WHAT’S WRONG WITH A LITTLE SUMMER LOVING?

the response is more, “How does no one want this silver fox?” than one of ridicule.

“There’s nobody right now,” Brinkley continued. “I’m loving my summer and, you know, kind of really too busy … but I’d slow it down a little if the right person came along.”

This was enough for Robson to suggest Brinkley is looking for a summer fling, as opposed to a more longterm match, which he would deign to accept. It’s a pretty torqued reading, in my opinion, but even if we accept it as fact, what’s wrong with a little summer loving in one’s golden years?

“Has it never occurred to her that men, nice or otherwise, have a certain interest in a woman’s fertility, which does not last forever?” Robson offers, while simultaneously lambasting Brinkley for still looking so young — she looks maybe 40 for her 63 years. For Robson, it’s apparently some form of trickery for Brinkley to “look way younger than she is and hence a potential mother.”

Women can’t win: Gotta look young to deserve romance, but no matter how well you age, all women have an expiration date tied to their menses.

Admittedly, science backs up the idea that some beauty standards are based in biology — big breasts and hips are international symbols of fecundity. But that’s base, animalistic sexual desire, not the “romance” Robson keeps referring to. One would hope, that in 2017, we’ve evolved past the idea that women are useful partners if and only if they’re still baby-making machines. (Not to mention that most people spend their youthful summer flings trying desperately NOT to get pregnant.)

If arguments about treating half the population as full human beings regardless of their uterine status is lost on him, I suspect the ageism and heteronormativity of his premise won’t wash either. Love at any age is a beautiful thing — even if it’s a fling. And it’s really not that rare: there’s a reason retirement communities have been dealing with outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections. Turns out, gonorrhea doesn’t care whether you’re fertile or not.

The column is also based on the idea that “the magic of courtship is inextricably entwined with the prospect of (procreation).” Well, for the millions of Canadians who pursue same-sex relationships or are infertile from birth or never want kids, I suspect that’s far from the case.

Robson admits his ideas are “old fashioned” but even the Victorians believed in companionate matches past child-bearing years. I’d tell him to get with the times, but I suspect he needs to jump over a few centuries to catch up.