C'mon guys. Who hasn't had impure thoughts about your girlfriend's mom (after all that's what your lady will look like in a couple of decades) or a teacher/professor in school, or even experienced a weird tingling after watching an episode of the Golden Girls. Or maybe you find yourself slow rolling through speed bumps at your nearest nursing home. The point is older women are sexy. And finally young men are not afraid to admit it.
If you've got a little Ashton Kutcher in your blood or own a Harold & Maude or The Graduate DVD then you're in luck, Miami will be the center of the cougar universe when it hosts the Miami Cougar Convention at the Embassy Suites Hotel Miami Airport on December 3, including the first ever Miss Cougar Miami competition. The following day cougars and their suitors, also known as cubs, will be departing on an International Cougar Cruise out of the Port of Miami. Read on to see how to join or stalk.
It just made sense to have a cougar convention in the Magic City. After
all, isn't South Beach the Serengeti of hot momma world? "South Beach is
well known for its cougar scene. There are many beautiful middle aged
women who know how to dress and entice young men. There's good hunting,"
says author, convention founder, and keynote speaker Rich Gosse.
The competition is open to any woman 35-years of age or older and
single. But don't expect any swim suit competition or embarrassing takes
on current events on education (remember Miss Teen South Carolina), or any
talent competition for that matter. Gosse says the winning feline will
be someone who knows how to "work the room" at the Embassy Suites. Every
male in attendance at the convention, $20 to get in, gets a vote. The
winning cougar gets a free room at Hedonism II Resort & Spa in Negril,
Jamaica as part of the first ever International Cougar Week, March
27-April 2, 2011.
The cougar phenomenon is only new in name, says Gosse, who's no longer a cub and married a woman four years younger, has written
eight books on the subject. He's been holding older women-younger men
mixers for years, but admits that it was only when the term "cougar"
caught on that the idea captured the attention of the country. "Nobody
used to care about these types of events, but for whatever reason the
term cougar has awakened interest from around the world," he says.
Notwithstanding the jokes, Gosse says it is vital for women over 40 to
look for younger men. "They are no longer considered babes or hotties.
Their dating life ended and they were left with nobody." Until, that is,
the cougar phenomenon took off. Now he says the men looking for cougars
far outnumber the older women looking for younger men. "Guys were
crawling through the bushes trying to sneak in to (last year's
convention) in Silicon Valley," he says, adding that they had to turn
away more than 1,000 people.
Even if Gosse says there is a negative connotation to the term cougar--it
makes it appear as if the women are predators and the men prey--he
admits that the positive publicity associated with it outweighs any
negative stereotype. Plus, he says cubs are still the pursuers. Any
criticism of the cougar culture is rooted in old-fashioned double
standards, Gosse explains.
"People don't even look twice when there is
an old guy with a young broad. That's not unusual. But if it's an older
woman, all of a sudden she's a predator. The truth is that cubs are a
lot crazier over cougars. Usually we get more cubs than cougars at our
event. There's an inexhaustible demand for cougars. They're the hottest
thing to hit dating in the last decade."
The Miss Cougar Miami event will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel
Miami Airport, 3974 NW S. River Drive, Miami. The International Cougar
Cruise departs Miami on December 4. For more information. The cost to
attend the convention is $20 and the cruise costs $99. For more information visit
cougarevents.com.
