Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Cougarlicious . . .

Ship, always on the cutting edge of culture, has introduced me to a new definition for the word "cougar." Now, maybe I've been living in a hole and need to get out more, but I always thought that a cougar was sort of mountain lion or something . . . four legs, fur, and a ferocious growl. Apparently, I was mistaken.

So far, this is my understanding of what the word now means: Cougars are older women who go after younger men, like predators stalking their prey. The poster child for Cougars, of course, is Demi Moore. Another example would be Julie Cooper who had a fling with her husband-to-be's son who was in his early twenties. (And just so you know, I am fully aware that Julie is a fictional character from the OC, not a real person!) Liz Taylor has also married several men who were substantially younger, as has Zsa Zsa Gabor.

But in terms of Metro DC, what age marks the distinction between just your average 30-something looking for love and a predatory, indigenous cougar? Or does it have less to do with the age of the woman and more to the age gap between her and the men (and often boys) she pursues? Or is it her parental status, or maybe the age of her children?

Somebody help me out here, because I'm terribly confused by all of this! If I, at the ripe old age of 31, go to one of my regular haunts in Clarendon and strike up a conversation with a guy who is 27, am I a cougar? And is being a cougar even a bad thing?

1 comment:

Jo said...

No you're not.

Have you seen the cingular commercial?

This girl asks her friend if she knows who's on her boyfriend's 5 and she says no, I don't care. The girl then says "Cause there's an old cougar hanging on him right now?" Friend looks up and says "Oh that's his mom." Girl replies "She's affectionate".

It's really funny. That woman is a cougar.