Cougar Ageism

Awww, come on, for crying out loud, as if finding the perfect soul-mate weren’t challenging enough, now we’ve been given age quantifiers?!

A new study out of Germany reported that women with younger husbands increase their chances of an earlier death. And I quote, “A woman who engages in a relationship with a man seven to nine years younger than her is 20 percent more likely to die than someone married to a man her own age. And when a cougar weds someone more than 15 years younger than her risk soars to more than 30 percent.”

“The greater the age difference, the lower the wife’s life expectancy,” Sven Drefahl of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, said. “The best choice for a woman is to marry a man of exactly the same age.” I’ve got news for you Sven, the minute we are born our chances of mortality are 100%!!! We are all going to die, that is just the way it goes. But how we live…ahh isn’t that’s what is truly important. If we take care of our health, find someone who makes us happy and fulfilled no matter what the age gap is that not the secret to a long and joyous life.

For years research has shown that women consistently outlive men in almost every society. Don’t trust research just visit any old age home anywhere on the planet and you will find the female to male ratio staggering. For those in the 65 to 74 age group, the ratio is 83 men for every 100 women. For those 85 and over, it drops to 44 men per 100 women. In more developed countries, like say HOLLAND where the study took place, the average life expectancy at birth is 79 years for women, 72 years for men. That’s about hmmm, seven years. So how about this hypothesis Sven, I would rather be in a relationship with a man 7 years younger and die at the same time, than to live 7 lonely years in an old age home without my man. Here’s another fact that has perplexed me for the last couple of years, my dad was seven years younger than my mom. He passed on three years ago and my mom, well, she is still kickin it, G-d bless her.  But she is very lonely without the love of her life. Please explain that phenom Mr. Drefahl.

Here are some facts that clearly point to a woman’s longevity no matter who she’s in a relationship with.

Women have more conservative behaviors. Men are more likely to smoke than women and are also more likely to take risks, making them more susceptible to life-threatening injuries. Biological differences also help to explain women’s higher longevity. Scientists believe that estrogen in women combats conditions such as heart disease by helping reduce circulatory levels of harmful cholesterol. Women are also thought to have stronger immune systems than men. We also have a higher pain tolerance, birthin babies, there is nothing more painful than that. And women are more likely to follow a prescribed health regimen.

Drefahl’s science project went on to say that men in May/December relationships increase their life span. A “sugar daddy” with a wife seven to nine years his junior is seven percent less likely to die early — probably because she’s more likely to nurse him in old age. Instead of subscribing to this carefree philosophy and letting someone else be your old age nursemaid, how about you guys take better care of yourself.

Researchers have found that the gender gap in life expectancy is narrowing for the wealthy and highly educated types. Better health care, diet, and being smart about risky activities can help men achieve a level of longevity closer to that of women.  Gentlemen, I challenge you to not go shopping for a mate 7 to 9 years your junior just because Sven says you will live longer regardless of your mutual happy quotient. Instead find the perfect woman for you no matter what her age and make each other happy!

Ruut Veenhoven, a Dutch professor from Rotterdam’s Erasmus University found after reviewing 30 studies carried out worldwide over 60 years, that the effects of happiness on longevity were “comparable to that of smoking or not”. It is that special flair for feeling good, he said, that could lengthen your life by between 7.5 and 10 years.

So what is better an unhappy union with a substantial age gap just for age sake or a happy union that is ageless?