Essays 9 and 10 Summary and Analysis

Essay 9: The Muscle Mystique

Barbara joined a health club. She had always been weak, barely reaching three digits on the scale during her last year in high school. She didn't join the health club out of vanity; she just wanted to feel strong for once in her life.

Essay 10: Civil Disobedience at Breakfast

When Barbara's daughter Camille was in the Terrible Twos, she was a handful. She took her good old time getting ready in the mornings, ignoring her mother's urging to pick up her pace. One morning, after Barbara cautioned her not to knock over her orange juice—she did just that and on purpose. The Terrible Twos and the teen years are those most dreaded by parents—but they are both ages in which the individual is discovering himself and attempting to establish independence. Children...