In Praise of Older Women

In a couple of entries over the past few months, I’ve contemplated the idea of old(er) men having one last fling with younger women. My having seen Peter O’Toole in Venus first triggered it. My entry of Tuesday, June 5, 2007, wondered, “if all old men have one last foolishness over some young girl that they need to go through before their lives are over. God, I hope so.” I even quoted Yeats’ last poem, “Politics.” More recently, I mentioned a young woman I work with who gets annoyed when I say I am old. I confessed (here, never to her) that I had less than paternal thoughts about her. That was spurred by my reading Philip Roth’s latest novel, Exit Ghost, where his aged novelist, alter-go, Nathan Zuckerman, falls for a young woman and carries on an imaginary relationship with her as shown in the dialogue that he writes down after he leaves her. I reflected upon the young woman I was referring to and was encouraged by there seeming to be the remnants of lust in my soul even if it doesn’t quite animate all parts of my body anymore.

In some comments that she wrote after that entry, Meghan, the hottest mommy on the Internet (this doesn’t begin to describe what an incredibly interesting woman she is) wondered “are there older men (the term, of course, is relative) who fantasize about having an affair with an older woman? As a woman who is getting older (hey, by Hollywood standards, 33 is over the hill!) I wonder, if I were to be single in my later years, if I would be the object of an older man's fantasy.” The quick answer is that she is already the object of an older man’s fantasy (mine). The considered answer is also yes. To be honest, I find older women much more attractive than younger women. Look back through my entries to when I confessed to having a crush on the science teacher. Without offending anyone if I’m wrong, I would guess she’s around 50. It is, of course, much more than just something physical. Intelligence is attractive and sexy. Personality is attractive and sexy. Experience is attractive and sexy. Talent is attractive and sexy. Consider my recent entry about Reba McIntire. I said Britney Spears on her best day couldn’t compare to Reba. Who are among the sexiest women today? What about Halle Berry (41)? Sharon Stone (49)? Catherine Zeta-Jones (38)? Victoria Principal (57)? Julie Christie (66)? Farrah Fawcett (60)? Marg Helgenberger (47)?

In the 1979 movie, 10, Dudley Moore fantasized about and pursued every man’s fantasy at the time, Bo Derek. He was 44 at the time, and she was 23. Her nubile, young body flowing and rippling inside her flesh-toned bathing suit while she jogged along the beach was a vision. She later graced the pages of Playboy. We’ll forget her laughable performance in Tarzan the Ape Man. Moore’s character went through hell trying to bed the beautiful Bo. However, once he did it, he realized she wasn’t worth the pursuit, and it might have been better to keep it a fantasy. That’s when he knew that what he had at home, his wife played by Julie Andrews (who was also 44 at the time) was whom he really wanted. The truth was, even then (I was then 31) I would rather have been with Julie Andrews. What I find interesting is that I find Bo Derek at 51 much sexier than she was back then. And, it’s not that I would stand a better chance of getting together with a 51 year old Bo Derek than a 23 year old Bo Derek. The chance is still the same today as it was then: zero. It’s because I find her so much more interesting today and beautiful. While I am at it, let’s not leave out Ann-Margaret (66) and Priscilla Presley (65).

As one last revelation, the woman on television I always found to be sexy and not-so-secretly desired was Angela Lansbury (who is now 82). There was something about J. B. Fletcher that was very appealing. It was, Meghan, her “wit and wisdom.”

And, now, I shall end with the immortal words of the immortal bard, Benny Hill:

So give me an older woman,

A real hot-blooded woman,

A ripe 'n' peachy woman,

Give me an older woman every time.