In
Praise of Older Men
by Laurel
Since my early
dating days, my taste has always run toward older men. Significantly
older.
When all my
friends were dating guys who were at least within a few years of
their age, at 24 I was involved with a man who was 44. The guys
my own age just did not seem interesting to me. It’s like they weren’t
quite ripe yet.
The interesting
thing is that as I have grown older the age of the men I date has
remained about the same (mid-40’s), so recently they have only been
a few years older than myself. So if the pattern remains, in a little
over a decade I could technically be dating “younger men.”
However, I
have recently taken up with a man who is once again 20 years older
than I am, and I must admit that there are some good things to be
said for it.
First of all,
an older man will always think you are amazingly beautiful. As I
look in the mirror to see the silver hairs cropping up and the little
lines being etched around my eyes, an older man just makes me feel
like I’m some goddess sprung from the sea like Botticelli’s Venus.
In addition,
they are incredibly considerate lovers, and don’t rush through sex
like they’re competing in the 50-yard sprint. They take their time
and enjoy exploring every inch of your body, as someone appreciating
a fine wine.
Happily, they
are often interested in stimulating your mind as much as your body.
The level of conversation is usually considerably higher than the
men who are my contemporaries, and I love being able to learn new
things from them.
They still
feel it’s OK to open doors for you, bring you flowers, and pay the
bill when you go to dinner. Yes, of course I’m able to do all those
things for myself, but why should I?
Older men enjoy
taking care of me, and in turn I do caring things for them like
cook fine meals, rub their shoulders when they’re tense, and other
things women are good at. With older men it’s OK to be feminine,
which I like.
One of the
best things about older men is that they have learned enough to
know that the woman is often right. And if they are really smart
they let her have her way, even when she is wrong.
So while dating
an older guy can have its drawbacks (like when you go out and people
think you are father and daughter), there is still a lot to recommend
it. Besides, I’m still hoping that one day Sean Connery will come
along and sweep me off my feet.
