My name is Hungrygirl, and I am a 'Formerly'

Defining Moment #1:

Standing on cold bathroom tiles under some unflattering flouro lighting. Slapping on a little bit of makeup (not too much!) Stretching the skin around the eye taught to apply eyeliner. Letting it go and --

The skin just stays there.

Sadly pushing it back to where it's supposed to be.

DM #2:

Looking at photos of a good time taken by friends when unawares. Laugh lines stretch all the way to hair line.

DM #3:

Being heckled by boorish types while walking past a construction site. Realising that the commotion is intended for someone else.

Hang on -- these moments need not be defining, nor devastating. I'm not Blanche Dubois! I have skills! I watched the documentary Blue Eyed as a young girl! (Jane Elliot, the civil rights champion tells a 'Valley Girl' in one of her workshops to 'Get over cute. You'll be cute until you're about 40. Then you'll go for a promotion and you won't get it because they won't think of you as competent, they'll just think of you as cute. And then you'll howl sexism. Get qualified! Get competent!') It made quite an impression.

But deep in the recesses of my mind, I know that I'm kind of, you know, pretty. And it's hard to watch that fade a little. It's difficult to consider the alternatives: Should I let someone inject botulism into my face in order to paralyse certain problem areas? What if I want to express myself? Should I go under the scalpel? Some famous bitch once quipped: 'Your face can lie, but your neck tells the truth.' I am quite relieved that feminism has made it possible for women to have lives beyond their appearance, but my face and body are changing, friends -- and I'm not loving it.

So, it was with great relief when I stumbled upon Stephanie Dolgoff's Blog Formerly Hot. Filled with humorous anecdotes from the author and lots of other 'Formerlies', it makes wonderful (and comforting) reading. There must be a lot of us out there, as her book My Formerly Hot Life is on the New York Times bestseller list. Dolgoff's blog and book provide fab strategies to deal with your looks losing their lustre - and let's face it - it will happen to us all!