Some women just give up—they refuse to wear makeup or color their hair and end up looking more like a grandmother than a mother. That’s just not me! --Lynda, 52 in “Good Looks: Beauty, Fitness, News, Deals, Trends," Good Housekeeping, May 2007.
Some women just give up—they refuse to bleach their skin or straighten their hair and end up looking so African-American. That’s just not me.
--Fiona, age 37
Some women just give up—they refuse rhinoplasty or highlighting and end up looking so Jewish. That’s just not me.
-- Rachel, age 43
I know. Like some girls I know just give up. They refuse to give up meals and embrace their anorexia and like, they end up looking so fat, like my sister, who’s 107 pounds now.
--Ana, age 19
Well some women just give up and refuse to have children. They end up looking more like a godmother than a grandmother. That’s just not me.
--Glynda, age 87
Some women just give up—they refuse to curl their hair or streak it and end up looking more like a Native American than a real American. That’s just not me!
--Marilyn, age 60
Some women just live up—they refuse to look hard enough for a man and end up looking like a Lesbian. That’s just not me!
--Nicole—call me Nick, age 24
Some women just give up—they refuse electrolysis of facial hair and end up looking more like Frida Kahlo than Diego Rivera. That’s just not me!
--Lillian, age 72
Some women just give up—they refuse facelifts and botox and end up revealing their emotions. That’s just not me!
--Oriana, age 34
Some editors just give up. They refuse to separate advertising from content and end up looking more like a pimp than a publisher. That’s not for me!
--Diane, age 57
Diane Kendig, a poet, writer, and translator, is author of three chapbooks, most recently Greatest Hits, 1978-2000 (Pudding House). Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in the journals Colere, Ekphrasis, Minnesota Review, Mid-America, U.S. 1 and Slant, among others, as well as the anthologies Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn and Those Winter Sundays: Female Academics and their Working-Class Parents. A recipient of two Ohio Arts Council Fellowships in Poetry, a Fulbright lectureship in translation, and a Yaddo Fellowship, she currently lives in Lynn, Massachusetts. Her website is at http://dianekendig.com/.