As usual, we start with last month's Snarl about Menopause--

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"I'm having a hard time with the snarl of the month this month. What exactly is the problem? That she "wasted her life" raising kids? That she didn't, but people think she did? That she's old enough for menopause? That people want her to have a hysterectomy or hormone treatments?

Tying her career problems to menopause seems wierd to me. Who are these people who want to castrate her? Why is being in menopause castration? What's wrong with hormone replacement therapy? This snarl went in so many directions, it lost me. And by the way, I'm within 3 years of her 45, so that's not why I don't understand."

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"When I wrote what appeared as the September Snarl of the Month, it never occured to me that I would be getting advice, career or otherwise, from a large population of 30 year olds whose mothers have all gone through menopauase. My idea of "making a difference" in the world has nothing to do with volunteering at the local library or holding newborns in a hospital. I wanted to share my experience of this so called pre-menopausal state. I wanted to talk to other "older" women, as I am referred as in some of the responses which fill my e-mailbag every day. I need some solid advice here. No! I don I want real answers from real women who have been there and have conquered. Women who do valuable work with AIDS victims. Women who have conquered their fears. Don't talk to me about setting up my own business. That's exactly what I have done already. And it's going well. But I want to make a real difference now. Surely this World Wide tool we have at our fingers here can be one for us to rally around a worthwhile cause. Does ANYONE have REAL ideas. Even if only to share our ideas of how we can make it a better place for us as women. We still have a long way to go. I wish I could send all the mail I have received with all the advice I was given. Young women still have not learned many of the valuable lessons we have tried to impart if they still think that working as a volunteer in a library or taking cooking lessons can be of some comfort to a woman of the ripe old age of 45!"

-Rose Bergevin

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And the rest of Grrowl!:

^^^ "I just finished the September issue and I enjoyed it very much. Some stories were little harsh for a lazy Tuesday morning's reading, but it beats the newspaper. I especially enjoyed "Will to Live" and the one about the bad day."

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"What a title (Grrowl!), definite double entendre. I think what you have is wonderful. A place for a woman to be herself, not matter what that self may be. If you ever got truly ambitious (like this isn't!) I would be interested in subscribing to a regular, through the mail, magazine on these guidelines. Kudos for your bringing it all together."

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"Grrreat 'zine! I really enjoyed it, it's so cool to discover feminists on the internet!"

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"My evolving kvetch at the moment is the overabundance in cyberspace of whining women and testosterone driven boys of the "now" generation. Is my age showing? I read some of these painfully self-conscious submissions and want to take the author on my next trip to Zaire. Get a grip, girls.... Only in America do we have the luxury of being this self-absorbed. And the world is largely not amused."

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"I just finished reading some more and like to compliment you on your 'zine. I really enjoy the writings (tho, I am male). Hope you don't mind me liking it. "

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