That's non of my business.... never has, never will be..... Who am I to pretend to know what's best for someone else, age wise???...you got that right, I am Nobody.

I agree with your points made. It all goes back to the time when women were property and basically had no rights. Sometimes it still feels that way because of the vestiges of these beliefs. All we can do as women is to not give a flying f**k about what others think. I've dated men much older and also much younger and it never much mattered to me as long as I was happy

Misygyny + ageism = older women should...not exist?

I definitely agree with your last statement, the only time age difference matters is when it is an adult manipulating and taking advantage of the naïveté of a child which luckily is frowned upon. However, I don’t think it’s born of misogyny so much as it is more of a violation of the norm. I think that it is far more prevalent that older men get with younger women and it doesn’t really shock people by this point. However seeing a younger man with an older woman is probably unusual for some people. So I imagine it’s people being baffeled by something that they really should put too much thought to in the first place and just shrug and move on.

I think it comes down to the fact that older men tend to be respected and admired whereas older women, well...
And grey hair! A man is a hot daddy or a silver fox. A woman is just old and has let herself go.
So being in a relationship with an older woman is not something that society tells us is positive.

Is 'cougar' really a derogatory term? I always thought it was pretty neutral. It's things like 'slut' and 'whore' that are problematic, for my money. Courteney Cox had no problem appearing in Cougar Town. I really can't see her being too keen to appear in Whore Town or Slut Town.

Of course there are massive double standards when it comes to male and female sexuality. The dominant/insertive partner is always celebrated as the conqueror, while the passive/receptive one meets with derision as the defeated. "A key that fits any lock is a master key. A lock that's opened by any key is a pretty crappy lock."

We need to stop seeing sex as something that someone in the insertive (traditionally male) role 'does to' someone in the receptive (traditionally female) role when they give in and allow it to happen. The whole idea of 'cougars' pursuing younger men to satisfy their own sexual appetites is part of that revolution.

Go cougars!

Double standards are a rule of life.
No, it isn't right.
See the responses when a woman teacher gets busted for having sex with male students, opposed to what they are when a male teacher does.
Dualities of existence.

As far as I’m concerned, it is a facet of the overall misogyny that affects our society. Just another example of the ‘wow, what a stud; wow, what a slut’ double standard. Does my head in.

I couldn't agree more. Love is love. My girlfriend is 7 year older than I and I couldn't be happier. That's nothing compared to those other examples, but I know people raise an eyebrow anyway.