It wasn’t until I went back to Italy as a “mature” woman, a woman over 40 that I realized what a sexy creature I was! The Italian males gave me appreciative glances in fancy restaurants and gallerias, and comments of “bellissima, bellissima!” were a common occurrence, boosting my self-esteem and making me feel that forty and over might not be so bad at all. It made my husband Alan, who has always found “older women” very sexy, feel good, too. After all, I was with him! He was showing me off! It made me feel like, and I hate to say this, a “trophy wife.”(Okay, granted, these men were seeing me at my best and not how I look after an hour of aerobics and swimming, but still, it made me feel great!)

Men, not only in Italy, but in all of Europe, appreciate the woman who has a little “mileage” on her.Like a vintage car, a good piece of gold jewelry, or a fine patina on silver, women who have lived are a premium in other countries. They are valued for their beauty and their intelligence. Getting older in those places is a plus not a handicap.

What took American men so long to realize something that Europeans have always known-that older women are hot, hot, hot?! Believe it or not, this ill-conceived notion that men in America had about women had to do with our culture, our Puritanical ancestry, Mom and apple-pie.

We are a unique society in America, Puritan beliefs die hard here. As open-minded as we like to think we are, we simply aren’t when it comes to sexual attitudes and women of “a certain age.” How many of us, as teenagers, really liked to think that our parents were having sex “at their age?” Ooooo, yuck! Puh-leeze! Yet Europeans, from very young ages, have always accepted the fact that sex was a natural part of life, that their parents, and indeed their grandparents, were still enjoying each other as they aged, as was their right.

We Americans on the other hand clung to the Puritanical view, albeit subliminally, that sex was for procreation only. That somehow it was a forbidden act. That once you became a parent, sexual activity and the desire and need for it, disappeared along with sports cars, sexy lingerie, and staying up past 8:30 pm. Mom and apple pie went together; not Mom, sensuality, and desire for Dad. Dad and the lawnmower went together; not Dad, sex, and irresistible urges for Mom. Sex was something that went with youth. It was not anything you did after forty, or, perish the thought! fifty!

Europeans appreciate the older woman for her experiences and her attitude about life. She has learned valuable lessons in her life and has respected opinions of her own. Having accumulated some of the material benefits that life has to offer,she is a woman who can stand on her own feet. And speaking of standing on her own feet, this woman takes excellent care of herself, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Best of all, the older woman is valued and sought after as a companion, for all of these things, not put out to pasture.

American men are starting to see women past a “certain age” as sexy and as vital as any one under thirty. Sharon Stone,Renee Russo,Oprah Winfrey,Susan Sarandon,Tina Turner,and Holland Taylor,are just a few of the women who show the American male that older, 40's, 50's, 60's, is pretty damn sexy!

Gentlemen of America, take a tip from your European brothers and learn to appreciate the older woman. Remember, apple pie is best made with “ripe, mature” apples and is delicious when served hot. Get the hint?


Sacred Jude in my Life, Miracles Abound!!