Well, lo and behold, the cubs have their own rating system for us cougars. I know women hate to be rated, but let's face it ladies, that's what men do. Furthermore, we have our rating system, but we try to be more discreet about it and often disguise it some emotional explanation. Let's get real. We have deal breakers that are sometimes more arbitrary than those men have.


However, I digress. We are now talking about the male perspective only. I will make a traditional list as they do from A to AAA+++ at the conclusion, but I found the subtleties of their rankings to be to important to ignore. Therefore I didn't want to only make it a crass list with firm designations. It appears there are a group of factors that push you up or down the list so there is not hard and fast definition of each category. The factors are as follows:

Does she hide you or sneak around with you? The more open she is the higher she rates. This can have a direct correlation to whether she is married, but not limited to that. She could be embarrassed, has disapproving children, jealous exes etc.

Does she have time or can make time for you easily? The more flexible she is, the better. Men don't want to have be required to spend a lot of time with you, but they want you to be available when they chose and for however long they chose. The more able you are to accommodate that perfect world of theirs, the higher she ranks. This is probably the most important factor for most. If she can get a babysitter at the drop of a hat when he calls and isn't working (doesn't have a curfew) or better yet is an ex-trophy wife with lots of money and time, we're talking AAA.

Is she beautiful and/or fit? Obviously more is better here as well.

Does she have money? Do I actually have to explain that one?

Does she have children? Actually not as important as you might think as long as she has a babysitter on speed dial or they're old enough that they don't live at home. Bottom-line, as long as she'll drop everything at the drop of a hat and can stay up all night with you if it happens to go that way, Great.

Is she smart? The smarter - the better.

Is she funny? Humor is important. That goes for both sexes.

Does she allow an open relationship? No Strings Attached? Something all men hope they can have at the beginning. Unless the cub is looking for a long term relationship which is rarely the case at first, the ranking goes way up.

Sexually adventurous? Ah come on, you know the answer to that one..... We're all grown ups here.

Confident? Definitely a plus and almost a requirement for being a cougar.

Successful in her own right? Success is a big turn on.

High Maintenance? If she is needy, self absorbed, high drama, discusses past relationships or talks to much in general then she loses value very quickly. Any of the above can become deal breakers in and of themselves. I'm sure many men can add to this description endlessly.

Nag about wanting to see them more or want a commitment? God forbid. You can drop on the rating scale quicker than the Dow Jones ticker during Sept. 2008.

Needs to bring her kids to his outings? Do that once to many times and you will find your calls being screened.

All the above factors are based on how they contribute to the FUN factor. Impede the fun = deal breaker.

I've been told by the 100's of cubs I've interviewed, it's about fun, don't treat them like they are your girlfriend, that would entail giving them to much information.  It's the mystery that sets a good cougar apart.  Don't ruin it by trying to make them your confidant,

There are obvious AAAs, but any big deficits in the above categories can pull you down, and vice versa. To satisfy the male need to see a neat definition, I submit the following list"

A
A single or married cougar who can support herself, probably average looking to good looking, who has many family or work commitments that limit spur of the moment plans with whom the cub has a friends with benefits or more relationship.

AA
A single/married cougar who is very successful, who can mentor, teach and guide a cub, who's great company and perhaps can even support him financially, if necessary. She is readily available for a good time most of the time, but not always. Looks can range from average to good looking.

AAA
A single woman who has money, doesn't work, has time, is flexible, confident, is open, adventurous, funny, fun to be around and beautiful - The all around perfect woman.