e-mail to a friend in needMore Cougar-mania
The Cougar premieres tonight on TV Land.
“The enthusiasm for the ‘Wild Kingdom’ analogy is a sign of how strange and hysterically funny the idea of energetic female sexual desire is — whether it’s in the form of 34-year-old Drew Barrymore, who has cheerily referred to herself as a “pre-cougar” or “puma” because she’s dated men a couple of years younger than her, or 50-year-old Madonna, who recently dated 20-year-old Jesus Luz,” writes Rebecca Traister at Salon.com. “How sad and backward that we have to give it a nickname, animalize it as if it’s outside the boundaries of civilized human behavior, make it a trend, pretend that Demi Moore invented it. That’s not progress, and it’s not a step forward for women.”
Yes. How completely backward that we give a nickname to women who date younger men. Our culture would never do something like that to sugar daddi….
Er … Um …
What was I saying?
Comment by Karl R — April 16, 2009 @ 9:26 am
Fair enough — but not the point. Just because sugar daddies get a nickname doesn’t mean women over 40 who, God forbid, date, should get one too. (And to put a fine point on it, men who date younger women — w/out obvious stipend — are called … men.) There’s a topsy-turvy, Freaky-Fridayness to “cougar” (never mind the *feral* part) that positions “older” women’s sexuality seem predatory. That’s the ick. (”Freaky and unnatural, but hawt,” as a friend of mine once said. http://72.32.71.180/features/2008/08/origin_of_cougars_feminism_daily_show_kristen_schaal_02-print.php)
Comment by Breakup Girl — April 16, 2009 @ 9:39 am
“Sugar daddy” sounds like a nice thing to have, but COUGAR?? Or HYENA??????????????
Face it. Men are supposed to date and get experience whereas women are supposed to find one man, stick with him and make it work = or else they’re nasty… that’s the rules >:(
Comment by Alex — July 22, 2009 @ 7:35 am