I Like Younger Men — But Don’t Call Me a Cougar
Why are women labeled predators when they date someone younger, while men are congratulated for the same behavior?
I was 25 years old the first time I fell for a younger man. His name was Jeremiah. He was 21 and so adorable — a clean-cut young man from Kansas with auburn hair and freckles. He was in the theater program at my college, and he loved our Shakespeare class as much as I, as a student in the writing program, did.
I didn’t really think of him as a viable partner because of his age. He was only four years younger, but believe it or not, I had never known a woman who had dated a younger man. It literally hadn’t occurred to me that a woman could date a younger man.
More to the point, I happened to be completely spellbound by a handsome musician, at that time. I went out with my guitar-strumming crooner several times, but quickly found that he wasn’t interested in giving me the sexual attention I was giving him — not to mention the fact that he literally had an entourage of groupies who followed him everywhere he went (and no doubt were giving him as many blow jobs as I was).
I was so bruised by his treatment of me that a few weeks later, I started seeing Jeremiah with a new appreciation. I loved his boyish…
