Sophia Whang swhang@media.ucla.edu
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The term “older man” is often synonymous with dirty.
He’s a dirty old man, they say. Relationships with them are
seen as scandalous, and in a community outside the entertainment
world, it is still considered to be taboo.
Youthful beauties like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lara Flynn Boyle
dig guys twice their age (Michael Douglas and Jack Nicholson
respectively, although the latter broke up) and singer/songwriter
R. Kelly faces recent allegations for his sexual misconduct with
minors.
So people may naturally question what possesses these kids to
take their clothes off for older men.
Just for clarification, I do not condone sex with minors.
Rather, my focus is on why young women, like those my age, would
prefer older men over college guys, and why this attraction
isn’t limited to those in the entertainment industry.
Forget that R. Kelly has multiple Grammys and that Douglas has a
ridiculously big house, cause it’s not all about the money.
They’re older men, and that’s just kinda sexy.
Here’s why.
I’m at a restaurant with a guy slightly older than the
usual third-year political science student, and for once I can
order something I truly want to eat. I’m no longer scanning
for the cheapest item on the menu because this guy has a job and
can afford it. Even better, he doesn’t think about it when I
offer to pay my half. He gives me this look like, hey, are you
kidding? It’s on me. It’s your night. And he willingly
gives the waiter his well balanced credit card.
Afterward, we cruise down Sunset in his car, which will remain
nameless for its irrelevance, and we get to a club with the
typically diverse crowd on a Saturday night.
College guys are also in line, eagerly waiting to get in.
They’re celebrating a 21st birthday, the last guy of their
posse to finally be able to drink legally. But they are all carded
at the door. Each one of them gets their IDs out of their wallet,
not grudgingly, but annoyingly proud. Naturally maturing slower
than girls, some are still uncomfortably stuck in their awkward
pubescent stage ““ complete with acne and stubby hair. The
bouncer examines their cards more closely.
However, my older guy has a refined look that isn’t
limited to long sleeve Abercrombie shirts, or button-downed
Abercrombie shirts. His witty remarks are like music over the
boys’ crass comments about the “legs on that
one,” and his clever humor gets us passes to access the VIP
lounge. Hors d’oeurves are on the house, but I’m still
full from the amazing five course meal.
So after dancing for a while, we sit down to talk and I come to
the realization that for the first time in a long time, my academic
life doesn’t have to keep haunting me outside of campus. When
conversing I don’t ask him what classes he’s taking for
the sixth time, or when his midterms are.
After staying at the club for a few hours, we decide that
it’s getting late. He drives me back home and doesn’t
accelerate ridiculously fast just to prove his masculinity. He
drops me off at my door to give me a warm embrace, and I take in
his scent. No, it’s not Tide or any other laundry detergent,
but the classiest of scents that makes me swoon.
What a perfect night. Yes, I want to do this again. I will call
you.
And that’s why men Jack Nicholson’s age can still
pimp it. Not because he’s Jack Nicholson, but because
he’s got charm, class and his eyebrows make him look naughty
in a devastatingly sexy way.