In the paranormal world, it's difficult to settle on a definition for cougar--as refers to older woman/younger man. For one thing, it's very hard to define age by appearance.Vampires can be any age. And what they appear to be has nothing to do with actual age. So that hunky nighttime pool boy could be a couple hundred years old...making the fiftyish cougar a mere babe. Or if you reverse it, that young babe in the casino could be a lot more of a cougar that she appears to be. Hmmmm.
Depending on the world rules, shifters seem to have a life span up to around three hundred years, but age so slowly it's hard to define age. Then there are all the new kids--the zombies, the demons, the angels...who can decide what's unusual anymore?
What I find interesting about the paranormal cougarish deal (male or female) is this: no one addresses the issues--the same ones you would have even if you weren't paranormal. Things like one of you has more experience because you're older. Or that because of the age differences there aren't so many common interests. So how does that work between a two-hundred-year-old vampire and a thirty-something human?
I don't recall reading even one book that deals with those issues as a conflict. And I confess I didn't address them in my own book. But now that I think about it, wouldn't there be some sort of conflict or adjustment? Or is the older protagonist just supposed to deal with their memories and move on?
How do you think that would work in "real" life?
anny
Really good questions Anny! I've never really thought about it but you always see the older vamps keeping up with current affairs and technology so maybe the common interest thing wouldn't be too bothersome.
ReplyDeleteI think a 50ish human woman might have the same issues with a 200 vampire who looks 35 as she would have with any 35 year old. And I think a relationship that could possibly span centuries instead of decades would lend itself to just as much conflict as a 35/50 hook-up.
I don't think the older protagonist has any other choice than to deal with his/her memories and move on. But he/she might not be too happy about it.
Interesting and thought provoking, as usual:-)
I read this post a couple of days ago. But, I keep thinking about it. The fact that 'cougars' exist today in the real world is pretty amazing. The thought of a younger man finding an older woman attractive was taboo for so long, often met with looks of disgust and revulsion. But society seems to look at such liaisons with more tolerance these days. Tolerance for that perhaps bespeaks more tolerance for women in general. That's a very good thing in my book. However, I doubt that May/December relationships are ever all that fulfilling long term, no matter who's May or December. After that first solar flare of passion is spent you have to find things to say to one another. I find that I don't have much to say to women that are twenty years younger than me let alone a man that's that young. For those that it works for, that's great! But I think I prefer people that are as obsolete as I am.
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