It's that word. Cougar. As Rebecca Traister so eloquently wrote for Salon, "aggressive female sexuality is always talked about as feral, often feline. When it's older, apparently, it develops sharper claws and teeth… mindless characterizations of va-va-voom youth seekers who wear too-tight animal prints and talk like children about stalking men as prey is not important, valuable or empowering in any way." And as Allure blogger Erin Flaherty once wrote of Brooke Shields being called a cougar: "Sometimes an attractive woman is just an attractive woman. Can't hot older women just be hot?"

Viewing older women as "wild" "cats" results in unfortunate, often preposterous language of predator and prey. Poor, defenseless men! Scary, aggressive ladies! When writing about the photos from the Bay Area Cougar Convention, SF Weekly's Joe Eskenazi jokes, "beware young gentlemen. Here thar be cougars." Come on. An older single woman is not some sort of bogeymonster, lurking in the shadows, preparing to attack. It's diminishing, insulting and derogatory to characterize them that way.

What you actually see in theses pictures are older women and younger men — single, consenting adults — enjoying each others' company. The men in the images look extremely pleased to be there and not at all like they've been pounced on by claw-bearing, untamed feline females. Sure, there's that one chick with cat ears on, but we go easy on crazy cat ladies around here.

Hello, Ladies: Fur Flies at Bay Area 'Cougar' Convention [SF Weekly]

Earlier: How Do We Survive The Cougar Attack?
Me-Ouch! Sarah Haskins Gets Catty About TV Cougars
5 Reasons Why Courteney Cox's Cougar Town Looks Awful

[Images by Daniel C. Britt/ Painet; used with permission]

The connection between women and cats is as old as the universe itself. The feminine and the feline are closely linked, from the Egyptian cat goddess Bast — whose celebration involved telling dirty jokes and drinking wine — to the cats witches were thought to use as "familiars." In fact, women and cats were often burned together for crimes of witchcraft. These says, cats are part of language used in the sexualization of women — words like "sex kitten," "wildcat," and the dreaded "cougar."

But most interesting is the image of the sad, old, lonely "crazy cat lady," whose archetype — the Spinster — is often painted as a tragic, mentally ill figure. Because she's not married and has a pet. Susan Boyle is definitely being portrayed this way, as though not having a husband and only being able to share love with her cat Pebbles has made her addle-brained.

The truth is: Men and families have cats and are never thought of as being crazy. Some guys get fanatical about their dogs. Why is a woman who finds love, acceptance and zero judgments from the unique relationship a human can have with a feline scorned, mocked and shamed?

On the other hand, is there such a thing as a kitten-loving woman with a problem? Check out this trailer for the documentary film Cat Ladies, in which cat collecting seems more of an addiction than anything else:

Susan Boyle Axed From Britain's Got Talent Tour After Balcony Cat Rant [Daily Mail]
Putting Out Fire (With Gasoline) [The Awl]

Here are the glaring problems with what we can see so far:

• 1. The use of the word "cougar." It's clichéd, it's lame, it's undignified. It smacks of predatory desperation. As Salon's Rebecca Traister wrote in April, "How sad and backward that we have to give it a nickname, animalize it as if it's outside the boundaries of civilized human behavior, make it a trend, pretend that Demi Moore invented it. That's not progress, and it's not a step forward for women." 'Nuff said.
• 2. Bad jokes. From the tiny bit seen in clips below, Cougar Town is not funny! Courteney's character says to a friend over the phone, "Why so pissy?" The woman answers: "I'm fat." UGH. Really? Courteney says: "No, you're not," and the woman replies, "I am. I woke up fat!" "I don't buy it," Courteney says, and then goes to the window to look at her friend who lives next door. She sees the woman in a purple nightgown and deadpans, "Wow, you look like a whore." "Thank you!" the woman enthuses. This is just the beginning. Said neighbor is super reluctant to have sex with her husband. Ha? Later, Courteney's son thinks she is hitting on him because she is talking to him while holding wine. Hilarious?
• 3.Where's the empowerment? Courteney's character makes this speech to a male neighbor: "You know what drives me nuts? Your wife moved out what, a week ago? And you're already sexing up sorority girls. But nobody cares, because when a 40-year-old guy gets divorced, all your friends are like, 'Way to go, tiger.'" She's making a point — albeit one that been made TIME AND TIME AGAIN, that there's a double standard for how older men and older women are seen. But there's no new twist, new insight, or skewering of this double standard. Maybe it's coming later? Still, one of the rules of writing for the screen is show, don't tell. Oh, and in this scene, the man replies her rant by asking, "When's the last time you got laid?" Instead of kneeing the dude in the nuts or saying, "Right, because if a woman is angry she clearly hasn't gotten enough dick," Courteney's character seems to think that yes, maybe this is the problem. Groan.
• 4. Preposterous casting. Courteney Cox is 44 and gorgeous. Beautiful face, amazing body, and in possession of millions of dollars to designate solely for upkeep. As Allure blogger Erin Flaherty points out about Brooke Shields: "Sometimes an attractive woman is just an attractive woman." When you look at Courteney, do you think, "That's what a typical American 'cougar' really looks like"? When the male neighbor says, "Maybe what really drives you nuts is that you couldn't bag a young stud if you tried," you have no choice but to roll your eyes so hard they get stuck up in your brain. She looks almost exactly like she did when she was on Friends, which is to say: Hot. The only way a "young stud" wouldn't find her sexually attractive would be if he were gay. And even then, second base seems like a possibility.
• 5. There is a way to present older, desperate, needy, messy women and have it be funny — and it's been done, on a show called Absolutely Fabulous.

But judge for yourself: Two Cougar Town clips below.

Giving It Another Go! [Perez]
Related: Sometimes An Attractive Woman Is Just An Attractive Woman [Allure]
Earlier:How Do We Survive The Cougar Attack?

"How sad and backward that we have to give it a nickname, animalize it as if it's outside the boundaries of civilized human behavior, make it a trend, pretend that Demi Moore invented it. That's not progress, and it's not a step forward for women." She continues:

Cougars. Pussies. Foxes. Faster pussycat! Kill! Kill! Active, aggressive female sexuality is always talked about as feral, often feline. When it's older, apparently, it develops sharper claws and teeth. Unless, that is, it's exhibited by a primmer and more contained MILF. That's just a lady with kids who men want to fuck. It's impossible to tell, until we get closer to the specimen, whether she has any interest in doing the fucking herself.

But what about women of a certain age who want to feel fierce, sexy, powerful? Haven't older women historically been stripped of their sexuality? Instead of making them feel like their "best" years are the fertile ones, shouldn't we allow them to celebrate a healthy sexual life?

Traister says yes. "Communication of the fact that women have sexual motors that run far into their retirement years is of course valuable." But: "turning those revelations into mindless characterizations of va-va-voom youth seekers who wear too-tight animal prints and talk like children about stalking men as prey is not important, valuable or empowering in any way."

Also, she recalls, "When Cher used to date Rob Camilletti, I think they called him a 'boy toy,' and they called her 'Cher.'"

The problem is that this country loves a buzzword, and right now, "cougar" is it. In addition to the new TV Land show The Cougar, and several cougar-themed books, there's an indie film called Cougar Hunting, a website called UrbanCougar, and Courteney Cox-Arquette is producing and starring in a pilot for an ABC sitcom called Cougar Town. The question is, are we allowed to be glad that women of a certain age are in the spotlight as sexual beings and not as dried up spinsters? Or does hating the term "cougar" mean not supporting any cougar-themed projects? Let's just say, for instance, that Courteney Cox's show (about a newly single 40-year-old mom with a 17-year-old son) was called something like Aging Disgracefully or Back In The Game? Would you watch it then? Or are you willing to give it a chance with the word "cougar" in the title? Is there a dignified way to survive this cougar attack?

Hot Cougar Sex! [Salon]

[Image via Ike The Thumb Cat]

Additional TGIF cute: Cat Versus Dog

Cat Versus Dog [Funny Or Die]

[Image via Getty.]

Photo released January 15, 2009, by the French Museum of Natural History shows a female Chinese Panther with her two cubs, born on November 30, 2008, at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. A rare species, there exists around 2500 Chinese Panthers in the wild. News of the arrival of two cubs to the Parisian Zoo was delayed 'to confirm the health of the mother and cubs'. AFP Photo / MNHN / FG GRANDIN (Photo credit should read FG GRANDIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Let's welcome 7-week-old brothers Wei, or "big and strong," and Xun, meaning "fast" or "quick."

2 Chinese leopard cubs born in Paris zoo [AP]

[Images via Cute Overload.]

Additional cute: Baby squirrels rescued from Hurricane Gustav.
Also: A clip about pets and the economy. (Starring my sister.)

[Tokyo, April 2. Images via AP.]

A 7-week-old Indian lion "Raja" relaxes after feeding milk at the Yokohama zoological gardens Zoorasia, south of Tokyo, Japan.

[Image via Getty.]

[Wuppertal Zoo, Germany, January 9. Image via Getty.]

[Vallejo, CA; December 19. Image via AP.]

Ashkii, a 10 month-old cougar cub charges a ball which fell from his early Christmas present at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. Ashkii, along with his siblings Takoda and Yazhi were treated to presents filled with balls, pine cones, and other treats. The three cougars were acquired by the park after being orphaned at six weeks of age, being dropped off at a Dept. of Fish & Game office in Idaho. — AP

[Image via AP.]

[Japan, October 21. Image via Getty.]

[Lynx, Stockholm, October 3. Image via Getty. ]

[Van, Eastern Turkey. Image via Getty.]