People will always say they don’t have a specific type in regards to relationships. We at Her Campus Bryant are calling them out right now. There will always be some sort of pattern of specific aspects you look for, whether it’s a physical attribute or a personality based characteristic. Some girls just so happens to be attracted to younger guys.
Normally a cougar is classified as a woman in her forties or older dating a man in his twenties or so. You can’t really have this on a college campus, which means we’re more so talking about upperclassmen going for the underclassmen. Granted this is only a couple years but there is a difference in maturity and the manner in which we all handle different situations. Either way, some of us have been called a cougar based on tendencies to be attracted to the newest freshmen class.
Now we can’t exactly explain why this happens but it does. If you’re a “cougar” it may be because you’ve taken on multiple leadership roles and feel the need to be the one who is more knowledgeable in the relationship- but hey, we’re not here to psychoanalyze ourselves! Life of a cougar on campus is pretty easy to do. There are multiple occasions to meet underclassmen, especially if you are involved on campus. (And those are the younger ones you want; dedicated, eager to become involved and willing to put themselves out there). Other than those organizations there are class electives, the gym…the normal places you would meet a guy. For some of us, once we see someone who we find attractive and think could possibly be younger, we make it a point to talk to them. Honestly, it isn’t hard to engage someone in a conversation here. The only problem with this is that you can’t have that Type 2 personality or be introverted.
Anyways, being considered a cougar isn’t always a bad thing. It means that these women are confident in who they are, successful in their lives and like a challenge. Going for younger guys is harder than someone your own age because the younger men tend to be more reserved while getting to know older women. So our advice to the college ladies…try seeing if younger is your type. That is, only if you’re confident enough to take control in the relationship.