It has long been more socially acceptable for younger women to date older men, but now older women dating younger men is fast becoming more of a familiar sight than ever before. From celebrities to members of our own families, more and more relationships are comprised of a woman that is several years older than the man. But why is this the case?
Throughout the ages younger women have been with older men. Sometimes the age difference is big enough for people to question it, but for the most part, it was usually expected that the man would be at least a bit older than the woman he was with. Scientists who have studied the issue point out that biology may be at play for these relationships.
Younger women need to find mates who can provide for them and their children, they need support from the father of their children. At the same time, older men need to find mates that are more likely to be fertile so their genes can be carried on. I’ll admit that all of this takes some of the spark out of romance, but at least there’s an underlying explanation.
That explanation works fine for older man, younger woman relationships. And it only works when having lots of children is a priority for mating. However, in the modern world, fewer and fewer men and women want large families. If they have children, they may wait longer, or not have as many as previous generations had. Because of this change in society, older man, younger woman mates are not as important as they once were.
So, on to older women dating younger men. We’ve seen the case for the opposite, but what about this growing trend? It is most likely a result in there not being as much need amongst couples to have lots of children, if any at all. For one thing, women are now a firm part of the workplace, and do not have to rely on men to do the providing for the family. At least not to the degree they did before.
At the same time, the younger male isn’t as concerned about his DNA being passed along for generations to come. Even if he is, the number of children that have to be born for this to happen is less than it used to be. That’s because fatal childhood diseases are, for the most part, under control. That means a couple can have only one child and the chances are good that they will become adults. This is another reason why older women are now more acceptable as mates for younger men.
It is all of these changes taking place in society that lead to the shift in acceptability of older women dating younger men. One way to look at it is that they can now be together for recreation as opposed to being together for procreation. Women are also more powerful in ways that have not been historically. This gives them much more free reign in pursuing the mates of their choice Besides, if men can choose to go out with somebody younger, it would be a double standard to say women can’t do the same thing.