# Would you date an older woman? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311 "2003-10-03T11:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/41 "2003-10-03T19:41:00Z")
**BobLibDem** > [@](#): > > Ben Franklin said one of the virtues of older women was that they are so grateful. And Ben was such a looker… When you say dating, what exactly do you have in mind? Let’s quote the math of Sophie Tucker - It makes more sense for older women to date younger men than vice-versa because 20 goes into 60 a lot more often than 60 goes into 20. ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/42 "2003-10-03T20:30:30Z")
All of my successful(ish) relationships have been with older women. For some reason, all my relationships with younger women seem to end up with some combination of psychiatric therapy, addiction treatment for various not-entirely-legal substances and/or extremely in-the-red bank accounts. However, your mileage may vary as they say. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/43 "2003-10-03T22:18:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by godzillatemple \* > **No. My wife threatens to kill me if I even _look_ at another woman, so dating one would be right out of the question.** Oi! I’ve done that gag already. Keep up, willya? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/44 "2003-10-03T22:32:27Z")
I’m 44, my boyfriend is 32. We’ve known each other for 8 years and have been dating for almost 6 of those years. I don’t look my age, I do look younger, but HE was the one who said disdainfully “what’s age got to do with it?” when at one point our “gang” was sitting around talking relationships. All of us were teasing him about what a nice sweet guy he was, PERFECT, except too young (he was 24, I was a fairly “hot” 36 at the time), and did he have an older brother. We ended up starting to date about a year and a half or so after that conversation, and we’ve been together since. Age doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. Personally? In many ways, HE’S the “mature” one. I tend to be much less AR about money, responsibilities etc. And as for sex? I am a living example of the stereotype of women hitting their sexual peak in their late 30s on into their 40s. Like another poster asked: “why is it okay for the man to be older, but so many people always look down their noses when the woman is older”?? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/45 "2003-10-03T22:56:10Z")
Well I’m married so I had better not do it. But if I wasn’t married I would date a woman who was older than I. I’m not talking Harold and Maude but… ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/46 "2003-10-03T23:07:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amberlei \* > \*\*This is inspired by this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215093](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215093) wherein Ski said that a friend of his stated that he’d be bothered by dating a woman nine weeks older than he was. > > So guys, would it bother you dating a woman older than you? How much of an age difference would be acceptable? 9 weeks, 9 months, 9 years? Also, why is it more acceptable for a man to be with a younger woman than a woman to be with a younger man? \*\* Wow, a post of mine inspired a whole thread! Cool! Agreed, this friend of mine is a little strange in some ways. But he’s a good friend anyway. Of course I give her a hard time about it, anyway, calling myself her “boy toy” and so on. It’s so much fun (especially since she can handle it)! When I was 27, I briefly dated a 19-year-old. Past me feeling like some big stud to the awe of my friends 🙂 , we were just far too different in life experiences and such. I mean, she was just out of high school, I had been “on my own” for 9 years. Not much common ground. ---
**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/47 "2003-10-04T00:00:08Z")
I’m 46, wife is 53. We’ve been married 27 years. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/48 "2003-10-04T02:21:04Z")
I almost always date men younger than myself (I’m 34). The closest to my age was a year younger, usually they fall between 3-8 years younger. The last serious relationship I was in, he was almost 4 years younger than me. I did try dating a much older man, but when I found out his oldest son was a month older than me, I got a severe case of the oogies and split. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/49 "2003-10-04T02:46:02Z")
When I was 30 (last year), I dated a gal who was probably in her early to mid-50s. It ended badly, but that may have been related to the fact that she told me the entire time that she was 41. (Afterward she fessed up that she was “a lot older” than she’d told me, but I never found out how old, exactly.) Of course, if I had done some very simple mathematics about the life-stories she’d told me, I would have figured out that there warn’t no way she was 41. But keeping a guy well-laid, as I most certainly was, can make him pretty relaxed about such matters. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/50 "2003-10-04T03:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amberlei \* > \*\*So guys, would it bother you dating a woman older than you? \*\* I’m 44, and am involved with a woman who’s two years my senior. What’s funny is when I remember historic events, songs, and TV shows she insists were “before her time”. ---
**Author:** ![Sinshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sinshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinshine)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/51 "2003-10-04T04:26:18Z")
I am a 32-yo woman, and have worked both sides of this fence. In my experience, guys who are younger than me tend to treat me better than guys who are older. Why, I do not know. I do have a lower limit to this age range though. I am unable to contemplate dating anyone younger than my younger brother. There is a 5-year gap between us, though, so this is not much of a limitation. My current beau is about 18 months younger than me, and as he puts it, this represents a difference in age of less than 5% currently, and that gap will continue to shrink as we age. His ex-wife had 5 years on him, and age had nothing to do with their divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Palewriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@Palewriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palewriter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/52 "2003-10-04T04:33:35Z")
Is a person just an age? What nonsense is this. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/53 "2003-10-04T04:52:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amberlei \* > \*\*Sheesh, I’m such a putz. I meant to also ask the women if they would date a younger man, and also how much younger would be acceptable? \*\* Two or three years, I think. I don’t think I could date a guy still in college, so 23 or 24 would probably be the youngest I can imagine. Ask me again if I meet a nice younger guy though, lol. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/54 "2003-10-04T05:40:13Z")
My boyfriend is a little over a year younger than me (I’ll be 25 next week and he’ll be 24 in January) and we seem to remember all of the same things from our youth. Ocassionally I do find it weird that he was born in the 80’s… until I’m reminded that I was born in the quite late 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ayesha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Ayesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ayesha)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/55 "2003-10-04T06:54:04Z")
Before I met and married the LIONsob who is 9 months older than I am I aways dated men 5 to 6 years older than me. Not sure if I would date a younger man if I were single again, it would depend on the man. However I have a cousin who is a 19 year old male, his very soon to wife be is pregnant with twins, this will be the first baby for her. She is 38. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/56 "2003-10-04T07:23:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by malkavia \* > \*\*My boyfriend is a little over a year younger than me (I’ll be 25 next week and he’ll be 24 in January) and we seem to remember all of the same things from our youth. > > Ocassionally I do find it weird that he was born in the 80’s… until I’m reminded that I was born in the quite late 70’s. \*\* Try having a boyfriend who was born 6 years before you graduated from High School. Most of the time we never notice, but occasionally some event or another will come up and he’ll say “I was 4 when that happened”. And I’m like “I was in 10th grade, wow”. It seems kind of interesting to us, but not a turn off at all. ---
**Author:** ![cbm77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@cbm77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbm77)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/57 "2003-10-04T09:34:26Z")
My wife is 7 years younger than me. We do have times that we clash, and butt heads. However that seems to keep our relationship interesting. I never dated anyone younger than me before I met my wife. The biggest time gap would be I was 21 and she was 32. To be honest…I never really noticed a problem in a relationship I’ve ever had until I married a young woman. But maby thats just because marriage and family are full time jobs in some ways. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/58 "2003-10-04T09:52:19Z")
Come on guys. Five years and stuff? Five years is _nothing_. Once you’re both past 20, five years doesn’t matter one way or the other. I’m 26, Pricegal turns 23 in December. I consider us the same age except when joshing around about it. I’d have no trouble being with someone 60 years of age. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/59 "2003-10-04T13:08:11Z")
For the record Mrs. Lagomorph is about 2 1/2 years older than me. It is a total non issue…and I can’t believe someone would think that a 9 week age difference between two adults was significant. The only time I think of it is when I try to imagine us meeting in, say, high school, or when she was she was a freshman in college and I was a (very) dorky high school student. Kind of funny to imagine that. With adults there can be a huge difference between chronological age and emotional age. Some 21 year olds are very mature, and many 45 year olds are bascially large children. ---
**Author:** ![Nvme77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nvme77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nvme77)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311/60 "2003-10-04T20:21:50Z")
My husband is 5 years older than me. My first husband was four years older. If I were single I would date a younger man, but probably no younger than 23. I’m 31, and I have accepted my age. Which is a big deal to me since I believed for so long that your 20’s carried a fountain of youth aura about you. Now I feel that your 30’s radiate confidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-date-an-older-woman/205311.md?page=4)