Cougar Lessons

I'm a Cougar... Four Lessons I learned from being an older woman People call me a cougar. I'm not, of course, I'm not even out of my twenties and I don't qualify as an older woman. Yet. But there is a six year age difference between me and my long-term boyfriend, and he is younger than I am. Over the course of our relationship I have learned a few things about being an older woman. 1. People are going to judge you.
Granted, people judging you is going to happen no matter what. A major tenet of humanity is judging other people. You will be judged for dating someone younger. I'm not sure why its such a big deal; perhaps for me its just a byproduct of living in the conservative-minded South. Even more mystifying is the judgment of those in the opposite relationship, an older man with a younger woman. Its exactly the same age difference, but with a gender reversal. When people find out the age difference between Nick and I, there are a variety of reactions. Confused faces, ridicule, comments such as "That's so weird.."or "Wow, you're a lot older than I thought! Ha ha ha." Thanks for the support. 2. It doesn't matter that people are going to judge you.
While I'm still uncomfortable telling someone, that discomfort is nothing compared to the mortification I used to …show more content…
This is a principle that applys to any relationship. We both have friends that are ten years younger. We both have friends that are ten, fifteen, twenty and more years older. And while a discrepency in age does cause superficial differences, it can also add depth and vibrancy to any relationship. We may not be going through the same things at the same time, but it can give us different oppurtunies. To act younger than our age or to be a role model to someone younger. To have friends that can offer wisdom and advice, since they have already gone through things we're just now experiencing. Age should not be a determing factor in any