TRENDS: A FIELD GUIDE TO COUGARS

What’s Swirling Around in the Social Ether

Known to scientists as felis concolor, the cougar has made the isle of Manhattan her primary territory. As we await the upcoming reality series Cougars NYC, here we celebrate the mating rituals of the glorious creatures, who stalk youthful prey to boost their fashion careers, raise their social profiles or simply feast on fresh meat.

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Photo: Janet Mayer/ Splash News

Kabbalah Cougar

Madonna

PREY: Madge has attracted a cadre of younger stars to Jewish mysticism. Both husband Guy Ritchie, 39, and rumored conquest Alex Rodriguez, 33, follow the faith (A-Rod lunched with Kabbalah leader Rabbi Michael Berg as his marriage crumbled). Suggests cougar matchmaker Janis Spindel: “Madonna is empowered by molding what younger people think.”

HABITAT: Reebok Sports Club on the UWS, her Central Park West duplex—site of her “affair of the heart” with A-Rod.

MARKINGS: Adidas track pants, mythically muscular arms and, most recently, cheekbones to rival those of cosmetically enhanced, Catwoman-like socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein.

CUBS: Fashionista daughter Lourdes, 11; sons Rocco, 8, and David, 2 ½.

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Photo: James Devaney/ WireImages

Sports Cougar

Anna Wintour

PREY: The Vogue editrix famously pounced on tennis champ Roger Federer, 27, whom she squired to spring Fashion Week in 2006. “I just like his game,” she purred. She put NBA star LeBron James, 23, on April’s cover, then hired hockey player Sean Avery, 28, (lately linked to Style Cougar Kelly Klein, 51), as an intern. “Everyone in the media is cool to her,” notes Paper magazine columnist Mickey Boardman. “But athletes say ‘hi’ instead of looking away.”

HABITAT: Condé Nast HQ at 4 Times Square, her townhouse in Greenwich Village.

CATFIGHTS: The fur flew when PETA hit Anna with a tofu pie in Paris over her love of pelts. She called Hillary Clinton “mannish,” and—as Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley once told Oprah—“Miss Anna don’t like fat people.”

MARKINGS: Chanel haute couture, sleek bob.

CUBS: Columbia co-ed and Teen Voguette Bee Shaffer, 20; Oxford student Charlie Shaffer, 22.

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Photo: G. Gershoff/ WireImages

Party Animal Cougar

Ann Dexter Jones

PREY: Ann is New York’s scene-iest senior. “I enjoy people of all ages and never think about my own,” says the freelance writer, Reiki energy healer and designer of a rock ’n’ roll jewelry line.

HABITAT: Her lair at Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue; anywhere there’s a society photographer and an open bar.

CATFIGHTS: Only with the bouncer at closing time. “I’ll plan on having an early night, but then I’ll start talking to someone amazing and feel revitalized!” she explains.

MARKINGS: Lioness-like mane, Giambattista Valli. “I don’t take clothes seriously,” she says.

CUBS: Music producer Mark, 32, DJ Samantha, 31, and designer Charlotte, 30 (her kids with Brit tycoon Laurence Ronson); DJ Alexander, 24, and actress Annabelle, 21, (from her marriage to Foreigner’s Mick Jones). Of partying with her progeny, Ann says: “I love their company and their friends. But I am no children stalker.”

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Photo: Jim Spellman/ WireImages

Life-Imitating-Art Cougar

Kim Cattrall

PREY: A year after her Sex and the City alter ego, Samantha, bedded 14-years-younger Smith, Kim began dating chef Alan Wyse, 28. “I was embarrassed about how close the storyline seemed,” she has said. Anna ­Holmes, managing editor of female-focused gossip site Jezebel.com, says: “Kim should be proud of who she dates no matter how old he is. Is she supposed to be dowdy and sexless because of her age?”

HABITAT: Courtside at Knicks games; hobnobbing at the Watermill Center near her home in East Hampton.

CATFIGHTS: Along with holding out for a heftier payday to bring SATC to the big screen, Kim reportedly divorced third husband Mark Levinson because “his sexual demands had become burdensome.”

MARKINGS: Painted-on Hervé Léger.

CUBS: None. Kim acknowledges she missed the boat on motherhood.

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Photo: Billy Farrell/ Patrick McMullan

Socialite Cougar

Genevieve Jones

PREY: Accessories designer Genevieve (whose baubles are worn by Agyness Deyn) made a splash by cuddling up to Dee Jackson, 21, at the SubMercer last spring. Genevieve first befriended Dee and his twin brother, Ricky, who design belts for Marc Jacobs, months earlier at a Fashion Week party, though she thought they were 14 at the time. Still, “we hit it off right away,” she says.

HABITAT: To the right of Tinsley Mortimer in party pictures; her Lafayette Street apartment, which doubles as a design studio.

CATFIGHTS: Secretive ever since blogs like the now-defunct Socialiterank.com exposed her lack of fancy breeding, the fashionista growls at haters: “I will never be happy with my looks, but no one can question my style.”

MARKINGS: Supershort vintage minis; bejeweled safety pin earrings of her own design.

CUBS: Her pug, Dony.

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Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/ WireImages

News Cougar

Katie Couric

PREY: This traditionalist earned her cougar stripes the old-fashioned way—dating young bucks. She first stepped out with jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, 45, in ’04. Her current squeeze is triathlete Brooks Perlin, 34. “People want their anchors middle-aged, married and boring,” says Portfolio media reporter Jeff Bercovici. “Dating a younger man might detract from her gravitas. If Charlie Gibson showed up with a hot 30-year-old, it would have the same effect.”

HABITAT: CBS Evening News desk on 57th Street; a 12-room cougar den at 92nd and Park.

CATFIGHTS: Reports of diva behavior dogged her 17-year stint at NBC’s Today Show. But she’s clawed back at CBS brass over the network’s third-place ratings, declaring: “I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance.”

MARKINGS: Burberry skirts, caramel coif.

CUBS: Trinity students Ellie Monahan, 17, and Carrie Monahan, 12.

SIGHTINGS: CYBILL SHEPHERD

August 23, 2008 --

CYBILL Shepherd getting her cougar on at new Allegretti on West 22nd Street, where she was having a romantic meal with a young actor . . . HALLMARK Channel honcho Henry Schleiff discussing climate change at Michael's with Rep. Ed Markey, chairman of the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming . . . ROD Stewart, Penny Lancaster and their 20-year-old son, Alastair, at the Victoria Gardens amusement park at Wollman Rink . . . DESIGNER Marc Ecko, boxer Miguel Cotto and actor Tony SiricoRAFAEL Nadal and his hitting partner, Tomeu Slava, at "Phantom of the Opera." breaking bread at Nino's restaurant . . .

Cougar & Cubs Speed Dating: Guys 25-37 Gals 40-55

Real Live People Party is hosting a special event for the woman who is confident, sexy, adventurous and lives life to the fullest. We are matching her up with young, attractive and compatible males who respects that a woman ages like fine wine and gets better as she gets older. A man who recognizes this fact is way ahead of other guys.

WHEN: Tuesday June 17, 2008 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Madame X Lounge: 94 West Houston (Thompson & La Guardia)
WHO: Cougars 40 - 55 And Cubs 25 - 37
COST: $40.00 Prepaid Includes First Drink
RSVP: http://www.RealLivePeopleParty.com

UrbanCougar.com calls New York the Cougar Capital where a sophisticated species of female seeks the pleasure of younger males..."

Remember the original cougar Mrs Robinson from The Graduate? We've come a long way baby! Demi Moore, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, Kim Cattrall and who can forget Cher with her string of young, sexy boy toys.

It time for the ladies to enjoy guys who show them the respect they deserve, who are young, vibrant, ready, willing and able. For the guys...it's a chance to live out a fantasy of the older woman who is more experienced and knows what she wants and who can really be herself with him because she's really comfortable in her own skin.

HBO Filming Our Next Cougar & Cubs Speed Dating For Upcoming Documentary

Hello Everyone,

On April 15, 2008 Real Live People Party hosted our second Cougar & Cubs Speed Dating Party and we were sold out again. We had 30 people attend and 26 of our attendees had at least 1 match and some had as high as 7 matches.

We had a visitor that night, Linda who owns a blog for "The Real Cougar Woman". Her blog gives advice to women who are smart, sexy, independent and proud to be over 40. Those are our type of women. Linda came to check out our event and wrote a really nice piece about our speed dating party for her blog. Please see the entry dated April 19.

Our upcoming event is on May 19, 2008 and I'm excited to say that HBO will be filming our event for an upcoming documentary for Fall viewing.

I look forward to seeing some of you at an upcoming event.

Cheers, Ilana (aka The Aussie Cougar)


http://www.reallivepeopleparty.com
http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/427

Press Piece on The Real Cougar Website About Our Cougar & Cubs Speed Dating

April 19, 2008

Cougar & Cub Speed Dating - Is It For You?

This was a first for me. I went to a Cougar & Cub Speed Dating Party. Nothing is too much when it comes to getting the latest scoop for all you Real Cougars. I went not quite sure of what I would find, but guess what, it was a lot of fun!!!. Not at all what I expected.

The women were all in business attire (no bling or cleaveage here) and the guys were all nice looking, respectful and obviously enjoying the challenge of alluring a more mature woman.

Here's how it works:

You are guaranteed at least 10 introductions. The gals are 35- 50 and the men 27 - 35 (although a party with guys 35 - 45 is being planned). The cost is $40.00 for all participants.

Each person gets a scorecard where you jot down the names of the people you liked. At the end of the event if the people you connected with also liked you then an email address will be provided. At this event there were 30 people and 26 got a match.

The organizer of these parties is the Aussie Cougar and her company is Real Live People Party. She organizes all sorts of get-to-gethers but she says the Cougar events are very becoming very hot. So stay tuned I imagine they will be coming to your city very soon.

Love At First Scent? Research Shows a Woman's Sense of Smell Can Lead Her To Mr Right

Love At First Scent? Research Shows a Woman's Sense of Smell Can Lead Her To Mr Right

Wondering if he’s “the one”? Forget love at first sight and focus on love at first scent.

You know how a chance whiff of an old lover’s perfume or cologne can send you right back into the agony and the ecstasy of that relationship? Even more homey smells, like your favorite childhood meal, have the ability to seemingly transport you in time, back to being that little kid again. Smell is a powerful sense that goes directly to the core of our emotional brain and it plays a key role in attraction.

Fascinating research shows that a woman’s sense of smell can lead to her to Mr. Right, at least reproductively speaking. Research has shown that each of us will be attracted to people who possess a particular set of genes, known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which play a critical role in our immune systems. Mates with dissimilar MHC genes produce healthier offspring with broad immune systems.

How do people who differ in their MHC find each other? This isn't fully understood, but we know that smell is an important cue. People appear to literally sniff out their mates. In studies, women tend to rate the scent of T-shirts worn by men with dissimilar MHCs as most attractive, whereas T-shirts worn by guys with similar MHC profiles tend to be rated as “fatherly” or “brotherly,” but not boyfriend material. This is what sexual "chemistry" is all about. We’re drawn to certain people, without quite knowing why.

In my own surveys of men and women, women rate scent much more highly than men. This makes sense evolutionarily speaking, since women carry children for nine months during pregnancy and would need to sniff out a good mate who would stick around and support them.

Many women who have satisfying sex lives claim to love the scent of their guy, while many women who have dissatisfying sex claim their guy’s scent does nothing for them, or even turns them off. When I talk to women in relationships who claim that the sexual attraction was never really there to begin with, many also say that they didn’t like, or notice, his smell.

So, ladies, ask yourself: Do you like the way he smells? Does it turn you on? Get you going?

Here are some tips to put the power of smell to work for your sex life — and maybe your future progeny. Remember, if you’re into his smell, it goes a long way toward speaking to chemistry. If you’re not, it could have a negative impact on the relationship.

• If you’re wondering if he’s the one, take a good whiff of some of his clothes — how does it make you feel? Do you think warm, fuzzy thoughts or do you think he should really do his laundry? Or, try an overnight with a favorite article of his clothing. Many women love to sleep in their husband’s shirts, wear their men’s sweatshirts and are picking up on the scent, whether it’s conscious or unconscious. Do you like to wear his stuff when he’s not around? It’s another sign along the trail to sniffing out your MHC compatibility.
  
• Take a break from the pill and use another form of birth control. Research shows that the pill may interfere with a woman’s ability to sniff out a compatible mate, since it tricks the body into thinking she’s already pregnant. Some researchers suggest that if you’re single, you should forgo the pill until you’re sure you’ve met your match. Try another form of birth control and see if some scent-awareness appears.
  
• Try some scent-sational aphrodisiacs. A study conducted by the Smell and Taste Research Foundation in Chicago uncovered some powerful smells for boosting his arousal. The scent of lavender and pumpkin pie, and donuts and black licorice, in particular, increased blood flow to the penis by nearly 40 percent! So turn up the volume on an attraction that’s already there with some strategic baking or candles on your next date night at home.
  
• Smell-train your man. Men may not have as keen a sense of smell as women, but it’s still a sense that’s often neglected. One female patient told me that she had a secret. Whenever her husband wanted to have sex, she would go freshen up and put on some perfume. He had become so used to the association of that scent and sex, that when she was in the mood, all she had to do was put some on and he wanted to have sex.
  
• Scent can help fuel the flames of desire — and cool the flames of conflict. When you’re fighting, take a break to “hug and smell” — 20-second hugs raise oxytocin levels (the feel-good chemical) and following your nose will help you put the tension behind you.

So what’s the lesson, ladies? Follow your nose, it always knows!

Ian Kerner is a sex therapist, relationship counselor and New York Times best-selling author of numerous books, including the recently published “Sex Detox: A Program to Detoxify and Rejuvenate Your Love Life.” He was born and raised in New York City, where he lives with his wife, two young sons and plump Jack Russell terrier.