September 6, 2021

"The full title of Mr. Vizinczey’s best-known book was 'In Praise of Older Women: The Amorous Recollections of Andras Vajda.'"

"Its title character was a philosophy instructor who reminisces about finding his way to maturity through his relationships with a series of older lovers. The character’s definition of 'older' — and Mr. Vizinczey’s — may seem odd today; a woman in her mid-30s qualified. But the point, Mr. Vizinczey said at the time, was to provide an alternative to the prevailing view of sex. 'The North American myth that youth is wonderful, that the perfect "woman" is 18 years old, is simply a lot of hogwash,' he told The Gazette of Montreal in 1965, when the book was first published in Canada."

16 comments:

David Begley said...

Is there a sequel?

I recall the story of how George W. Bush quit drinking. He was at his parents’ house for a dinner party and was drunk. He loudly asked a prominent female guest, “Well, what’s sex like after 40?” His parents were not amused.

John henry said...

Ben Franklin preferred older women and penned an essay in 1745 fibbing 8 reasons why

Better conversation

"when they cease to be handsome they study to be good"

"Because there is no hazard of children,"

"Because the more experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an intrigue to prevent suspicion."

Old and young are the same below the waist

"Because compunction is less. The having made a young girl miserable may give you frequent bitter reflections, none of which can attend making an old woman happy."

"8thly and lastly. They are so grateful."

https://ionlyreadthearticles.blogspot.com/2008/11/ben-franklins-8-reasons-to-prefer-old.html

Benny hill also has some words to say on the subject

https://youtu.be/XFMrZ9fP7xA

John Henry

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Perspective is a helluva thing. To an 18-year-old guy a mid-thirties chick is twice his age. At almost any age, when one encounters another person who is double one’s own age that person is obviously perceived as “older.” Duh. There is no gender equity in such a circumstance. Woman 36 who has a fling with a boy 18 is not subject to the same scrutiny the pair would draw if the ages were reversed. The older man these days would be seen as a perv or predator or worse. The woman in the former example would likely receive public adulation.

Kevin said...

The North American myth that youth is wonderful, that the perfect "woman" is 18 years old, is simply a lot of hogwash,' he told The Gazette of Montreal in 1965, when the book was first published in Canada.

Depending on when he started, an 18 year-old woman might seem very wise and mature.

Likewise, a woman of 30 might seem very young to him now.

Kevin said...

Didn't they make a movie about this?

I think it was called Bull Durham.

cubanbob said...

For a man the "perfect" age for a woman is half his age plus seven years. I'm sixty five so using the formula the right age for woman for me would forty. Therefore in the hypothetical world where I am my current age, wealthy and single the ideal would be a good looking forty year old. but since there are two sides to the coin, the forty year old would probably come with several young kids or be a very high maintenance woman. However in this reality I'll stick to my sixty one year old wife who in addition isn't high maintenance, is very sharp, a great cook, a great mother and puts up with me.

An eighteen year old woman is perfection for a twenty one year old man. She is lovely and not life aware to know that a lot of what young men say is BS. A woman in her thirties knows better.

Yancey Ward said...

He was hot for teacher.

Ice Nine said...

> 'The North American myth that youth is wonderful, that the perfect "woman" is 18 years old, is simply a lot of hogwash,'<

Amen. I've never understood that notion - except when I was 18 years old plus ten or minus five years. I'm most certainly an anomaly - been told that with some degree of repugnance many times - but I was always attracted to older women. Though I generally dated same age range women, I was twice, ahem, associated with older ones. They win, period.

Now that I'm older I look at this obsession of old dudes with really young women, and think, "My god, what is wrong with these guys?" Yeah twenty fun (I guess) minutes but then what? What do you talk about? What do you do together? What do you share? The idea that for a woman to be beautiful and desirable she has to be a <30y/o know-nothing hardbelly with "proud," probably plastic, boobs is simply foreign to me, and has been for many years. I know so many beautiful, sexy 60-something women and I knew them to be so when I was in my forties and fifties. Franklin was right...and you never have to ask yourself those questions above.

mikee said...

I heard the Franklin opinion in condensed form.
Older women don't tell, don't swell, and are grateful as hell.

I recall Rita Moreno at 50 as being my wake up call regarding older women.
I'm sure you have your own.

William said...

I'm pretty sure I read this book back when, but I can't remember a single thing about it. There used to be a time when people read books for the hot parts. I think books were in some way superior form of porn consumption in that distant era..... It was the primitive age of pornography. The girls in the centerfolds were only allowed to hint at the presence of a vagina. The sex in the books was much more explicit... Although pornography is still ultimately done by hand, the delivery system has markedly improved. Young people should be grateful to be living in this age. Imagine reading a book for its prurient content.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Did anyone ever ask him if he still felt that way when he was in his 50's?

Howard said...

Irene Papas

Skippy Tisdale said...

Ice Nine at 11:33 AM is spot-on. When I was 42, I volunteered at a drop-in center for homeless youth. A woman who was a senior in college was doing her internship there. For some reason this 22-year-old woman was attracted to me. Assertively. I was open minded so...

On the plus side, when a guy in his forties walks into a high-end restaurant with a hot college girl on his arm who is obviously not his daughter, people stare a lot and that feels good. And when we got back to my house (a guy with a house being a novelty for a college girl) she did look great naked. On the downside, she was overall pretty boring. College only teaches so much about the world around us. And it's not very much.

Scot said...

In the dark, all cats are grey.

Lurker21 said...

They made a movie out of his book in the 70s. I read about it in one of those magazines I shouldn't have been reading back then.

I guess sex is still an important part of people's lives, but the 1960s/1970s idea that it was forbidden, mysterious, and endlessly interesting is gone. Nowadays the topics of discussion tend to involve gender roles and identities and resentments.

GRW3 said...

On a general note, I've always thought the 30s were prime years for women, and I still do. These days, I do have an opportunity to converse with people of all ages. Approaching 70, I have developed a feel for the boundaries of any potential relationship, should I unfortunately need to. To me there's a foggy barrier around 20 years my junior. Beyond that there just isn't enough shared life experience to feel compatible.