't feel it. Having to do all the damn things all the damn time might have settled into an ick that she can't quite shift.
So, she thinks. I've fundamentally changed. Sex is something I used to do. Used to enjoy doing. Not now.
And perhaps she's right.
It's how author and advocate Leslie Morgan felt, too. At 49, her marriage ended, and after not having sex for three years, she decided to change that. Over the next year, Leslie found five boyfriends and discovered her sexual self wasn't actually dead, she was just having a good lie down... Continue reading.
Want to hear more of what Leslie has to say about her midlife journey to enjoying copious quantities of glorious sex, along with all of MID’s other incredible conversations with (and for) Gen X women? Follow below ⬇️
The one thing mums can do to stay close to their kids when ‘the shift’ hits
The shift. That stage with your kids when they go from looking to you for all the answers all of the time, to knowing more about certain stuff than you do, and increasingly becoming your guides.
The feeling of knowing that your roles, if not exactly reversed, are shifting in ways too numerous to count and too fast to fully understand, can be at once as uncomfortable as it is joyous.
And while all this is exactly as it should be, of course, maybe you’re wondering how to stay close even as you encourage them to fly.
And your own mum. You might be one of the lucky ones who considers her to be your best friend. Or ‘considered her’ because yes, that’s the reality for many of us, too.
Perhaps you call her daily, have dinner with her weekly, go on shopping sprees monthly and take a mother-daughter trip with her every year.
Or perhaps still, your relationship is not where you’d want it to be. You talk very little, if at all; a situation which grows ever more complicated by the need to navigate the increasing demands of a parent who’s growing older.
Which brings us to this question:
“What's one thing your mum did while you were growing up — or still does — that makes you want to have a close relationship with her now?”
When content creator, Cree Robinson asked this on TikTok, the answers were surprisingly beautiful.
And when we decided to ask the Mamamia community this exact same question, it was clear… Continue reading.
How to make this viral fashion hack work for you
Getting dressed in the mornings can be hard. Not enough coffee, no time, no energy, body shape changing in a deeply irritating manner…
And while the words ‘viral fashion hack’ may make you roll your eyes, please stay with us because this is one that really can solve a lingering case of wardrobe fatigue. And it starts with the last thing you put on.
The ‘wrong shoe’ theory is all about picking footwear that clashes or contrasts with your outfit instead of going for the usual or expected choice. Namely, choosing shoes which aren’t supposed to match perfectly with certain outfits because doing so is exactly what makes the look work.
Leigh Campbell, host of Mamamia’s fashion podcast Nothing to Wear? calls the theory the key to good style. Of course, there’s a method to the madness… Continue reading.
Want to listen to more of Leigh’s spot-on styling advice? Follow below to get every episode of Mamamia’s trusted fashion podcast Nothing To Wear? and make bad wardrobe days a thing of the past. ⬇️
THE SCROLL 📱
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WIN a trip for TWO to Turkey ✈️
We’re giving away a trip to Turkey to a lucky Mamamia subscriber.
The best bit? Our friends at Explore Worldwide have the whole trip planned for you so it’s totally free from mental load. (Huge win for lazy gewls.)
All you need to do to go in the running? Subscribe to Mamamia. How good.