People don’t usually tend to make headlines across the world simply because of their choice of relationship partner, but that's exactly what Kyle Jones from Georgia, USA, did earlier this year.
The baby-faced 31-year-old made the news because the girlfriend he’d been in a ‘casual’ relationship with for the last five years was a 91-year-old great grandmother.
But his lover Marjorie McCool is just one of the many pensioners Kyle likes to date, and it seems Marjorie can’t believe her luck.
“The physical side of our relationship is wonderful,” she said. “I amaze myself, he amazes me.
“There’s nothing better. When people see us out together they probably think that he’s my son, or maybe even a grandson. I have grandsons older.”
Reading this story got me thinking about ‘May-December’ relationships, especially those where the woman is older, and how it seems to be a trend becoming more and more frequent in today’s society.
Granted, a 60-year gap like Kyle and Marjorie’s is still highly unusual, but celebrities like Demi Moore, Madonna and Joan Collins, to name a few, seem to have turned it into a regular occurrence, to the point where nobody bats an eyelid.
When an older woman is involved with a younger man these days, she’s often labelled a ‘cougar.’
It’s a term that has become the latest buzzword, defined as ‘an older woman who frequents clubs in order to score with a much younger man.’
Before we know it, the word ‘cougar’ seems to be a word being bandied about wherever we turn.
TV shows like Cougar Town, starring Courteney Cox have scooped numerous TV awards and books such as Don’t Call Me Ma’am! and the Real Cougar Woman Handbook have been flying off the shelves.
Nowadays, women tend to look younger than they are, thanks to the wide range of beauty products and procedures that are available today.
But by labelling a woman who dates a man who happens to be younger than she is, as a cougar – is society promoting a negative view of women and sexuality, or a positive one?
It could be argued that there is no more powerful symbol of modern female emancipation than the sight of a sassy, mature woman with a young hunk on her arm.
And let’s not forget, when the tables are turned, men have been at it for years.
But I wonder whether the increasing economic success of women over the past few decades hasn’t just increased their spending power but expanded their horizons?
Men who date younger women are sometimes referred to as ‘sugar daddies’, but it seems unfair that the predatory implication behind the word ‘cougar’ seems to be more negative, which makes me wonder if this is just one big case of gender bias.
It’s been said that some men like dating older women as it reminds them of their mothers. Whether that’s true, who knows?
Would they then want to trade in their cougar for a more youthful partner after realising she isn’t getting any younger?
Director Sam Taylor-Wood was 40 when she started dating 18-year-old actor Aaron Johnson after directing him in a film.
By the time he was 19, she was pregnant and they were engaged. She had two of his babies and four years on, the pair are blissfully happily married. As you can imagine, the press had a field day.
A recent study by matchmaking site PARSHIP has shown that women who date, or are married to younger men consider themselves younger at heart than those who spend their time with older men.
The survey of 1,000 women found that having a toyboy can make a woman feel an average of four years younger than they actually are.
And just like their A-list idols, a third of British women have confessed that they too would love to date a younger man.
It’s not just a passion-fuelled fling they’re after either – four out of 10 of the women surveyed confessed they are after romance, lasting love and even marriage with their ‘toy boys’.
Psychiatrist and dating expert Dr Victoria Lukats said: “Dating a much younger man has now become mainstream and acceptable.
“Perhaps this is down to the media reporting of celebrity age gap relationships, or more likely it’s due to the growth of internet dating where people realise that if they are more flexible in their search criteria, including age, they will have more potential matches.
“Internet dating also encourages people to focus on what’s really important in a relationship and for many women, their priority becomes finding a partner with whom they are compatible, irrespective of age.”
I am inclined to agree. Surely dating and relationships bring about enough self-confidence issues without being harshly judged for age discrepancies as well?
If any two people, who are not blood related and are both over the legal age, give their consent to a relationship, whether they’re in love with each other or not, then it is absolutely none of my business.
The celebrity 'cougars'
Sharon Stone is 27 years older than her on/off Argentine model boyfriend Martin Mica.
Jennifer Lopez started dating Caspar Smart, 18 years her junior, after her divorce from Marc Anthony.
Madonna, now 56, went on to date a slew of younger men, including model Tony Ward (five years her junior), Vanilla Ice (nine years younger) and personal trainer Carlos Leon (eight years younger).
She married Guy Ritchie, (10 years younger) and after their divorce, she dated sportsman Alex Rodriguez (17 years her junior).
She then dated Brazilian model Jesus Luz, who was 28 years younger than her, and now she’s going out with another toyboy; 25-year-old dancer Brahim Zaibat, who is nearly 30 years younger than her.
Demi Moore, 52, married Ashton Kutcher, who is 15 years her junior, in September 2005.
They divorced in 2012.
Joan Collins, 81, married Percy Gibson, 32 years younger than her, in 2002.
Susan Sarandon was 12 years older than longtime partner Tim Robbins, and when they split in 2010, the 66-year-old actress took up with someone even younger; her 30-something business partner Jonathan Bricklin.
And one of the more infamous relationships in recent cougar history was TV presenter Caroline Flack, who dated One Direction’s Harry Styles when she was 32 and he was 17. They ended their relationship a few months later.
