Age-Gap RelationshipsFollow

Is there a gap in ages between two would-be coupling people that is too great to over come for a long-term successful relationship?

Is it different for older man/younger woman relationships than it is for older woman/younger man relationships?

Or how about male/male or female/female relationships?







Edited, Jan 28th 2009 6:18pm by Elinda

I'd say the gap depends on the couple in question. My sister was eight years older than my ex brother in law, and while they seemed compatible at first, I knew their marriage was going to end quickly when I found out she made him sell his Warhammer table.

Another set of my friends has the same age gap, but they're both totally into the vegetarian vampire goth thing, and they get on like peanut butter and jelly. They've been together for five years, have a house and many pets together, and they'll probably be together when she is 88 and he's 80.

Culturally, the age difference between older man / younger woman should be more tolerable in the west, but I think that it is still becoming less prevalent. There will always be trophy wives, but young couples tend to meet in college these days, which means they're usually within 0-8 years of each other max.

I'd venture to guess that a larger age gap is less of a problem with previously divorced couples, too.

And I think that homosexuals are already less hung up on silly labels like age. An older lesbian couple I know has a striking 12 year difference, but they also both have PhDs and host the most fabulous dinner parties. They're both in very late middle age bordering on "old" so it's not as if one is a cradle robber or anything.

I think they probably can work, but as someone has already set, it really does depend on the couple - if they have enough similar interests and ideas, and they work through a tricky patch, there's no reason why it shouldn't work .

However, if they have totally different attitudes to life, then there would probably be problems a little down the line when the initial chemistry fades .

Bloody stupid question.

Irrelevant.

So the people you label based on their sexuality exhibit common attitudes in not labeling people based on the common attitudes of their age?

Either labels are "silly" or they aren't.



Edited, Jan 28th 2009 1:09pm by trickybeck

For most people? Probably. Everyone's their own unique snowflake and all that shit but, yeah, I think if you took two random people currently dating and forced a 25 year age difference between them, you'd probably see friction come out of it.

Of course, you could say the same for if you suddenly put a $500,000 income disparity between them or made one a different race or any number of other things. But I think it's naive to say age doesn't matter because, for lots of folks, it does. Hell, go browse some dating site and see how many people specify an age range for their potential partner.

I was hoping to hear some actual stories. I have a friend back in MN. She was 37 when she married her 25 year old bf. They were a wonderfully happy couple for years. She's 52 now, he's well, a dozen years younger and just left the marriage. Though I don't really have the specifics as to the break up.

Unlike income disparity, it seems like an age disparity can create problems as one individual reaches middle-age, or 'old' well before the other.

Of course, you could say the same for if you suddenly put a $500,000 income disparity between them or made one a different race

Yeah, either of those situations is doomed to failure. Wait, what?

Who said that?

True. However, the idea that a 20 year old Caucasian dating a 20 year old Mexican is similarly stressful to a relationship as them dating a 45 year old white person seems a little silly.

I just think it's silly to say "Age should never matter!". Should or shouldn't, it usually has some impact if there's a real disparity.

Oh, I agree. I just think that even the US we're largely past race being a big deal. Unless we're talking about black dudes, of course. They still have issues dating black women.

Age is half in the mind. I have known childish adults and olde teenagers.

The age gap making a difference depends entirely on the two concerned. Also as you grow older together, the age matters less. Afterall, a 30 year old dating a 20 year old sounds a huge difference but a 50 year old dating a 60 year old sounds more than reasonable

Personally, I am tired of boys and will only consider mature (in attitude) men. So I guess that makes me an old crone

Minimum Partner Age = (Your Age/2)+7

It's been proven with science!

Well, necrophilia isn't legal so I'm pretty sure the equation doesn't work very well for Nobby