{"id":1455,"date":"2014-08-15T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T10:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2014-08-01T15:24:29","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T19:24:29","slug":"cougar-queen-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is summer, hot and horny, and I am on a roll. So I am going to continue this theme of beauty, attraction, seduction, sex, love and self-love until I run out of content!<\/p>\n<p><em>I came across this article in the Palm Springs <\/em>Desert Sun:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Desert Cougar Crowned Queen of the Singles Jungle<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>By Mariecar Mendoza<br \/>\n<\/strong>http:\/\/www.desertsun.com\/<\/p>\n<p>Cougars have been roaming the Coachella Valley for years, sleek, fit and ready to pounce \u2014 or to be pounced on.<\/p>\n<p>But they&#8217;re not the mountain lion variety. These cougars are women in their middle years or older, who are sexy, confident and sophisticated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe modern older woman is not your mommy or your grandma anymore,\u201d said Palm Desert resident Judy Steinberg, author of \u201cFabulous After 50 and Sexy at 60.\u201d \u201cWe have evolved socially because Baby Boomers have turned everything upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From Hollywood stars like Demi Moore, Mariah Carey and Courtney Cox \u2014 who plays a hot divorcee in ABC&#8217;s \u201cCougar Town\u201d (the second season wrapped up Wednesday) \u2014 women over 40 have become a hot commodity in the singles scene.<\/p>\n<p>And 73-year-old Aalsa Lee of Palm Springs is just one of the hottest examples.<\/p>\n<p>The great-grandmother of two was recently crowned Miss Cougar America by the Society of Single Professionals, a Bay Area-based group that boasts it&#8217;s the \u201cworld&#8217;s largest nonprofit singles organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never considered myself a cougar, but it seems to be a title that has stuck with me,\u201d Lee said, laughing. \u201cBut I&#8217;m a natural-born flirt, so it all comes easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee, who earned the crown April 29 at a Cougar Convention in New York, is the oldest Miss Cougar America the organization has crowned since hosting its annual conventions in 2009, said Rich Gosse, chairman of the Society of Single Professionals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just blew our minds. We&#8217;ve never had any woman that age win the title, but we&#8217;re delighted,\u201d Gosse said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really says something about how older women are changing the dating scene.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cougars are generally defined as women 40 and older who continue to remain youthful, fun and active enough to attract younger men \u2014 or \u201ccubs\u201d \u2014 at least 10 years their junior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s hard to find men around my age that are still active and interesting,\u201d Lee said, admitting that she once dated a man 30 years younger. \u201cMost the guys my age are either dead or on their way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gosse, author of \u201cThe Cougar Imperative,\u201d said that&#8217;s exactly why the cougar-cub relationship is such an obvious solution to the usual dating rut older women find themselves in when they stick to tradition.<\/p>\n<p>Another benefit of cougar relationships, experts say, is that there&#8217;s less drama.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe baggage is so minimal compared to what the young woman can bring to a relationship,\u201d said Steinberg, who is working on a new book titled \u201cThe Cougar Chronicles\u201d which will be a collection of cougars from Hollywood starlets to royalty and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe&#8217;s not going to bring you home for an examination by her parents. Most of the time they don&#8217;t exist,\u201d Steinberg said. \u201cAnd you don&#8217;t have to worry about her wanting kids because she&#8217;s already been there, done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But for local cougars, and even former cougars like Steinberg \u2014 who said she&#8217;s happily \u201coccupied the cougar role in my life\u201d \u2014 they&#8217;ve been disappointed by how cougars are perceived.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s evolved into any horny 40-year-old woman who wants to be with a college kid, and that&#8217;s just tacky,\u201d the 68-year-old said.<\/p>\n<p>Lee agrees and emphasizes that cougars shouldn&#8217;t be seen as \u201cthe predatory female.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re not on the prowl looking to attack these young, hapless men,\u201d she said. \u201cThey find us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monday: Desert Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 2<\/p>\n<p>* ***<br \/>\nDonna Henes is the author of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thequeenofmyself.com\"><em>The Queen of My Self: Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife<\/em>.<\/a> She offers counseling and upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.donnahenes.net\/queen\/consult.shtml\">Consult the MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to <a href=\"mailto:thequeenofmyself@aol.com\">thequeenofmyself@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is summer, hot and horny, and I am on a roll. So I am going to continue this theme of beauty, attraction, seduction, sex, love and self-love until I run out of content! I came across this article in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Cougar Crowned Queen of the Singles Jungle By Mariecar&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,7],"tags":[299,13,178,44,179,180],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging","category-empowerment","category-self-esteem","tag-cougars","tag-holistic-living","tag-older-women","tag-self-confidence","tag-sex","tag-sexy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1 - The Queen of My Self<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1 - The Queen of My Self\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is summer, hot and horny, and I am on a roll. So I am going to continue this theme of beauty, attraction, seduction, sex, love and self-love until I run out of content! I came across this article in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Cougar Crowned Queen of the Singles Jungle By Mariecar&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Queen of My Self\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-15T10:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-01T19:24:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna Henes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","og_description":"It is summer, hot and horny, and I am on a roll. So I am going to continue this theme of beauty, attraction, seduction, sex, love and self-love until I run out of content! I came across this article in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: Desert Cougar Crowned Queen of the Singles Jungle By Mariecar&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html","og_site_name":"The Queen of My Self","article_published_time":"2014-08-15T10:00:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-08-01T19:24:29+00:00","author":"Donna Henes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html","name":"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1 - The Queen of My Self","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-15T10:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-01T19:24:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/544e888db264d2e1c6e32fd2f80c031a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2014\/08\/cougar-queen-part-1.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cougar Queen \u2013 Part 1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/","name":"The Queen of My Self","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Donna Henes","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/544e888db264d2e1c6e32fd2f80c031a","name":"Donna Henes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0c6\/0c683cd428803d35cf10fae85f8125ebx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0c6\/0c683cd428803d35cf10fae85f8125ebx96.jpg","caption":"Donna Henes"},"description":"Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, ritual expert, award-winning author, popular speaker and workshop leader whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. She has published four books, a CD, an acclaimed Ezine and writes for The Huffington Post and UPI Religion and Spirituality Forum. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.thequeenofmyself.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/author\/dhenes"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1457,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/1457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}