What the hell is this bullshit about being a ‘cougar’?!!!! I gotta tell you all how pissed I am at this labeling of women who are fit as they age. We’re made fun of for just about anything these days…especially when it comes to aging (can you tell this is a sore spot for me?!) If, as we age, we put on some weight…that’s an issue. If, as we age, we turn grey…that becomes an issue. If, as we age, we stay fit…apparently THAT now becomes an issue. What the #$%@ is a girl to do?! We don’t have these ‘coined’ phrases for men. They age with grey hair, and their handsome…they age and put on some weight, it’s ok (actually they get some empathy on this one…”oh it’s natural, poor guy”)…they age and stay fit, and everybody is impressed. Only we women get the shit for aging and staying ‘together’. Can someone please cut us a break?! So, I’ve attached a picture of me as I’m two months from turning 50 and quite frankly, call me what you want!
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I hear you. I am in searching to understand too. We are constantly defined and labeled, esp. by some. I think too as we age..our american culture does not know what to do with woman’s sexuality as women age.
thus the cougar…label. not quite sure,…just a thought.
Hi Stephanie, I coined the equally nasty word “peccary” for men and it was accepted by Urban Dictionary! Here’s the entry:
Peccary
An older man who tries to date young women. Most peccaries have beer bellies, receding hairlines/comb-overs (or visible hair plugs), liver spots, and bad knees. A common peccary habit is brandishing a platinum Visa or a sucker’s wad of cash (one $50 on the outside, while the rest of the padding is strictly ones). Peccaries often can’t hold their liquor and bellow out “I’m a parrot head!” when a Jimmy Buffet song comes on. Don’t believe any peccary’s story about “doing blow with the Eagles in ‘78.”
Totallly agree. Here is our youth obsessed culture, which puts a premium on looking great and staying fit. Yet, when women stay fit and look great into their 40s and 50s (and 60s – my mother in law is my idol in this regard), they’re tagged (bad pun, but I’m sticking with it) as “cougars” and thereby diminished.
I say ignore it, and revel in the fact that you are strong, together and – oh, incidentally – almost 50.
Holy Crap!!…I am seized with severe back muscle envy as I spy that photo! Wish I had lifted a few weights at the gym today and not just sat like a dope on the bike reading People magazine. Telling you that you look great is an understatement!
I think you were probably a pig in a past life. God feels guilty about that one and has given you a rockin’ bod this time around. Whew, maybe I’ll get your bod in the next life.
Stephanie, I call you: Gorgeous. And inspiring.
I totally hear you on the ridiculous “cougar” thing–and on aging in general. This is one reason I don’t “lead” with my age, but I never lie about it either. When people get to know me, see me once or twice, and then find out I’m 54–they can make what they want of it.
P.S. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care that I can “pass,” but think that reflects on my lifelong insecurity more than anything else.
You rock, and you deserve to ring in 50 with all the bells and whistles you can muster! And I want to take a class from you.
God, I am so glad we can all agree that the “Coug” thing is totally awful. Awful!! Yuck. I am so sick of that word, and that concept, when I first heard it, I was so put off. Yay for your blog.
Hey girls…Thank you ALL for your ‘cougar’ support! Now that I’m two weeks from turning 50 (yikes!) it’s more important than ever to feel your empathy around this issue. Yippee for 50!