Mantra of the Day: It's a woman's world. We just let men run it.
Compared to other parts of the world, Americans still seem to make a big deal out of it when a mature woman dates a younger guy. I’m not talking about the teachers who are hooking up with their teenage students. (That’s creepy and just wrong.) What I’m talking about are women in their mid-30s, 40s and beyond who date men ten or more years younger. On an almost hourly basis, we see old, bald, fat dudes with 20-somethings on their arms. No big deal. Time and again a guy marries the first wife, only to divorce her years later for the much younger, bright-eyed woman who’s probably more likely to put up with his crap. We’re used to that. Yet a woman in a relationship with a younger man still risks greater and more obvious social disapproval.
The word “consensual” comes to mind. If they’re cool with it, why aren’t we? Think of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins or Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. How about Madonna and her new boy toy Jesus, or her soon-to-be ex-hubby Guy Ritchie? I’ve heard that in 
wine, no?). Thankfully, it’s getting better in the States, slowly but surely, but, will we ever reach the point where it’s not such a big deal?
Recently, there was a great Huffington Post article which pays homage to hot women in their 40s, some of whom have younger lovers. Also, there was that reality TV show a couple of years ago called "The Age of Love." Now, there's a new reality show called "The Cougar". Maybe the more we see this kind of thing, the sooner we'll get over it.
[IMAGE: Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly]
