They say age is nothing but a number but when it comes to dating, the older woman certainly faces the challenge of being branded a cougar if she dares date someone younger.
But for one 51-year-old singleton, she desperately wants to turn the ‘predatory, sly and creepy’ label on its head for a more empowering term – a WHIP.
Inspired by the likes of Madonna, Mariah Carey, Joan Collins, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Brigitte Macron, writer Bibi Lynch is campaigning for the older female without children to be referred to as ‘women who are hot, intelligent, and in their prime’.
‘With cougar the men are prey, WHIPs felt funnier, smarter and sexier,’ she explained during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.
Writer Bibi Lynch is campaigning for women to stop being referred to as cougars if they date a younger man. Instead, she is dubbing them ‘WHIPs’ – women who are hot, intelligent, and in their prime’
Brigitte Macron, 64, is married to the French President Emmanuel, 39, and Bibi thinks she is a prime example of a WHIP
‘There seems to be a need to label it. Since I hit my fifties the men approaching me are not my age but younger.’
Bibi explained that as a single woman she wanted to be able to have fun in a relationship and that she had enjoyed dates with men as young as 26, but didn’t want to be judged for it.
At 51, Bibi says she doesn’t want to be judged for dating men nearly half her age and explained that she isn’t a predator; rather the men are coming to her
Singer Mariah Carey, 47, is dating her back up dancer Bryan Tanaka, 34, and she joins the likes of Madonna and Demi Moore who have all dated younger men
‘Maybe I’ve been really lucky in the men that have approached me, but they’re bright, super successful and funny.’
And she believes that her older age means men are not worried that she is looking to have a family.
‘That is part of the attraction for younger men,’ she said. ‘It’s a winning combination, the pressure is off… we’re not baby chasing,’ she added to presenters Geri Halliwell and Rylan Clark Neal.
Bibi wants the cougar stigma gone and said she finds the younger chap more fulfilling and often without any attachment.
Film director Sam Taylor-Johnson, 50, is married to actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 27, and the pair have two children together
And she says it’s not her doing the chasing, but them.
‘The way I am meeting them is different, I get a lot of approaches on Twitter. I think social media is a real leveller.
‘I don’t lie about my age, I’m hoping to be funny and that is what attraction is about. I think we are breaking the barriers and they are seeing the real me.’
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am