essays

Boomer Cougars On the Prowl

Mrs. RobinsonWhat’s good for the boomer goose is good for the boomer gander. The sexual revolution of the 1960s isn’t over. Nor is women’s liberation. Meet the cougar.
Are we having an epidemic of female baby boomer chronophilia? The male version is regarded as a natural part of life. What is chronophilia? An age related romantic or sexual preference outside one’s age group.

The midlife cougar prowl is portrayed in television favorites Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives, but none of these characters come close to the notorious Mrs. Robinson who seduces young Dustin Hoffman in the 1961 movie, The Graduate. There are/were lots of cougar celebrity couples: Demi Moore and Ashton Kushner, Katie Curic and her 33-year-old triathlon boyfriend, boomers Cher or Madonna and take your pick.

Social scientists scramble to explain the phenomenon. Perhaps it’s the final frontier of the sexual revolution as the divorce rates hovers around 50%. As we live longer and better, attitudes are changing. Combine Diet, Exercise, and Botox, and a mature baby boomer female can be a “DEB” again. Groups abound to service the cougar—websites, newsletters, dating services, dances, cruses, conventions. You’re not older, you’re better. If vintage wine is good, why not vintage ladies? It’s the sexual revolution taken to its logical conclusion.

The relationships tend to be casual by design. These baby boomer women are often well-educated, financially secure, and looking for sex cougar dating secretsand companionship, not children. Older men can have “baggage,” like ex’s, kids and potbellies. Remember, it takes two to do the cougar tango. The younger dudes are attracted to the uninhibited nature of cougars, their independence, and lack of commitment demands.
The answer to midlife crisis: deny it.

Trivia Factoids

Ann Bancroft, who played Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, was in real life only 6 years older than co-star Dustin Hoffman. To refresh your memory, Dustin Hoffman ends up marrying Mrs. Robinson’s daughter.

According to a 2003 survey by the American Association of Retired People, 34% of women over forty are dating younger men. It doesn’t say how much younger. For the record, most definitions of baby boomers end the reign in 1964, which means if you were 46 or older in 2110, you’re technically a boomer.

 

Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.

Got a 400 word essay you'd like to contribute? Click here.

© 2006-2013 ConceptDesign, Inc. Terms of Use
BoomSpeak - For babyboomers - by babyboomers.