Like a child molesting sex starved piece of meat with no identity, but thats just MY opinion,

wonder why it is that an OLD guy with a YOUNG woman is thought to be a stud, but an Older woman with a younger man is called unflattering names. and OH! how I wish I could make this non gender specific but thats an entirely other conversation.

I have decided I don;t care what they call me, it's their issue not mine and I dont have to take it on. perhaps THEY are just envious.

Justification. perhaps.

I've never actually heard it used. HOW is it used?

I've long held that men are weird in their insistence on giving EVERYTHING sexual or female a nickname. I'm sure this is just another one of them.

Yuck...I don't like the term...
But I LOVE the concept ;-)

I don't care for it. if someone chooses to use it for themself, ok, but I don't think it's flattering.

I had the pleasure of hearing a coworker call another a cougar. he explained that she used it first. and this was the week that we were all doing sexual harassment training.

Some people never will get it. Whether it's ok to joke with her or not about it, it's NOT ok to do that at work. ugh.

I think it's kind of hilarious, but then again I have a long history of laughing at other things that people take very seriously. People deride/judge what they don't understand, or what threatens them.

Words only have as much power as you give them.

To use a term almost as overused as "cougar"... meh.

On one hand, the implication is that this woman is predatory, which is unflattering to both the woman AND her younger lover. Really, is he just lower on the food chain?

On the other, I agree that these terms are just silly media characterizations, and I don't take them personally - even though I usually date men that are younger than me.

I don't really think it is any different then Tiger really. What's the difference between a tiger and cougar? Go get em tiger, or she's a tiger in the bed. It's a sexy cat. Not fond of name calling at all really lol, even if it is a tiger or cougar. Why can't I just be a sexy woman, but just as far as the meaning and lingo goes...yeah I dunno.

Meh... words are this funny thing. I remember a friend jokingly calling me a cougar at first I didn't like it... but the more I thought about it was kinda funny. It conjures thoughts of the graduate and Mrs. Robinson and it validates that older women or women of any age can still have "it" if they just embrace the deep sexiness that knowing what your doing. So I suppose I can see both sides... but I am the one who tells people when they call me Bitch ... "that's cunt to you".... always shuts people up due to there own misconceptions.

as a woman who hasn't dated a guy even remotely near my age since i was divorced 16 years ago, when milf came into the culture, i thought it was silly, yet flattering because it was a term that referred to the guy's desires.

i read an article a few years ago by the woman who coined the term "cougar" -- she was an aging, mainstream new york society type who was after young hot male models... she was indeed a predatory animal, sort of like a female hugh hefner type, collecting hot young men as arm candy, not seeking real relationships.

i am not a predator, thank you very much. in fact, i very rarely will make the first move with a younger man, because any guy who's going to be a match for me better have the balls to say so. i'm not coming after him.

so when someone refers to me as a cougar, they generally get a little education.

i'm also not a mrs. robinson. i like young men who already know what they're doing.

Im a cougar and I like it. My boyfriend calls me that. Im 29 and he just turned 22. I hunted him and conquered. He knows it ;)

Not offended in the least. I rather take it as a compliment.

I guess in thinking about it, what bugs me most is that the term is so aged based, and it tends to get used on any woman of a certain age, regardless if it's applicable or not. Personally, I have no interest in 'younger' men. I find men with less life experience than me to be somewhat of a turn off. Worldliness is hot, inexperience is just a chore.

On the other hand, grandpa doesn't do it for me either... I much prefer men who are on par with me.

So when someone calls me a 'cougar' it's evident they don't have a clue who I am, and are calling me that based solely on the fact that I'm in my 40's. It just makes me feel objectified, in the same way I feel objectified when some young guy on Myspace wants to 'hook up' because he prefers 'older women'... translation... "you must be easy cuz you're old and desperate and who you are as a person really isn't relevant".

So it's not that I take the term seriously, it's just that I hear it more often than I'm comfortable with. If guys called women something else on a regular basis that I found insulting, I'd say something. But this one seems to be so socially acceptable that to find it insulting makes me appear hyper-sensitive. So I guess if they use it in my presence, I'll let it ride. But if they apply it to me? Perhaps a gentle reminder that a woman is not defined by her age might be in order.

Then I'll ask him if he has an older brother, or uncle, or perhaps his dad is single... and pounce!

Someone gave me great advice the other day, " if it doesnt apply, let it fly" As in, if someone calls you something youre not, you know youre not that, so they arent talking to you, are they?

On a linguistically related note:
I live fairly remotely up in the hills, and today was 'fix some pipes up the hill' day. All done, I head for home, turn a corner and saw a mountain lion walk away from me into some bushes.
Looked up, and there it was, turning and noiselessly moving away.
Less than 10 minutes ago.
A cougar.

Breathtaking. Literally.

So, at the moment, y'all can call me whatever you want.
Cougar. Panther. That pansy-ass who's now sportin' a .375 and keeping a closer eye on the goats...
I'm just happy to be here.

Whoa.

I hear cougar as,

"A woman at her sexual peak, engendering fear in weaker males and arousal in the ones ready to deal with a passionate Goddess."

PS, I was taught by urban legend that the "equation" to figure out if you are being a "cougar" or not is:

Half of your age + 7 = the age of your lover (or higher) = cougar

By this equation, I can start being a cougar NOW (at 27), but I still can't meet them in bars. :-)

I'm 32 and my boyfriend is 42. Would that make me a Reverse Coug? What's the opposite of a Cougar anyway?