Online Dating Blog

This week I was contacted by folks over at Cougared.com who were looking to get some attention to statistics they have collected. They had recently finished surveying older women who prefer to date younger men (referred to as “cougars”) and some of the information they found is interesting:

• The most common age group for cougar women between 40 and 43
• A very large percentage of these women are looking for a serious relationship (rather surprising I guess when considering some of the stereotypes)
• 45% of these women have dated more than five younger men
• The ideal age group for a younger man is 24 to 27
• Emotional baggage is what most turn cougars off dating men their own age although the fact that older men are less interested in going out came in at a close second.
• Most of the men (76%) had friends that did not make a big deal about the man dating an older woman

You can see a full report of what they found here. The statistics do suggest that several stereotypes may not be true including that these women are sugar-mamas or that they are just experimenting once or twice. I did checked the site out and I was surprised to see that a much, much larger number of men are using the service than women, at least in my area. I’m not sure if this is because men believe that these women are only in it for sex or because the younger generation is just more comfortable with online dating. If it’s the former, the statistics suggest these guys are in for quite a surprise! Either way, it would appear that women signing up for a service like this are going to get a whole lot of attention.

I’m all for dating the type of person who will make you happy. Older, younger, race, religion, whatever: I don’t think you should try to make other people happy with those you date. I do think it’s a little odd that women get a label like “cougar” but men that date younger women are just looked at as “another guy”. I’m not saying that giving the label is wrong or bad, especially considering that most of these women seem to adopt the title with some pride. I’m just saying I find some of our cultural standards interesting.