Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thirty years ago, George Clooney and Brad Pitt would have just been a couple of old dudes. Well, maybe not them, because gosh they're cute, but the average 49-year-old man for sure wouldn't have garnered much attention from young women.
That's because men are being considered attractive for a decade longer now than they were 30 years ago.
And on a completely related note, I met the sexiest 45 year old man I have had the pleasure of meeting in quite some time a few days ago. Bad, bad thoughts took over my brain. It's a shame that I have much too common sense to drag a stranger into the nearest dark corner.
I haven't particularly noticed this, myself. More and more of them get heavier (it's just how it is), and baldness hasn't gone away.
And Hollywood has always had George Clooneys, aging men that were handsomer than the average Joe (same with actresses).
I do think Tom Selleck looks better now than in his 30's. He's likely to look a lot older if he let the grey grow out, but his face to me just looks better.
I am 51. Yesterday I attended a fair, as I was leaving I stopped at the gate where a group of 20-somethings female volunteers were supposed to be selling admission tickets [but since it was the end of the day clearly nobody else was arriving]. It surprised me when one of them made a remark about desire to have sexual relations with me.
I smiled and made a joke of it.
It did surprise me though, It had been many years since I had last encountered such behavior from a female. [and never from a female so much younger than I].
Had I initiated such a comment, I would have been branded a 'pervert'.
It's not any different with actresses, either. Fifty years ago 40-50-year-old actresses didn't look like Diane Lane or Kim Cattrall or Demi Moore, either.
Actually, I've noticed it a bit, off and on (some days I look better, some... not so much) with looks and comments on occasion from younger women.
I suspect it actually has to do with a combination of things, some operating in tandem, some in succession.
Once upon a time it was typically understood a girl would marry an older man. Not OLD, just old-ER. This was normal enough because it was essentially economic in nature. Older guys had a higher likelihood of being established than younger men just striking out, and that made them better suited to taking on a wife, raising children.
As society and especially women achieved higher degrees of liberation, "marrying for love" moved forward, in a kind of hierarchy of needs way, the opportunity finally presenting itself to concern oneself less with the NEED to marry based on economics, at least in the middle-to-upper circles. Obviously this is sweeping, not a tried-and-true statement by any means.
By the 50's and 60's, we still heard concern about whether someone presented "a suitable marriage" -- possibly a bit of a holdover from earlier trends revolving around necessity, but still demonstrating familial concern.
By the 70's (which yes, I'm old enough to remember) LOVE was pretty much ALL we heard about, with only more notable exceptions (that kind of thing will always grab SOME degree of headline).
By the 80's it was a girl's RIGHT to have whom she wanted and lots of pop psychology was still being tossed around which gave us, especially in America and the West in general, an ever-growing sense of entitlement.
By the late 90's the MILF phenomenon was appearing as aging baby-boomers determinedly held to the precept that people can be magically young forever (hey, I'm NOT blaming women, I'm saying this is a social trend at large) and I recall Sean Connery's appearance in the movie Robin Hood (with Kevin Costner) as the first time I actually heard women in my own then-20's age group as saying "Yummy" over a VISIBLY older man, heard women remarking that Patrick Stewart of the then-popular Star Trek series was dignified and handsome, attractive.
I began to hear remarks from young women geared toward older men more regularly.
By the 00's MILF was known widely and we saw the inception of the cougar phenomenon, now QUITE widely spread and recognizable, although it's achieved a bit of a tarnish to its erstwhile lustre of late. Nevertheless, it's struggling valiantly on, championed by a growing trend of Hollywood contributions and media-enamored followers who, quite understandably, don't want to grow old, wish to see themselves being just as physically capable, attractive and active as they were when they were young.
This isn't women, I'm only illustrating via the more pronounced phenomenon which tends to BE women, since that's where the media goes.
However, a plethora of gracefully aging Hollywood HUNKS has appeared, better-preserved than ever. In fact, it's becoming fashionable to imitate them.
Sean Connery hasn't had hair in years, but I have to admit, he's the guy we'd all like to be, handsome and well-spoken, despite that his S's are becoming more pronouncedly SH's as time passes. Nevertheless, he's still the man.
Richard Gere aged quite well, as far as we see publicly. George Clooney not only aged amazingly well, but GRACEFULLY and with a distinct air of CLASS.
As advertisements for sexual aids for men (viagra or any of those type) appear more and more, very attractive older people are being featured in the commercials -- normal-enough looking but definitely attractive. The issue is coming out into the open (although we still don't hear about the hemorrhaging or eye-pressure except in rapidly-spoken disclaimers) and being advertised by handsomeness.
Beards are coming back into style, a facial tribute more typically associated with older men. Younger men are leaving the soul-patch and the goatee more and more behind, starting to groom their facial hair into more pronounced and fuller beards. It's an unconscious move to portray that air of distinction and capability that comes with aging; we're physically weaker now, perhaps (although that's belied in the constant barrage of anti-aging products) but we're wiser and more knowledgeable than our younger counterparts -- this is the unspoken sentiment across the board.
Younger women, seeing younger men with older women, are turning an eye toward more and more acceptable older hunks, then as it's accepted toward older gentlemen... and as that becomes more widespread, it will be simply older MEN.
It's a phase, just like all the others. Humans are nothing if not fickle, and trends come and go. Only denim and flannel are eternal.
This probably has more to do with people having children later in life, rather than with older men magically becoming more attractive to teenagers.
When I was 20, my father was 46. I would never date someone my father's age. It would have felt incestuous.
I'm 30 now and mom's 51. All these self-proclaimed cougars fall into the mom age group for me. Not sure what their thought process is like that sets them go after the younger guys
Worse, mom's youngest sister is in her 30s. and culturally we are supposed to call the sisters moms too. I last spoke to her a month ago and I addressed her "mom". She had no problem with it.
Sorry, all ye cougars. FAIL
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
