Janet CollinsCougar Country
February 2nd 2010 04:57
Who is it exactly that comes up with tags for women? The one that’s being doing the rounds for a while now is the Cougar. Mostly defined as women who hunt men for brief affairs but like to be in charge. The Cougar was characterized perfectly by Kim Cattrall’s character, Samantha, in Sex and the City but the whole definition of the Cougar seems to have changed since then.
The urban dictionary has many different posts offering various meanings for the term from aggressive to one who pounces, one who has a tendancy to frequent night clubs and bars and a woman who dares not look at any male over 25.
Most put this woman’s age at 35 and over but some go as low as 30. One entry even cited Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon as an example – hardly a fleeting affair.
While these little pieces might provide a bit of light entertainment, I was aghast at an article in the paper on the weekend that actually started claiming it was a female condition that has come about because woman outnumber men, particularly in the 40 to 54 age bracket.
In fact “the Cougar” now seems to be any woman (this now has risen to the age of 40) who seeks younger men, not just necessarily for a one night stand or a fleeting uncommitted affair either, but a relationship generally.
Hot spots for these cougars seemed to be calculated, not by any survey or something that could be even semi-substantial evidence, but by the number of single women in these areas, most of which were in the inner Sydney region but some of these clusters were found a lot further away.
Even demographer, Bernard Salt, was quoted as identifying Sydney’s chic eastern suburbs area, Elizabeth Bay, as one of the hottest.
The article trotted out Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures for each of the areas with the greatest number of single “older” women but did anyone bother to ask any of them if they were after a much younger bloke? I don’t remember any question in the Census at least that asks any question like it.
While conversations about this can probably liven up a dinner party or barbeque, there are a lot of assumptions in this type of calculation. Many women, even much older than those in the bracket I mention, still flirt. That’s what women do. That doesn’t mean that they are about to leap out in the middle of the night on a desperate hunt for some unsuspecting male who still has hair and hasn’t grown a large waistline yet.
I don’t even know if these statistics took into account sexual leanings which could mean a lot of these women may not be looking for men at all, let alone younger ones.
We all loved watching Samantha and her unashamed brash flirting and true, she enjoyed casual relationships more than permanent ones. One of the greatest attractions of her character was that she had no inhibitions when it came to men, but some of the ones she hooked were at least her age even if some were younger.
When social scientists and demographers start using terms such as this one, they almost become a demographic in themselves, even if they are unqualified. The trouble is, the definition of the Cougar seems to have morphed along the way from being a man eater, to an older woman hunting down a younger man to being just a 40s plus woman.
If the term is going to be used in serious discussions about social demographics, then at least we should get the definition straight.
Sourced: www.smh.com.au
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