Once a moniker for the mountain lion,cougarhas become a buzzword for sassy women over 40 who are interested in younger men. While the term is new, the phenomenon is not
Cougar in the Biblical Sense
In the book of Genesis, the Wife of Potiphar is never given a name, but her actions — like the seduction of the young Joseph — stick in the imagination, inspiring a multitude of works of Western art.The Bridgeman Art Library / Getty
Cougar and the City
Oh, Samantha Jones! With a mouth like a sailor and a sailor in every port, the "I'll never tell my age" Samantha ushered cougarhood into the new millennium, finding true love in the arms of the 20-something hunk Smith Jerrod in the series Sex and the City.HBO / Everett
Let the Trend Begin!
Gasps and giggles quickly turned to applause when the love affair of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher became public in 2003. Their relationship sparked a new era for the oft misrepresented cougar, as news outlets and trendsetters agreed: older woman + younger man = sexy.Lester Cohen / WireImage / Getty
Forever Young
By 2009, celebrity cougars were omnipresent. If three makes a trend, then Madonna's love affair with 23-year-old Jesus Luz and Mariah Carey's marriage to 29-year-old Nick Cannon made the cougar movement official.Left: Gustavo Caballero / Getty; Jon Kopaloff /FilmMagic / Getty
The Naughty Aughts
The term cougar has begun popping up in the most unlikely of places. Date-a-Cougar websites, cougar cruises and cougar how-to books have become prevalent. Cougar the Musical premiered in New York. At the end of the decade, Saturday Night Live broadcast a number of cougar-inspired sketches, including The Cougar Den, above, featuring Cameron Diaz, and the hit musical number Mother-Lover.Dana Edelson / NBC
Cougars Convene
In the summer of 2009, self-proclaimed cougars gathered for the first-ever Cougar Convention, held in Palo Alto, Calif. Gloria Navarro, 42, was named Miss Cougar America. A larger, Las Vegas–based convention is slated for Jan. 22, 2010.Daniel C. Britt / The Digital Independent
Cougar Prime Time
In 2009 Cougar Town debuted on ABC, leaving television critics unimpressed. Many wondered if a trend-inspired television show could last. But despite the shaky start, a fan base for C-Town steadily grew, and in January 2010 the network signed the show for a second season. Cougar Town may actually have staying power.Richard Cartwright / ABC / Getty
2010
With the cougar no longer relegated to the fringe of popular culture, we can only guess how long it is before the trend (or at least the word) is retired. Perhaps one day soon, we will sit down to watch NOVA's Cougar Town, a television show about a community of large cats. Or perhaps the cougar has sunk its claws in deep, and 40 will forever be the new 20.Marvin E. Newman / Photographer's Choice / Getty
Cougar the Greek
Euripides wrote Hippolytus, the story of Phaedra, an older, married woman, in love with a much younger man. As in all Greek tragedies, the ending is not a happy one.Hulton Archive / Getty
Cougar the Great
Catherine the Great's list of political accomplishments in her 34-year reign over Russia was rivaled only by her tally of conquests in love, which ended with Alexandrovich Zubov, a man 40 years younger than her.The Bridgeman Art Library / Getty
Life Imitating Art
Sidonie Gabrielle Colette's 1920 novel Cheri traces the affair of Lea de Lonval, 49, and her 25-year-old lover. Colette's own life would take on a similar story line a few years later when the writer found herself caught up with a man 30 years her junior.Imagno / Austrian Archives / Getty
Cougar in the House of Love
The original bohemian, Anaïs Nin, found inspiration in her lovers, writing about love and sex in her published journals and novels. At 44 and as spry as ever, Nin fell for Rupert Pole, 16 years her junior. They would eventually marry.Barnabas Bosshart / Corbis
The Girl Next Door
She may not have been the first, but in 1967's The Graduate, her long legs, leopard coats and sardonic hotness made Mrs. Robinson an icon and model for the modern cougar. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson! Coo, coo, ca-choo.MGM / AP
The Last Days of the Cougar
He's 19. She's 79. She teaches him about love and life. He gives her company in her final year on earth. With a breezy soundtrack by Cat Stevens, the movie Harold and Maude became an instant cougar cult classic.MGM / AP
Western Cat
Always bold, always bawdy, Mae West was the first woman to inquire, "Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" A cougar till the end, West married a former Mr. California (a man 30 years her junior) and starred in Sextette at the age of 84.Crown International Pictures/ Everett
Cougar Tale
Following the plot of her own marriage, Terry McMillan penned a story about how a stressed-out 40-year-old woman finds her mojo with the help of a 20-year-old man. How Stella Got Her Groove Back became an instant best seller and, in 1998, a film starring Angela Bassett.John Storey / Time & Life Pictures / Getty
