One might not think that Julia Child was Midlife Badass Woman, but she was.
As I was growing up she stood bigger than life on the PBS screen. She taught cooking dishes I didn’t understand and thought I would never eat. She seemed eccentric and ethereal both at the same time. Her 6’2″ frame filled our tiny television screen. I thought that she had always been a groundbreaking woman; changing how we cooked, changing PBS, then I found out that she was a late bloomer. I added that she was a “bastion of hope” to her resume.
Julia Carol McWilliams was born in Pasadena, California in 1912. Other than watching her Grandmother cook doughnuts, Julia wasn’t interested in cooking- her family had someone who did it for them. She grew up to be a self-described romantic, studying history at Smith and going to the big city, NY, to become a famous novelist after college. Her novel didn’t happen but she got a job as a copywriter.
Hold up- I had wondered when I was cursing my lack of personal success (I went to NY to become an actress), did that mean that Julia Child wasn’t always THE JULIA CHILD? Nope. Did that mean that her younger passion burned for something other than cooking? Yup. And like so many of our early dreams hers were circumvented. She returned to California to help her sick mother then was hired by as a typist to help the war efforts – she was too tall to enlist as a WAC. What? A typist? A common typist?
When does she begin to COOK?
Wait, this is why she is a Midlife Badass. She didn’t stay as just a typist. She was promoted and travelled throughout the world- literally and figuratively in the 
OSS. Among other things, she was kind of a spy, responsible for keeping track on index cards where all the operatives were.
She meets her sophisticated, older husband to be in 1944 and then in 1945 enrols in a cooking class to prepare to be a wife. Oh dear, this daring, worldly, medal winning woman felt as though she must learn to cook before she married. It wasn’t enough to be daring and worldly, one must be ready to do housewifey things. However, she failed at that cooking class and a french housewife class a year later. Her cooking was so bad that her husband is quoted as saying he “was willing to put up with that awful cooking to” marry her*.
She fell in love with food and found a fascination with cooking during a meal in Rouen that she described as an “opening up of soul and spirit”*. She was 36.
For the next 14 years, she pursued cooking as an intense hobby; taking classes, giving classes, and joining with friends in the hopes of writing a book. Doesn’t that sound woefully normal?
It wasn’t until 1961 that her collaborative book Mastering the Art of French Cooking is finally published, and she becomes a professional chef and writer. She was 49. In 1962 Bosten Public Broadcasting took a chance and aired a new kind of show, a cooking show, The French Chef, with middle-aged Julia child, at 50.
Child’s career continued for 42 more years and is the stuff of legends. She wrote 18 more books and did 12 more cooking shows, changed how America cooked and ate, in addition to the multitude of awards both for her cooking and national service during WWII. Whew…
Yes, she was a Midlife Badass.
Beth
Who is your inspiration?
Love this piece, Beth. Last year I talked to the VP of Mktg for Lululemon, workout wear. She told me women over 45 were no longer relevant. Without hesitation, I asked her when was the last time she’d seen the corporate home page? It was a picture of a yoga class, and half the women in there had gray hair. No longer relevant, my badass! Brenda
Oh No!!!! According to Forbes, women over 40 control most of the world’s money right now. We are relevant… just way to quiet about it.
Thank you,
Beth
And she was a working daughter!
great post…. just goes to show we should never give up…age is just a number right? 🙂
According to Aristotle, age isn’t who we are, it’s what we do that defines us.
Beth
Great piece — Julia has been my hero for many years! Our family is a family of late bloomers so it’s great to have role models! She was not afraid to fail and move on. My favorite quote of her’s is “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― Julia Child
What a great quote!! Certainly applies to us bloggers too.
Beth
Huh. Julia is now MY inspiration!
we never know where or when we’re going to find the guiding passion in our lives. That’s what Julia Childs was all about.
My husband is a chef and he adores Julia. Whenever we can find an old episode of her show he watches it. He loves that she can cook, I love that she came into her own later in life!
Great piece. I only knew bits and pieces of Julia’s story!
Her biographies are as enchanting as the woman. My Life in France is wonderful. She is worth reading about.
Beth
Inspiring article. We waited until our 50’s to begin our blog in earnest. You are never to old!
As the quality of our lives extend, we have the option of serial lives.
What a great inspirational story. I guess I knew that Julia child starting cooking later in life, but I never really thought of her as a badass. She was a role model for reinventing yourself in mid-life!
She sure was a midlife badass! Loved how you wrote about her progress. Slowly, but surely her dreams came true. Such a good message to just not give up. Great story!
Beth, it was my privilege to have met and chatted with Julia on several occasions (evenings with a smallish group of foodies). Even toward the end of “The Third Act” she remained the Julia she always was, never became invisible as often happens. Glad to find in you another person inspired by her.
Wow– so jealous right now. I’m not a cook– oh I can boil things but not much more than that. However, I read her cookbooks and autobiographies and love to watch her shows because she was so visible.
Thank you for stopping by,
Beth
I think that most of us don’t really come into our own until we’re a little older and I love finding examples of women who did just that.
So many great midlife women who inspire: Janet Reno, Meryl Streep, Mae West, all badass women post-50.
Awesome women, each and everyone!!! Thanks for the suggestions.
beth
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