The Cougar Is Hollywood's New Modern Woman!

Us breaks down the resurgence of the cougar and how it’s allowing women to take their power back

- SHELBY STIVALE

What goes around comes around — even when it comes to dating trends. The term “cougar” originated in the early 2000s, describing an older woman who seeks romantic companionship with a younger man. While prime examples of the early 2000s — think: Demi Moore and Mariah Carey — caused the public to clutch their pearls, today there’s a new older woman in town.

Anne Hathaway gave housewives (and not the Bravo kind) a new escapist fantasy when she played a 40-year-old woman experiencing a sexual awakening with a 24-year-old boy bander, a la Harry Styles, in The Idea of You. With 50 million viewers in its first two weeks on Prime Video, the movie’s success allows Us to declare that the cougar is back — and she’s taken over the zeitgeist yet again.