| For several years now, we have been seeing more | | | | men. While the ideal example of an older man with a |
| and more older women looking for younger men. | | | | younger woman on his arm has been a constant in |
| And... this term "Cougar"... is it actually a fitting label to | | | | Western society, there has always been a double |
| put on an older woman dating men half her age? | | | | standard in the way we view the reverse gender |
| According to one urban legend, there's also the | | | | pairing of older woman/younger man. |
| "half-your-age-plus-seven rule," a mathematical | | | | A whopping 34 percent of women over 40 are |
| formula for determining when a May-December | | | | dating younger men, according to a 2003 survey. The |
| pairing of either gender is considered to be within | | | | same poll, which surveyed 3,500 single people (both |
| social norms.o, just what is the definition of a cougar? | | | | women and men) aged 40 to 69 years old, found |
| It's a woman, typically 35 or older, who is in a | | | | that 56 percent are currently separated or divorced |
| relationship with a man who is younger than her by | | | | from a spouse, 31 percent have never been married, |
| eight to ten years or more. We can hardly call it a | | | | and seven in 10 (74 percent) of formerly married |
| stigma. "Cougars" - what dismissive words our | | | | singles in their 50s have been single for five years or |
| society has found to describe older women who find | | | | more. |
| themselves in romantic relationships with younger | | | | |