Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.
A Woman's Book of Life: The Biology, Psychology, and
Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle.
Introduction: The feminine life cycle
How does Borysenko define the female life cycle?
What is the value of having mythic images of women?
Chapter 1: Becoming a woman
Why is the story of Mitochondrial
Eve so important?
Only one question here, leaving
space for more in Ch 2.
Ch 2: Early Childhood
What happens to enliven the brain in the first few years?
(windows of
opportunity for social skills)
What is important about the triune brain?
How does interaction with caregivers lead to empathy?
How do Chodorow and Gilligan argue for the importance
of interdependence in the female personality?
How is relationality NOT weakness?
How is the right hemisphere of females different than
males, and why is this important?
Ch 3: Middle Childhood
How does socialization encourage females to use their
right brain more than males?
According to Carol Gilligan, what does this mean for
moral development of females?
How have external factors influenced the onset of menstruation?
What is the "wisdom" of PMS?
Chapter 4: Ages 14-21: Adolescence
Why is body image so problemmatic for adolescent girls?
How do some adolescent females lose their voice?
What is important about "relationship-authenticity"?
How can a woman reclaim her voice?
Chapter 5 - Ages 21-28 - A Home of One's Own
How do pheromones influence attraction and mate selection?
(musk, cycles,
MHC, hybrid vigor, PEA)
What does Borysenko teach about the history of feminine
choice to plan or end a pregnancy?
What happens, biologically, after a woman gives birth
that influences her relationship with the newborn?
1916 Margaret Sanger opens birth control clinic in New
York
Ch 6 Age 30 transition
What is the essential question women ask themselves at
this time, and how does she try to answer the question?
What are some problems women experience with infertility?
What is the meaning of the story of "Bluebeard"?
Ch 7 Healing and balance.
How do women with and without children face different
choices during this time?
What does Gottman's research describe about successful
and unsuccessful relationships?
What is the "solution" to early traumatic memories, or
abuse, and how is this solution one that involves the physiology of the
brain?
Ch 8 Midlife Metamorphosis
Describe the psychological metamorphosis of midlife for
women.
Describe the biological metamorphosis of midlife for
women.
How are women at this age "rewired for intuition"?
Ch 9 From Herbs to HRT
What are some of the ways women can "treat" the biological
changes that occur in this age period that are "atypical" and not often
used in "western medicine"?
What are the pros and cons of HRT?
Chapter 10 - The Heart of a Woman - 56-63
Why do American women often experience depression around
this time?
What is the "salve" Borysenko recommends to heal this
wound?
Who are the Cultural Creatives?
Chapter 11 - Wisdom's Daughters 63-70
What are some ways women are described according to the
"aging mystique"?
What is Borysenko's suggestion regarding changing this
stereotype?
Chapter 12 - The Gifts of Change 70-77
What are some of the typical experiences of women in
American culture at this age?
What are some of the results of studies showing how the
elderly can keep their minds active and growing during this time?
Chapter 13 - Recapitulating Our Lives 77-84
How can women pass on "their lives" to others at the
end of their biological life?