Why is it that as single women age, we start to go into panic mode? As our friends around us start to walk down the matrimonial aisle, we break into a cold sweat and feel the urge to throw ourselves at whatever available groomsmen comes our way?
It’s odd, really. Even after all these years, after all these strides we’ve made, we still suffer from the fear of not getting married. Of ending up alone. And it’s ludicrous. Age really has nothing to do with being marriageable. Or being desirable, for that matter.
Today we call them “cougars” but, in reality, they’re super-seductresses–older women that manage to attract and seduce well into their AARP years. Betsy Prioleau documents some of these “silver foxes” in Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love.
Take the infamous Mae West, for example. A witty actress, she was making conquests well into her twilight years. On the verge of 70, she snagged a 33-year-old “muscle man”. And then there’s George Sand and Colette–two literary mavens that weren’t at a loss for men, even in old age.
And age isn’t the only myth that Prioleau busts. Ever heard the little rhyme “Boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses”? It’s the old myth that men don’t like smart women. And it’s wrong. Very wrong.
Veronica Franco was a sixteenth century courtesan. Although beautiful, it was her knowledge that made her one of the most famous courtesans in Europe. Living during a time when education was denied to women, Veronica was determined to educate herself. She used her mind to entertain and intrigue her conquests, adding to conversations and debates. Ninon de Lenclos, Lou Andreas-Salome, and Martha Gellhorn were also “scholar-sirens” that fascinated men with their minds.
So why are we so terrified of growing old alone? Or of being so smart that we’ll scare men away? Why do we subscribe to these ridiculous myths? If history has taught us anything it’s that there are no real “rules” when it comes to love and attraction. All women–regardless of beauty, age, and intellect–can be desirable.
