Cougar relationship

[mortensorchid]

I have a boyfriend now, we've been together for about a year and a half.  Things are good.  He is also 7 years my junior (I am 49, he's 42).  I am being called a cougar by some when they ask how old he and I are.  I joke with them "I feel like a turkey half the time".  Ha ha ha ...

How much of an age difference do you have to have between an older woman / younger man for it to be considered a cougar relationship?  Obviously if there was a 10+ year difference it would be, but am I in one for 7?  Some say that I am. 

[Wiseman2]

Maybe over 10 years or so. However it may describe more of a particular dynamic than the age difference. 

 

[basil67]

According to the internet, a Cougar refers to a sexually experienced, generally older woman who pounces on it's prey.   I'm thinking of Stiffler's mom and her son's buddy.

[Weezy1973]

You’re not a cougar. I’d say old enough to be their partner’s mom would be cougar material. 

[Alpacalia]

That's hardly cougaring. If you take the most common "half your age plus seven" rule for figuring out if there's much social stigma around a relationship and apply it the other way, right now you're 49 - that's half of 7, plus 7, so dating around 41 you're starting to be right in the sweet spot. Not to mention, the idea that you have any obligation to adopt some special label and identity because you're dating someone seven years younger is totally silly.

[mortensorchid]

1 hour ago, Weezy1973 said:

You’re not a cougar. I’d say old enough to be their partner’s mom would be cougar material. 

I will remember this.  Madonna was/is a cougar when she married Guy Richie who I think was 10 years younger.  And she has a boyfriend now who is apparently 41 years her junior and that is CERTAINLY a cougar relationship.  But in that case I doubt quite a bit - I think she's just "appearing" or "being seen" with that guy to try to keep her edgy appeal when she's ... Not really anymore.  

[Wiseman2]

French President Emmanuel Macrons  wife Brigitte Macron is 24-years older.. They just refer to it as an "age-gap" relationship. 

[Alpacalia]

JLo and ex Casper -  18 years her junior, dated for five years met on the set of her vid. 

 Then there were reports that he was caught cheating with a transexual model.

Now she's back with Ben. Bennifer. 

 

[Els]

7 years at 49 is almost nothing. If you were 30 and he was 23 then maybe...

[flitzanu]

i think in this situation, if other girls are trying to call you a cougar, it's probably jealousy that they're your age and not dating someone "younger"