Women Coming of Age

by Jane Fonda

The noted actress presents a practical guide to total health, specifically designed for mature women, discussing the nutritional needs of midlife women, a comprehensive exercise workout, the myths of aging, menopause, skin care, and other topics of concern

Hardcover

First published November 14, 1984

About the author

Jane Fonda is a two-time Academy Award-winning actress (Best Actress in 1971 for Klute and in 1978 for Coming Home), author, activist, and fitness guru. Her career has spanned over 50 years, accumulating a body of film work that includes over 45 films and crucial work on behalf of political causes such as women’s rights, Native Americans, and the environment. She is a seven-time Golden Globe® winner, Honorary Palme d’Or honoree, 2014 AFI Life Achievement Award winner, and the 2019 recipient of the Stanley Kubrick Excellence in Film Award as part of BAFTA’s Britannia Awards. Fonda is currently in production for the seventh and final season of Grace & Frankie, which will be Netflix’s longest running original series. It is for her work on the series that she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017. She was last seen on the big screen in Paramount’s comedy, Book Club in which she starred alongside Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen. Fonda also premiered Jane Fonda in Five Acts, a documentary for HBO chronicling her life and activism, at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special in 2019. Jane celebrated her 80th birthday by raising $1 million for each of her nonprofits, Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential and The Women’s Media Center. Currently, Jane is leading the charge on Fire Drill Fridays, a national movement to protest government inaction on climate change. Her latest book, “What Can I Do? My Path From Climate Despair To Action,” details her personal journey with the movement and provides solutions for communities to combat the climate crisis, will be released on September 8 via Penguin Press.

Reviews

[E.H. Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1984, Women Coming of Age is a direct companion to Jane Fonda’s famous workout videos and books. Throughout the decades, Jane has gained and kept fame for many different reasons—activism, daring roles, style, health and fitness consciousness—and this book solely covers her knowledge and passion about women’s health. Even now, thirty years later, it’s extremely interesting and relevant.

While there’s a large portion at the end that focuses on her famous workouts and gives step-by-step exercises for her readers to try, the majority of the book isn’t just a fitness how-to. She talks about the body, every part and every stage. Why we age and how we age, and how to combat what people in earlier generations merely accepted in their later years. Yes, we will all age, but that doesn’t mean we have to be old. Jane walks us through topics that most people only talked about with their doctors at the time: menopause, sex, and the debate about choosing a hormone therapy regimen.

I actually really liked this book, even though I was only twenty-one when I read it. Younger readers need not shy away from reading her experiences, because it’s important to establish healthy eating and exercise habits early on. And while the book speaks to women, men shouldn’t feel excluded; if they want to help their sweetie-pies through “the change” they can read up on Jane Fonda’s advice. Her extremely interesting chapter about the skin, our largest external organ, stands out in my memory. Most people don’t realize how much our skin absorbs from our lifestyle, and how important it is to treat our skin nicely while we’re young and when we age. Read this book, and I guarantee you won’t see older folks as “old people” anymore. You also might take a tip from Jane’s kitchen and use a flavorful salt substitute!

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