your coworker is an unusual woman to look almost the same age as her boyfriend and feel the same - most 55 year old women I know constantly complain of being "invisible" to men - so her experience is not the norm - and it is not indicative of her generation - also 55 is not really "old" lets wait till she is 65 and see if her boyfriend still wants to swingdance with her - I am not being mean - just rational - the age taboo still exists - because it is built into our DNA - most 65 year olds are not chased by young men - hopefully this woman will not care about this anymore and will be very happy pursuing other pleasures ....

also 55 is not really "old" lets wait till she is 65 and see if her boyfriend still wants to swingdance with her -

Lazarelle,
Check out this lady, from the UK, dancing (wait till the video is past 2 min to really see her move) I know a few people from the UK and Spain who have seen her in person. Some sites claim she's in her 90s, but I heard she's really in her 70s.
I'm not saying anyone can be that active at her age, but it's possible. She's been dancing for years, but picked up salsa in her later yrs though, past 50.
My point is that people/women can enjoy life in their later yrs,engaging in activities they enjoy. This is not her boyfriend, but dance partner. She's enjoying life, even if it's not involving any romance.
This woman is rare, but I know women 50s+ who do dance well and often. There's places in the city where older people can dance, and not be seen as odd. But there's always more older men than older women though. I think it's more because women that age group have traditionally been more family oriented and don't all think they can find hobbies outside the home at their age, or feel strange/too old to get out there and take dance class. But still, many women do. Of course, there's not a whole lot of them right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkHvRCp3z5A

But he will be older too?

There is one thing that I never understand. If for example a 40 year old woman is dating a 25 year old guy, that's fine but then people go on to point out when he is 45 she will be 60 like that's really shocking. What is the big deal, they will both get older and the age gap hasn't widened.

Lazarelle,

My point is that even though a woman is older, if she's still fit and active, she can engage in dancing. If she has a man in her life, great, if not, doesn't mean the woman is not enjoying her life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkHvRCp3z5A

I think it's the idea that men will not find a much older woman attractive, even if he looks old, or not so hot himself. Many guys (esp. middle aged) rarely consider their own appearance when evaluating a woman's attractiveness, and what they want for themselves. They feel almost entitled to the best looking/youngest women they can get sometimes.
Yet, plenty of men have married women their own age (20something) and later have lost interest in their wives, even just 10,15 yrs later, and separated. Sometimes the wives let go, but often the guy let go as well.
Or sometimes the woman still looks great but the man just lost interest for other reasons, or vice versa. No relationship is completely fail proof, no matter the age.
I just think if two people really love each other, looks shouldn't be a priority, esp long term. Of course that's not always true in reality, but we can still have hope. :)

Sue: the glass is both half full and half empty - this is a variation on the Schrödinger's cat theory - (I'm being silly LOL)

Maybe its a variation of Schrödinger's "Wave Equation" but really much more closely related to Heisenberg's "Uncertainty Principal". This last one has so many meanings!!!!