So the other day a friend commented "I used to fantasize about Harrison Ford but now he's too old for me." (Sorry Harrison if you're reading this). Now this friend who is pretty close in age to Harrison opts to fantasize about a younger McDreamy. I realized my own McDreamies have gotten younger, too. I did a totally non-statistical survey and this seems to be a common trend.
Now when I was in my teens I actually fantasized about Cary Grant - not the Cary Grant who was then doing movies but the gorgeous suave actor whose movies I watched on TV from the '30's. Then as I entered my twenties I started fantasizing about actors closer to my own age. This seemed-well-"realistic".
Matched age-wise we could meet by chance and given that we were compatible age-wise well, it could happen - speaking purely in fantasy now since I was and still am happily married. But if I was going to have fantasies back then I wanted them to be realistic!
Like my friend I used to have a crush on Harrison Ford. Yet, when she mentioned recently that he'd gotten too old I realized I felt the same way (again, sorry Harrison). It's ageism pure and simple. And with a good dollop of denial tossed in. As women who are of a certain age, we no longer want realistic fantasies. Realism isn't what it used to be back in the day. Just like older men fantasize about younger women, women have equality in that arena. And sometimes for both some men and some women these fantasies actually do become realities. (This connects back to one of my older blogs about women are cougers, men are just lucky).
I've been thinking about this phenomena a lot lately. So much so I find I'm not fantasizing as much about all those gorgeous young McDreamies out there in my imagination. Sorry guys, I'll get back to our romantic encounters in a bit. I'm comforted by the knowledge you'll all be waiting for me...
Now when I was in my teens I actually fantasized about Cary Grant - not the Cary Grant who was then doing movies but the gorgeous suave actor whose movies I watched on TV from the '30's. Then as I entered my twenties I started fantasizing about actors closer to my own age. This seemed-well-"realistic".
Matched age-wise we could meet by chance and given that we were compatible age-wise well, it could happen - speaking purely in fantasy now since I was and still am happily married. But if I was going to have fantasies back then I wanted them to be realistic!
Like my friend I used to have a crush on Harrison Ford. Yet, when she mentioned recently that he'd gotten too old I realized I felt the same way (again, sorry Harrison). It's ageism pure and simple. And with a good dollop of denial tossed in. As women who are of a certain age, we no longer want realistic fantasies. Realism isn't what it used to be back in the day. Just like older men fantasize about younger women, women have equality in that arena. And sometimes for both some men and some women these fantasies actually do become realities. (This connects back to one of my older blogs about women are cougers, men are just lucky).
I've been thinking about this phenomena a lot lately. So much so I find I'm not fantasizing as much about all those gorgeous young McDreamies out there in my imagination. Sorry guys, I'll get back to our romantic encounters in a bit. I'm comforted by the knowledge you'll all be waiting for me...
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