>this still applies to human cougars
Hmm. Yeah, I guess it would be theoretically possible to be stalked by a human female, too. It just seems so much less likely than a catamount. I mean, human females usually just look irritated and move away…
Yeah, but it takes a pretty big differential before it raises eyebrows - much more than it would the other way around.
For instance, when I first asked my wife out, she was 23 and I was 34. As best as I can tell, nobody looked askance at the age difference. But a 34 year old woman dating a 23 year old man would have everyone thinking ‘he’s her boy toy.’
So it’s not like women always come off looking better when the ages are reversed.
If you’ll pardon my asking, where’s the money? Are they selling ‘cougar’ merchandise or something? It’s hard for me to see where people getting rich off of ‘cougars.’
I was called a cougar once, by a twenty three year old girl who was pissed that the guy she was interested in was more interested in me.
FTR, I’m 36, he’s 27, *he * hit on me, and yeah, I went there. 
I certainly don’t make a point of hitting on guys who are younger than me (although I AM regularly hit on by guys who are younger than me. For some reason, I’m like boynip to the under-30 set). And I’m defininitely not “predatory” in my flirting habits, regardless of the age of the gentleman I’m interested in. What I *am * is direct. I’m not going to play games or be coy. If I’m intererested in you, you’re going to know it. If you’re interested as well, fabulous. If not, we can both move on. Part of this is just my personality, but part of it *is * age. I’m old now, and every day I have a little less time to sit around wondering what would have happened if I’d just been honest and gone after what I wanted.
So call me what you like, I guess. Either way, I’m gettin’ some toniiiiiiiight!!! 
Yes. Incidentally, this is where I first saw the term.
To quote Dennis the Peasant from MP&HG, “I’m only 37…I’m not old.”
Trust me, 36 isn’t old. I’m 53, and I’m sure as hell not ‘old’ yet. I’ll let you know when/if I get there. 
I am in my 40s and have nebver encountered this term.
Eh, sometimes it feels like I’m awfully old for the dating thing. Not that I’m complaining, because I’m having a blast. It’s just that sometimes I wonder if I’m not enjoying this just a bit too much, and coming off as that “oldest chick in the club”. (FTR, I’m never *actually * the oldest chick in the club. Trust me, I’ve checked! 
)
It’s funny, my ex (whom I was with for ten years) recently said to me “You never used to be interested in younger guys!” and I responded “Well no honey, because I used to be 26. There simply weren’t that many guys who were younger than me!” But now, there’s a whole bunch of good guys who are younger than me, and it seems silly to rule them out.
Yeah, but the definition of the term relates to motherly status, not age. Moms are typically not thought of as “hot” since they generally focus their attention on raising the kids, not their appearance. You can substitute “fun” if you prefer to be less vulgar.
I briefly dated a 28 year old woman when I was 25 and her friends called me her “boy toy”. I look really young though. I’m 35 and people still think I’m 25.
You’re obviously living in 1932. How the hell do you post to the Dope? Ham radio? Western Union?
Well, first he was Johnny Cougar, then a more respectable John Cougar, then, in an attempt to gradually distance himself from silly stage names it became John Cougar Mellancamp, and then finally, just John Mellancamp.
But we always just called him Johnny Hoosier. Happened to have lunch with him in Seymour once when he was filming a video… I didn’t call him that to his face. Just John.
This is about John Cougar, right?
I thought the whole thing was pretty hot, until I actually had sex with a 41-year-old.
Generally “pervert” or “lucky”, depending on how attractive and/or wealthy he is.
Mostly in the San Fernando Valley. I don’t know about that 6th Ave stuff.
Odd…some of the best sex I’ve had has been with women in their 40’s. I’m 38 now, but when I was 30, I had sex with a 41-year-old, and it was extremely hot. Since then, I’ve been with women who are 40, 42, and 46, (and a couple of them that may have been older than that - I just didn’t ask) and I have NO complaints about any of these women. They knew what they wanted , and how to get it, and still made me feel like I was part of why it was such a good thing at the time.
Maybe the 6th Ave stuff is just covered up really well by ‘Age Defying Make-Up’? (by L’Oreal, of course… :rolleyes: )
Hair-plugs (for men): how ugly & repugnant.
Hair Extensions (a la Britney): Oh, how Trendy…!
Leisure Suit Larry trying to score: a laugh-track and a derisive running joke with Neil Patrick Harris; not even a minor plot-item.
Cougars vs Kittens: Oh, this is serious reality TV. Who will get picked…!?
:rolleyes: to the 99th (this much irony could put Centrum Silver out of business)
I’m baffled at the folks who are just hearing this term. I recall it from college in the 70s.
In those days the connotation seemed to be mostly positive, as in a nice side effect of the women’s lib movement; it was not the female equivalent of the dirty old man who chased coeds.
Silly! Women are empowering themselves and reclaiming their sexuality while men are just selfish losers looking to get their dicks wet.
But don’t dispair! We at the SDMB have hashed-out this issue in one of the most enjoyably nasty threads in its history.
Anybody remember K.T. Oslin’s song, “Younger Men”?
*“Women peak at forty, and men at nineteen”
I remember laughing my head off when I read that in a magazine
(I was twenty at the time)
Now I’m staring forty right in the face
And the only trouble with being a woman my age, is the men my age.
That’s why younger men are starting to catch my eye
I’m starting to stop what I’m doing
just to turn around and watch them walk by
At the very next opportunity
I’m gonna give a younger man a try
Because younger men are starting to catch my eye*
(I had to clean up the grammar and spelling a bit here. I tried several different lyric sites, and it looks like they all copied the same mangled source.)
Well, they’re presumably country music fans.
Actually, judging by the way all the sites used the spelling “fourty”, I just assumed the lyrics were transcribed by a Brit.