Age Is Nothing But A Number....

My first historical, The Merry Widow, was released yesterday through Red Sage Publishing. The novella revolves around an older woman/younger man relationship which is instigated by a case of mistaken identity. Writing the story was a lot of fun and the first involving an older heroine and it won't be my last because it was so much fun to explore the inner dynamics of what brings these two together and keeps them together.

While outlining this story, as per my usual process, I researched this non-traditional relationship which in modern time many believe is some kind of sudden phenomenon. But in actuality it isn't. In fact there have been many famous and powerful women throughout history who took younger lovers or in some cases married them. Some of them include:

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine & Henry Plantagent (11 years)
Queen Elizabeth I & The Earl of Essex (33 years)
Khadija & the prophet Muhammad (15 years)
Audrey Hepburn & Robert Wolders (7 years)
Anais Nin & Rupert Pole (12 years)
Christabella Wyndham & King Charles II (*was his wet nurse)
Catherine The Great & Grigory Potemkin (12 years)
Helena Rubenstein & Artchil Goureilli-Tchkonia (20 years)

Admittedly, these types of match-ups were not as prevalent as older males marrying younger women. But of course as many of you already know, the basis for many of these relationships was a desire or need to have children. And considering the precariousness of carrying a child to full term in the past, a man's best bet for an heir and his spouse's overall survival was choosing a younger women.

Have times changed? Even though the U.S. Census states that more men tend to marry younger wives, research shows that older women and younger men match-ups have made substantial gains. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 12% of all marriages were between older women and younger men. And in the 1998 Census figures, 18% of women lived with a younger man. And among women 35-44 that figure increased to 29%. In another survey conducted by the Los Angeles Times, 23% of women married younger men. And that number increased to 41% for women aged 35-44.

So what changed people's thinking? Well, of course we've moved out of the stone age when it comes to health care, but researchers believe its because of a change in society's attitude. Older women are not like their past counterparts, who if unmarried, widowed, or divorced and over the age of thirty retired to some country manor. Nope. Today's older woman is more financially stable, more confident and in a sense doesn't give a whit about what their neighbors think.

On the other hand, why do younger men suddenly find older women so appealing? According to one sociologist, younger men have always found older women attractive and the number reason isn't because of sex. Many of them cited the woman's maturity, her ability to take care of herself, the fact she wasn't into head games, and her overall personal comfort level as the basis for the attraction.

So if older women have always been attractive to younger men, why didn't they openly pursue it? It simply boiled down to societal pressures. Young men were ridiculed or questioned about their intentions toward the older woman he was attracted to, dating or considered marrying. Many of them were wrongly accused of being gigolos or predators looking for easy prey. Instead of genuinely being interested in a May/December relationship for nothing more than financial or sexual gain.

Of course, no relationship isn't perfect and neither are older woman/young man match-ups. But thank goodness society has evolved to the point that age is nothing but a number:)

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THE MERRY WIDOW • KOKO BROWN • Red Sage Publishing

Blurb:
Victorian England is a man's world. And no one knows this better than Phillipa Jones who must fight society's conventions along with chauvinistic ship captains and a greedy yet undeniably handsome Viscount to keep her late husband's shipping business afloat. One moment of weakness and a case of mistaken identities will place her in a compromising position, which will see everything she's worked for come to ruins including her reputation. To read an excerpt, visit Red Sage's website