I never intended to seek out a younger man.
Somehow I managed to fall through the cracks when they were passing out the societal categories. Having spent most of my teenage years in the eighties, I'm a little young to be a Baby Boomer. And, I'm a little old to be Gen X.
Up until now, I've traveled solo through this society without feeling a part of the moral or the immoral majorities, the hippies, the tech heads, the grungies, etc. The only time I had even a remote kinship with others around me was in the age of John Hughes films. He was the only man who understood my kind. I, of course, was a shoe-in for Ally Sheedy's "weirdo" character in The Breakfast Club which didn't help my cause when it came to "fitting in." I totally would have lied my way into Saturday school just to hang out with someone for a day.
Alas, as an adult, I grew away from that small group of "Hughsies" and was left again, groupless. That was until a new buzz word cropped up for which, I’m apparently fully qualified. I’m talking about the "cougar." People I knew were calling me a cougar before I even knew what this term meant. Suddenly my rank among co-workers was upgraded to rock-star status. I could hardly hear myself think among the "You Go Girl!"s being hurled my way. was continually forced to shift my purse to the other shoulder to prepare for oncoming high fives. "What had I done to earn this distinction?" I wondered.
If you don’t already know, a cougar is a woman over 40 who preys upon much younger men. It's true. My husband is 10 years and 4 months younger than me. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a cougar.
"Hello, my name is Sharon. And I am a cougar. I have been a cougar for four years now."
(all together now) "HI, SHARON"
And, as it turns out, there are varying degrees of "cougarness." Your top-of-the-line cougar will be pursuing men in their twenties as a rule, mercilessly devouring one post-grad after another. The medium-grade cougar makes it a rule never to date anyone her own age but is still seeking a meaningful relationship with her prey.
