this is not specific to glbt but it affected me last night and so I post it here. It's about labels.
Why is it that women who are engaging in relationships with younger men being labelled cougars (which I don't believe is meant as a flattering trait, at least not the way I've heard people use it.)
Much to my surprise, last night I was called a cougar (by my ex-ex-g/f); most of my adult involvements have been with men/women a few years younger than me. (Now that I think about it, the ex-ex herself has always been involved with younger women--except for me, but I'm the "cougar".... double standards even in the glbt world? Or maybe just stupidly and blindly following the antics of pop culture without thinking twice about what she's actually saying.) Nevertheless, I don't think I've ever heard of a man being labeled a cougar because he dates a younger man/woman. In fact, that's pretty much the traditional standard in hetero unions.
Cougar. Hmmph. Don't we have enough labels to deal with? What gives?
Venting a bit, thanks for listening!