Cougars are all the rage

Claire Burke is a senior majoring in journalism.

As I was sitting at home earlier this week, feeling not even a little bit guilty that I had overslept and missed my first class, I flipped on the TV and watched a few minutes of “The Today Show.”

Yes, it was the middle-aged stay-at-home mom part of me coming out, but sometimes I really enjoy the show.

That not-so-extraordinary morning, as I was sitting there after being more than a little weirded out at Ann Curry trying her hand at stand-up comedy, the featured guests on the show were three professional women in their mid-40s.

These were three ordinary women, other than the fact that one wrote for the New York Times and the other two were top editors at national magazines, and the topic was the current glorifying of the post-40 woman in popular culture.
And this really got me thinking.

We, as a society, have made it through the Britney, Christina and Miley phase, and I think we are starting to look for something deeper.

What else could explain Halle Berry – after a divorce, a baby and that embarrassment of a movie “Catwoman” – being named Esquire’s sexiest woman alive at 42?

In the past few years, we have seen countless TV shows and movies portraying women older than 40 as powerful, smart and sexy, which is in complete opposition with the ideals of youth that we as a society hold so dear.

If we really value youth as much as we claim, I would venture to guess that “Sex and the City” and other shows such as “Lipstick Jungle” could never exist.
All that’s left is for the advertisers to jump on the bandwagon as well.

Companies are starting to figure out that mature women have some cash, and they are willing to spend it. What other age group of women would be willing and able to invest $700 in a pair of shoes that will last them the rest of their lives?
Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Take Rachel Zoe, stylist to the stars. At the mature age of 47, Zoe is at the top of her field, styling every young starlet in Hollywood and starring in a new TV show that just debuted on Bravo.

Zoe makes one mistake that other women her age don’t: She hasn’t given up chasing the trends and trying to fit in with the 22-year-olds. Zoe keeps trying to look younger and younger, and the result is that she looks increasingly like a low-budget cross-dresser.

Maturity is getting sexier. There are plenty of May-December romances out there, and cougars are all the rage.

This sexualization of older women also makes it easier for younger women to be sexy. We now have many great examples to look up to, and there should no longer be any question about what it takes to age gracefully.