In the arms of mature women: now they also hook up with young men

Like all interesting trends, it all started with a very French feel. "French women are redefining the aesthetic of growing older," read a short article in The Economist last year. There were two books written by journalists in their fifties who claimed to feel better than ever, and the sex appeal of Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu , the actress who plays the boss in Emily in Paris , where she displays irony, amazing looks , and attractive boyfriends 10 years her junior.

Then came the sign that this wasn't an exotic or passing thing: Hollywood. Nicole Kidman was having an affair with her intern ( Babygirl ), Gwyneth Paltrow was returning to the movies with Timothée Chalamet ( Marty Supreme , still without a release date), and that generational icon called Bridget Jones was consoling her widowhood with a twenty-something. Finally, we've seen it in real women: famous ones like Sienna Miller (she has a son with her partner 15 years her junior) and anonymous ones. A few weeks ago, forty- and fifty-somethings were telling these pages that they're having the best sex of their lives , often with men.

Confirmed: Now they also date younger men.

What's the optimal age gap ? No one is quite sure, whether you're a man or a woman. Years ago, The Economist tried to find out : it analyzed how it influenced divorce, longevity, income, etc., but it didn't reach any conclusions beyond the "half plus seven" rule , that rule of uncertain origin that defines the socially acceptable gap: if you're 30, you can date someone 22; at 40, 27...

The reasons that lead us to be with someone younger do seem a little clearer. It's influenced by feeling better than ever and the feminism that young people of other generations have lived with. "I'm 40 years old, my sexual instinct has never been so awake," says a woman in I Want , the book in which Gillian Anderson compiles sexual fantasies. "They now have an awareness of the dynamics between men and women that we didn't have 20 years ago," explained Sienna Miller in an interview .

And then there's levity . In How to Be a Woman , Caitlin Moran explains how the emphasis we've always placed on women having partners can lead you to "become obsessed with the idea of ​​love and relationships." "I dream up possible relationships all the time," she says, with hilarious examples (who hasn't imagined vacations with guys you didn't even really like). All of this fades away when the story goes beyond the conventional. Lightness, carefreeness, and enjoyment emerge.

Those who have tried it know it.