The whole phenomena of younger men dating older women is back on the forefront of our collective societal minds lately — perhaps because of the brilliant way that Jennifer Lopez infused the topic in her hit movie, The Boy Next Door. Although critics largely panned the erotic thriller, there's no denying the film pulled in unexpectedly high box office numbers its opening weekend.

Not only did J. Lo up the ante by casting her 45-year-old amazing-looking self against 27-year-old Ryan Guzman's amazing-looking self, but also the plotline of the movie portrayed him as a 19-year-old troubled high school student with Lopez as his teacher. The "make sexy time" scandalous scenario would prompt viewers to avoid all such salacious scenes and search for honest educators instead — especially after witnessing that crazy, eye-popping ending.

Beyond the movie, though: Why are some younger guys attracted to older women? These are a few of my favorite reasons:

#1. The women might still look great...

Or they look even better than they did in their 20s, like Jennifer Lopez, who people claim is aging backwards. Of course, she has a lot more money than she did as a Fly Girl on In Living Color or when she was still "Jenny from the block."

Jennifer can afford to slather that Crème de la Mer all over her body and take care of herself. She's a person that I won't call a "cougar," because Lopez recently spoke about the hypocrisy of having a distinctive name for a woman who dates younger men, but no name for men who date younger women.

Either way, as women, we are learning to workout, strength-train, go all "beast mode" and take care of ourselves better. I think of an episode of a reality show called "Age of Love: 20s vs. 40s" whereby the younger women had the older woman go on a swim date with the bachelor in question, assuming the 40-somethings would have bad bodies. Instead, their plan backfired when the older women's abs put some of the others to shame. 

#2. They have more confidence: Mrs. Robinson knows what she wants

Okay, I don't like the connotation that older women can seem desperate or needy, but I do like it when a woman has used her years of surviving heartbreak, bad dudes and more to quickly discern what she wants out of life. That includes the men who approach her, which oftentimes, might tend to be younger dudes. Like 50-year-old Vivica Fox stated, younger men are the ones approaching her, so that's the age group she tends to date.

#3. Established women tend to have more money

Hellooooooo, Sugar Mama!

But seriously folks, another thing that makes some older women more attractive to younger guys is that the MILFs tend to have more money. Most of us can remember our struggling salad days in college — and thank the Lord that all that hard work has paid off over the years and brought a bounty of blessings that includes monetary blessings as well.

Not that older women want to necessarily be a benefactor to some broke young guy — no one wants to be used for their money — but being more established and secure and settled can be attractive nonetheless. Like Oprah's appeal. And more interesting in some ways, like Francis McDermott's character in Something's Gotta Give said, in speaking about all the time that older women may have to devote to their careers, which can make success more likely.

So there we have it — just a few reasons younger men may see a light of aura hanging around women who are 10 or 20 years their senior, and be drawn to that light like a gym rat to a fly machine.

Check out more information about The Boy Next Door!