The Cougar Craze Continues
“MILF” is so 1999. Hollywood has been obsessed with “Cougars” for years now, and what once seemed like a fleeting cultural trend instead proved to have staying power.
No one knows exactly who coined the term “Cougar,” though its popularity took off when actress Demi Moore started dating Ashton Kutcher, 15 years her junior. It’s not the first time May-December relationships have been popularized by the media, but never before have they been so commercially exhausted for a profit.
The latest in the lineup is the new comedy series Cougar Town, starring Courtney Cox, which premiered last week on ABC.
In the show, recent divorcée Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox), “discovers that the only way to find yourself, is to let yourself go. After all, you only get one chance to experience your 20s. Even if it’s when you’re 40 something.” [1]
The show does have a point about it being more socially acceptable for older men to date younger women. But their version of turning the tables seems less like a source of empowerment, and more like a desperate anti-aging tactic.
In April of this year, TV Land created a Bachelorette-esque reality show, simply called The Cougar.
Hosted by Vivica Fox, The Cougar claims to be “a game changing, provocative new reality show that redefines the rules of dating.” [2]
In actuality, they’ve created a mundane and formulaic reality show, just like all the others. The only difference is a redundant link forged between age and felinity – a 40-something cougar and her 20-something cubs. The young men are even followed around with a “Cub-Cam,” for web exclusives.
Cougar dating isn’t just for cable, either. TheCougarConnection.com claims to be “the best place to find cougars, cubs and prey.” It also offers “active chat rooms,” like “The Play Room” and “The Wild Room,” to find potential hook-ups.
On UrbanCougar.com, you can not only find a date, but also discuss what Cougar culture means, read steamy success stories from former clients, and rate pictures of women competing for “Cougar of the Month”.
The lesser-known Canadian dating site, CougarDate.com offers a “Cougar Manifesto,” declaring “the most successful cougars are those that married well and got huge divorce settlements. Lesser Cougars were feminists who clawed their way to the top and made their own money.” [3]
2007 also brought us The Cougar Club, a gross-out comedy met with dismal sales.
To top it all off, the first national Single Cougars Convention took place earlier this month in Palo Alto, California - not to be confused with Las Vegas’ 1st Annual Cougar Convention. Current.com reporter Ben Hoffman went to check it out:
There’s nothing wrong with age disparity in romantic relationships with consenting adults. But the sudden commercialization of this trend is more about exploitation than empowerment, and there’s nothing sexy about that.
Sources:
[1] Cougar Town: About the Show // ABC
