What's up with "Cougar Town"? -- It's sociology time.

Picture courtesy: Cougar Town

Written By Ming Gu
Courtesy of NYTimes online



Recently, there has been a explosion of romances between older women and younger men on

silver screen (one of the most obvious being 'Cougar Town'). And Newsweek even declared 2009 being "the year of the cougar". So what's up with this new media trend?

(Well, even in the last few years, the marriage of Demi Moore to Ashton Kutcher, liasions of celebrities like Madonna, Katie Couric have already caught some attention.)

According to sociologist, this is not just some pop-culture flash that come and go, though the percentage is still small in the real world (5.4% for women whose spouses are 5 years younger, and 1.3% for women whose spouses are 10 years younger), this demographic shift is definitely real.

"Cougars" are at least 35 years old, and are seeking men who are at least 5 years junior. They are usually financially independent, highly educated and not necessarily seeking out marriage or even co-habitation. And people who are in such relationships are more open to the idea that women being the higher earner -- which does not mean that women are willing to take in slackers under their wings.

According to Christie Nightingale, founder of Premier match (10,000 members in its database), "If a woman is truly stunning, a really pretty woman who has a good attitude, who is hip and youthful, I can call some of these men onthe fence and maybe get them to go with someone older. There are younger men who are sick and tired of women their age - they want a woman who is more grounded and more mature. Age is just a number."

Maybe a few years from now on, we'd see more romances between younger men and older women, and it's not just for comedy effect.


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