Book Reviews

The Problem With Beauty

Jeanette Lynes (Author)
The Aging Cheerleader's Alphabet. Mansfield
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Reviewed by Kelly Anne Riess

Poet Jeanette Lynes has been called the voice emanating from the hair dryer, and it's a voice that should not be ignored. Lynes' book, The Aging Cheerleader's Alphabet, is about a sport riddled with stereotypes. As the speaker, Maud-Lynn Hope, mourns the loss of her beauty, the reader is given the chance to reflect on issues associated with identity, self-image, femininity, and feminism. Hope's ideals of beauty have been defined by the media. She describes herself as the sultry Ann Darrow character in King Kong, and has brandished her sexuality over men to get what she wants.  But now that she's older, Hope's sexual power is declining, which sends the former cheerleader into crisis. This plot allows Lynes to use Hope to explore society's perceptions of beauty and how women's feelings of self-worth can become wrapped up in those perceptions.

Hope, as a cheerleader, symbolizes ideal beauty, which makes her tragic because her identity and self-worth are tied solely to her looks. She believes only her legs are capable of reason, and this perception of herself is shared by others. People assume Hope is an airhead and a contemporary of Barbie. Those who criticize Hope have forgotten that the feminist movement gave women the choice to be anything, including cheerleaders. The only woman who does not pass judgment on Hope whispers that she always wanted Ken-as if such a desire has become a dirty secret after second-wave feminism.

Condemning Hope is difficult because she is sadly pathetic, mourning the loss of her sexual power, and because, like some women approaching middle age, she notices a change in how she is treated. The loss of youthful beauty means the loss of one of the few avenues of power that patriarchy has allowed women like Hope. Her story of fleeting beauty is a comment on how appearance is overvalued. Hope centres her entire identity on being a cheerleader. She was proud of her face when it was smooth and of her hair when it was its real colour, though other women seemed to hate her because of it. The opinions of other women did not matter, because Hope had power over men. The boys whistled at her when they drove by in their cars. She could get whatever she wanted with her body. But as this book shows, such powers diminish over time, because women eventually will age and some, like Hope, may lose their identity and purpose when they lose this power. When bombarded by youthful images in the media, it is easy for an older woman like Hope to feel depressed. And while Lynes' book does not offer any solutions to this, one can look at her book as a cautionary tale, warning one not to be so focused on physical appearance.

This review originally appeared in Canadian Literature #202 (Autumn 2009), Sport and the Athletic Body. (pg. 119 - 120)

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