What's the opposite of a cougar?

[delphipsmith]

Rereading Gone With the Wind for about the thirteenth time and loving it, as always. However, for the first time I really noticed some of the ages mentioned, and was a bit taken aback. Gerald O'Hara is 43 when he marries Ellen Robillard, who is only 15. Suellen O'Hara's "beau" Frank Kennedy is 40 and she's 14. And Rhett Butler is mentioned as being 30 or 35 at the beginning of the novel and Scarlett is only 16.

For some reason this never struck me before, but even for the 1860s this seems rather a wide age disparity.

Comments

[helenarickman.livejournal.com]

This is not uncommon through history everywhere. Consider that before modern times there was very little birth control and also high mortality during child birth. A man would often marry two or three times during his lifetime - not because of divorce, but because of the wife dying. Her children are left behind so the man would often remarry to have 1. a wife to raise his children 2. a wife to care for the home.

The image that comes to mind for me is so many young women in their teens that travelled to the west with pioneering families.

Finally, if you are a parent and your daughter is old enough to menstruate, she is old enough to marry. Depending upon your means, it could very well be to your benefit to marry your daughter off as soon as possible.

[delphipsmith]

What surprised me wasn't so much the youth of the girls as the enormous age gap between them and the men. Youthful marriage is something that still happens even today, but the big age disparity is something I associated more with medieval/Renaissance era. Especially since neither Gerald, Frank nor Rhett had been married before.