Age Differences

[sweetliss]

Hey there fellow QLCers, I was just wondering something about age differences and dating. My friend and I were chatting and I just wanted to know two things:

Ladies, what is the youngest guy you would/have date(d)?

Guys, what is the oldest girl you have dated? (or would date?)

I don't know how old all you are so if you wouldn't mind putting it in how many years, "not I dated a guy who was 20", that does me no good, in my unending dispute with my friend.

Also, the immaturity factor...people of all ages can be mature or immature, I have personally dated older guys who were more immature than the guy my age or less...

.....really curious on this, feedback would be greatly appretiated!

[Starfish]

I'm 26 and engaged to a 37 year old. If I were single though, I'd never date a guy under 30 if I was looking for a serious relationship. Most just aren't ready yet. If I just wanted to date for fun, I guess I'd go as young as 24.

[sweetliss]

OK I guess what I am the most curious about is if the Ladies out there would date a younger guy, or have been interested in one, like by a few years younger....and guys what is your take on dating the "older woman?"

[who knows???]

In early November I date a women who was 4 years older than me. She also owned her own house and of course was much more financially responsible. Too bad we really had nothing in common.

[KnowingBurns]

My friend's roommate is 24 and dating a 36 year-old woman. She was a little unsure about starting to date him at first because of the age difference, but now they are very happy together.

I don't know either of them well, and my friend isn't commenting to them on the situation, but everyone seems pretty certain that this will end badly. He is planning on moving away in less than a year. She is divorced and living with her parents so that they can help take care of her 3 year old son (adopted while she was single). They are both at very different points in their lives with very different plans and priorities. . . I hope things work out well for them, but at least in this situation, everything seems stacked against them.

[Lumburg]

All my male relatives married women at least 10 years younger than them. I think it's a European thing. Anyway, because of this, I kinda got it stuck in my head that that's the thing to do. The only problem is that I can't follow that forumula unless I wanna date 13 year olds.

[shimmer728]

I guess I usually date guys around my age; +/- 2 years. I'm 24, and guys in their mid-to-late 30s have routinely showed interest in me, despite the fact that I could often pass for a teenager. It creeps me out, to be honest.

[tina1979]

well I am 25 now. When I was 17 I dated a 26 year old and a 16 year old. When I was 18 I dated a guy who was 24 or 25. I was 25 and dated a 33 year old, but thought about dating a 23 year old.
looking back the older guys I dated didn't really act all that much more mature than the guys that i have dated that were my age. I think the 23 year old that I considered had more brains in his head than the 33 year old did.

[J-girl]

Originally posted by tina1979
well I am 25 now. When I was 17 I dated a 26 year old and a 16 year old. When I was 18 I dated a guy who was 24 or 25. I was 25 and dated a 33 year old, but thought about dating a 23 year old.
looking back the older guys I dated didn't really act all that much more mature than the guys that i have dated that were my age. I think the 23 year old that I considered had more brains in his head than the 33 year old did.

Thats true. It all depends. I just got jerked around by a 30 year old. But I was in a serious relationship with a guy for 4 something years who was two years older than me. I know this girl who got married to a guy when she was 27 and he was 24, and they looked pretty happy and all.

[corrie3000]

Originally posted by 5reek
I think dating younger women is better, I prefer to preserve more traditional gender roles and I think this helps.


Of course that's until they get older, wise up and decide that cooking, cleaning and letting you have all the fun sucks donkey balls.

I'm dating someone a year younger, so not much difference there!

However I dated a 39 year old at 25. That was ok- ultimately we were both too busy, not too old/young - to continue our relationship. The other guy I dated with a crazy age diff was 20/21 and I was 25. THAT was awesome!

[labrat2111]

Well I would tend to date women younger than myself (usually 21-27) just because I think quite a few women my age or older (I'm 28) who want to have kids want to do that pretty quickly because of the risk of birth defects as they get older and I'm not real ready to be a parent yet and I'm not even sure I want to have kids. Plus I'm still working on getting a better job so that I can pay off my student loans and buy a house. Of course if kids are out of the picture then I would be fine dating someone as old as 35. Also I'll date younger down to the legal age although those tend to have more problems just because they are at a different point in their life. I dated one girl last year who was 20 and in college. I ended up breaking up with her due to distance and the fact that she has two packed semesters before she graduates and has little free time.

[hopeless]

Back in high school I dated a guy a yr. younger than me, which didn't bother me. But if I ended up hooking with a guy who was 5 yrs. younger than me I probably wouldn't hook up. I rather I meet someone close to my age, stuff that I can relate to.

[flyogagrl]

My one guy friend is engaged to a women 12 years older than he. He's 25 She's 37. I personally feel like she is in total control of their relationship and he gets bossed around a lot. But thats my opinion.

My other guy friend is dating a girl who is 19 and he is 26. I personally think its a little rediculous because she is still in college and needs to be young and have fun while he is too old for her. but whatever.

I asked the guy dating the 19 year old, "Am I clear to make the assumption that since you are dating a 19 year old and the other guy is dating a 37 year old, clearly men our age are shitless of women their own age?" He said no and it only means that A. He is too immature for any girls his own age and the other guy is clearly loosing to much hair to attract women his own age."

[wordsmith]

On the young end, I had an ongoing on-off relationship with a guy who was 22 to my 25 when we met. Three years is not a big gap, but being 22 and living at home to my 25 and having had several years of independent living, there were some noticeable differences in how we approached things. He was ultimately not relationship material, at all, which was something I eventually came to terms with. I'm not sure his age was the factor, though. I think it might just be him.

On the older end, I dated a 36-year old when I was 26. It seemed to be a better match, maturity-wise, but the intervening 10 years meant that he'd had time to acquire some crazy baggage, like a 5-year old son from a failed (but of course not yet gotten over) relationship, and we never really got fully off the ground, due to some things that were tied up between he and his ex.

[kitalyn414]

i'm 24 and the last guy i dated was 37. i try to resist making a blanket statement like, "i will never date a guy under 30 again," but i sometimes feel that way.

unless i was in it for pure fun, i don't think i could date a younger guy.

[coll214]

About a year ago when i was 24, i dated a guy that was 36- quite frankly my life was more put together than his was and it freaked him out. But i'd have no issues dating another guy older than me who has more of his shit together.

Recently i was kind of seeing a guy that is 32... he has some issues to work out though in his own life before he starts dating. I seem to find the older guys w/ the baggage. lol.

I suppose i'd go no more than 2 years younger, though i have yet to meet a guy my age or younger where that'd i'd really like to date seriously.

[john smith]

I'm 26 and the youngest female I would date would be 20, while the oldest would be 30, that is if I could find any who weren't married, pregnant, or had kids.

I couldn't handle dating someone who wasn't mature/intelligent enough to hold a conversation. They can be as hot as Heidi Klum, but if they are as smart as a box of rocks, its a TOTAL turn off.

Sweetliss, what did you and your friend decide??

[Starfish81]

I have always wanted to date someone close to my age, between a year below me and three or four years above me. Anything beyond that, I'd feel like we were at different places in our lives. As I get older, that will probably change, because time relativity shrinks as you age.

[MetFanL]

Yeah, I'm not sure concerned about age -- in either direction. For me, it really comes down to are they mature and secure enough to handle the fact that I'm independent, mature, very secure, attractive and financially stable? There is no age requirement on that -- I've met both older and younger guys who couldn't handle me.

My only other issue with dating is that alot of my b.s. references tend to be generational, so it's sometimes totally lost of much older guys.

Both of these seem to make my dating pool VERY small.

[GetMeOuttaDC]

I'm 25 and I stay way the hell away from guys my age --- Usually, 3-5 years older than me works. my bf is 5 yrs and 6 weeks older than me.

the reason I avoid guys my age is that when I was 22/23, the guys my age were all into partying, getting wasted, and other crap that I've kind of outgrown. I have unfortunately had the kind of life where I had to emotionally mature very quickly, or I'd be in an insane asylum by now. I have never really identified with "carefree" people... and from what I see, most guys in their 20s are just that.

I met my bf just randomly at work when I was 24 and we clicked.

Youngest guy I ever dated was 2 months younger than I, and he really had/still has his shit together.

[mishl982]

I haven't really dated much, but tend to be attracted to guys who are the same maturity level as me. I'm 22 and have been talking to a 27 year old and he acts like he's 24/25. I've been other 27 year olds who seem way to old for me. To me, it really matters how old they act, now how old they actually are.

However, that doesn't mean I'm gonna date an 18 year old who acts 22 - that would just be weird!