"Women are like Christmas fruitcakes, nobody wants them after the 25th"

"Men are like wine, they only get better with age"

Those quotes have been haunting women for ages and may have caused some of them to settle down with someone they otherwise wouldn't have.  The one thing that many women fear is dying old and alone with cats - many, many cats!  For years, a woman gets the attention of men, so much attention that she may even has to push some of them away.  In the midst of rejecting men left and right, something happens - she turns 25 and all the attention slowly diminishes.  Twenty-five is the tipping age where the dating power shifts from women to men.  As a woman realizes this is happening, she will panic, and try to hold onto whatever she has or scram for a boyfriend in hopes that he will take her to be his lawfully wedded wife.  At this point, the man holds all the power in the relationship.  He can choose to marry her or he can choose to ditch her and find the next 23 year old (that he may ditch in 2 years when she turns 25).

However, the tides have turned BACK in favor of women.  Thanks to Hollywood, "cougarism" is becoming mainstream. Although it still has some elements of taboo, people don't think it's scandalous to see an older woman with a younger man.  Shows like "Cougar Town" and celebrity couples (Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, and Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry, just to name a few) are contributing to the phenomenon that women over 25 are no longer at the mercy of men.  Men will no longer have the upper hand on women as they age.  More and more older women are successful, financially independent, confident, sexy, physically fit and uninhibitedly enjoying life.  If she cannot find an older man, she too, will have the option to date younger men, and it is completely acceptable.

According to AARP, a whopping 34% of women over 40 are dating younger men.  These are likely the result of second or third marriages.  The reason?  Because the #1 complaint of both single men and women dating in their 50s was the "baggage" (or history) their partner of the same age carried into a relationship - always talking about their children, grandchildren, etc. Maybe the baggage is not worth the companionship.  When you date younger people, they don't have that and it becomes about you and your needs.

Looks like the playing field just evened itself out.

What do you guys think?  Guys, would you date an older woman?  Ladies, would you date a younger guy?