萧亚轩上《吐槽大会》说：从来不把25岁以上的男人放在眼里;

不管是不是段子，在娱乐圈这些年，被称为“小鲜肉收割机”的她，年岁渐长，男友反倒是越换越年轻。

“同款姐姐”还有身价45亿，73岁的“婚纱女王”VeraWang，身边总不乏年轻力壮小男友，过的比萧亚轩还要“潇洒”；

又或者是告别“年上”老公，高调换男友，54岁依旧不影响和“小奶狗”谈恋爱的邓文迪。

其实，英语里有一个词对应这种有经济实力，独立且有“掠食性”，喜欢跟比自己年轻许多的小男生恋爱约会的大女主-“Cougar”.

Cougar is an actual English word.

Originally it refers to a type of big cats, 本意就是美洲狮, 是一种大型的猫科动物, but it has an entirely different meaning in pop culture.

Cougar

Put simply, a cougar is an older woman who seeks a relationship or sex with men who are significantly younger than them.

所以这个词有的时候被翻译成 “熟女”, 成熟的"熟"。

Now traditionally, this meant women over 40, dating men 10 to 20 years younger than themselves.

However, over time it has come to mean a woman of any age being in a relationship with a 10 year plus age gap.

它一般说的年龄大概40往上, 喜欢交往比自己小十几二十岁的年轻男朋友的熟女。

The origin of the phrase is unclear, but it is thought to have started in Canada.

The concept has been featured in a number of TV shows and films. For instance, a reality show called The Cougar aired in America.

It featured a woman in the 40s choosing a boyfriend from 20 younger men, all in their 20s.

可以说Cougar这个词也就是在过去十几二十年间, 从各种媒体, 特别是真人秀给带火的。

Actually actress Courteney Cox, 就是大家都很熟悉的在老友记里演Monica的那一位。

She actually started in a comedy show called Cougar Town.

她就曾经主演过一个长达六季的喜剧叫做《熟女镇》Cougar Town.

She was obviously the main cougar.

In show business, the reality is not so different from these shows, numerous celebrities have been classed as cougars in the past,

including Demi Moore, Sandra Bullock, and of course Madonna.

其实不光是电影电视, 在演艺圈的八卦里也有不少年长的女性被人定义为cougar.

比如当年呼风唤雨的Madonna就是其中一个constantly dating younger boyfriends.

As for non-celebrities, a growing number of people are signing up to dating websites designed for older women and younger men.

There was actually a dating website called Cougar Date. This is a site dedicated to “casual dating for cougars and toyboys".

所谓的toyboy就有点小白脸那个意思。

Even holiday operators are trying to cash in.

In the US, there's the talk about “Cougar Cruise" supposedly designed for cougars.

And we just talked about the word itself and the examples in real life.

Now let's talk about the fierce debate surrounding it over whether the term is a triumph for women, or it remains a disastrous setback.

To some, they are objects of empowering modern feminism;

To others, they are an example of misogynistic male fantasy.

这个词也是有很多的争议, 有一些人认为他是赋能女性的, 而且甚至是女权主义的。

because women are taking control.

其实你想想看我们说的杀猪盘, 那个里面的older women一般都是受害者,

but cougars they are the predators. They enjoy younger men.

但也有人会觉得这其实就是一个misogynistic male fantasy, 其实它的根基还是男权社会里面的一种幻想，带着不少厌女的情绪。

And yet to others, they're just simply intriguing.

If you think about it, cougar is a term used to describe an older woman who basically uses the same predatory sexual techniques as men,

including focusing on members of the opposite sex or significantly younger.

其实你想想看cougars这个概念, 它的意向本来就是更加predatory, 更像一个掠食者。

She takes what she wants, and she takes advantage of younger men.

Same as older men would, a lot of the times, take advantage of younger women.

This term began as a term of thinly veiled abuse considered kind of an insult to older single women.

But now the term has gradually entered the mainstream, especially through media, and some comments regard entry of the term into the mainstream as a sign of female liberation.

Cougar这个词最初出来的时候是有一定的贬义, 甚至有一些拿年长的女性开玩笑的意思。

但是随着各种媒体炒作, 这个词逐渐被主流所接受, 甚至被一些人视为是female liberation女性解放的一部分。

They say the TV shows, films, and events are showing off a powerful female sexuality.

For example, few would bat an eye at a dating show featuring a man picking from women much younger than himself.

Cougars, perhaps, are simply claiming the sexual high ground from the sex that has traditionally held it.

其实咱们反过来想, 如果一个成熟有魅力、有能力的男性, 他去选择比自己小十几二十岁的女性, 我们会觉得非常正常, 根本就不值得拿出来讨论。

Well, cougars are simply doing exactly the same thing.

It's like what author Valerie Gibson said. She has written a book called Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men.

She said the term is an example of liberation.

"A cougar is the new breed of single, older woman – confident, sophisticated, desirable, and sexy.

She knows exactly what she wants. What she wants is younger men and lots of great sex. What she doesn't want is children, cohabitation or commitment."

But of course, there are critiques of this word.

Remember the Courtney Cox comedy I mentioned, Cougar Town?

就像我刚才说的Monica演的Cougar Town《熟女镇》喜剧, 就有很多人非常不喜欢。

They called it a backward step for women's rights and said the type of feminism that it represented was based on what men think of women, not what women might think of themselves.

For example, one writer for Wall Street Journal said in the comedy Jules or Courteney Cox's character searches for self-esteem, in frequent sex and the proof that she is still ‘hot’, that's not really liberation for women.

比如就有人评论说《熟女镇》里面 Monica演的主角叫Jules.

虽然看起来自信性感, 但实际上她还是要不断的在各种男人身上证明自己的吸引力, 以此来满足自己的自尊心，而这个可算不上什么真正的解放。

But either way, this word is probably here to stay in pop culture.

Now let's move on the sample sentence.

例句示范

Example 1：

-Some critics find the label of “cougar” belittling and sexist.