Andy_K Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Brains are not hardwired to find "younger" or "older" women more attractive. There is no such data. I'd like to clarify this. Are you suggesting that men have no preference for younger women, or alternatively that the preference has nothing to do with their brains?
Woggle Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 It depends on the person and not the gender. Everybody ages and nobody looks the same at 45 as they did at 25. I will say that many of the women I know who used to live hard and go wild are now showing signs of what that life did to their bodies as they hit their mid to late 30s and are turning themselves into plastic people in order to avoid reality.
Woman In Blue Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Balding men are a major turn off. I have always dated men that are younger than me. I wouldn't be opposed to dating older if men looked good, but most simply don't LOL...just proves what I've always said - men DON'T own mirrors. I've done the online daing thing for a couple of years now, and a standard search within 50 miles of my zip code of men aged 45-50 returns what can only be described as the Parade of the Damned. 98% of them look like Uncle Fester from the Adams Family because they're BALD (blech) and have shaved their heads shiny like a cue ball. And they all want us to think they shave their heads because it's the 'fad' of today, but we freakin' KNOW why they're doing it -to hide their chrome domes. Most men over 25 are going to be real upset when the fad changes to HAIR again, because most don't have it anymore. In my age group, you've got a sea of bald heads out there with the majority of them being overweight or horribly out of shape. Most have craggy, deeply lined faces and more ear and nose hair than they do on their chrome domes. I'm not one to date men considerably younger than myself but the 45 and ups are looking really bad and the 30-somethings are looking more and more appealing every day. THAT, my friends, is MY reality. And I seriously mean this - men need to start buying mirrors.
rafallus Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 (edited) Depends on the woman... I am 41 and I have aged really well, and I take very good care of myself.From pics, I first thought you are half of that age. On the other hand, I knew a chain smoking alcoholic woman with diabetes. You can imagine she didn't age as well. Died at 49 too. Edited August 12, 2011 by rafallus
phineas Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Meh. I know plenty of men who look like my grandpa at 35. I don't buy the biological theory. It's mostly made up by men who can't get a woman of any age. Most men will be happy to date women of their own age. Only douches really exclusively date 5-10 years younger women. I agree green tea. I'm 32 and wouldn't date older than 35. Even that is a stretch. Balding men are a major turn off. I have always dated men that are younger than me. I wouldn't be opposed to dating older if men looked good, but most simply don't Nice double standard.
Eternal Sunshine Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I don't think it's a double standard. I never said I only date men that are 5-10 years younger, just generally not more than 3 years older. And even that is really on case by case basis. At least women don't go bald
Cee Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Age discrimination is scary in these recessionary times. I should be more pro-active and announce that I'm 40 and fab. But no. Instead, I let people think I'm 30 instead. When I was 25, I thought 40 was old and I made jokes. But karma's a bitch. I am now on the receiving end of that now. One word of comfort to the people in their 20s and 30s out there. I think Woggle, D-Lish, Olive Oyl, etc., can attest to the fact, that our inner selves don't really age. Our bodies may be 35+, but our brains and hearts are coasting at a much younger age. And people my age don't look old to me. They look quite attractive for the most part. At least, the ones who maintain good physical and mental health.
sally4sara Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I think men tend to go for younger women because of past social standards. Men would wait on marriage till they were more financially established and that takes time. So they would be a bit older than the woman, who would have not been pursuing her own career, when they married. Prior to that it was influenced by women being property. Their families would marry them off early to make the groom more assured of their virginal status and to reduce their own costs on her health and upkeep. Its the reason for the custom of an engagement ring. It was insurance so if he sampled the goods and then disappeared, they could sell the jewelry and use it to buy necessities towards her upkeep or make a profit anyway and put her in a convent. Now I see women looking better longer than men because of dermatology, better health awareness, SPF and make up. Everyone thinks my husband is about 5 years older than me but its the other way around.
xxoo Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Like I said there are exceptions but I feel as a whole, women overall age worse. Im 29 goning on 30 so the women (most) on my facebook that I went to school with LOOK like they are in their 30's and the men (most) look like they are still in their mid to late 20"s. I pretty much look my age so can't be bummed but can't be too happy about that either lol! (If my hairline wasnt receding I'd still look 23 lol!) I admire your confidence, but if you have a receding hairline, you probably look well into your 30s!
bac Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 In a response to a previous thread I stated a possible reason men prefer younger women is that most women IMO age worse than men. Yeah there are exceptions to the rule and some men age badly and I don't want offend the ladies but what do you all think? Men prefer younger females because of biological reasons. They want younger women because younger women can/want reproduce much better than older women.
ptp Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I don't think physically women age any worse than men. However, a woman's looks fade as she ages while a man's wealth/power/status increases as he ages. So women have the upper hand when they are in their younger and men gain the upper hand as we get older.
sally4sara Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I don't think physically women age any worse than men. However, a woman's looks fade as she ages while a man's wealth/power/status increases as he ages. So women have the upper hand when they are in their younger and men gain the upper hand as we get older. The accumulation of wealth, power, and status over time is now a normal possibility for both men and women.
grkBoy Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 In a response to a previous thread I stated a possible reason men prefer younger women is that most women IMO age worse than men. Yeah there are exceptions to the rule and some men age badly and I don't want offend the ladies but what do you all think? I think it depends on the woman or man. Most of the ones I've seen who age terribly have been people who abused themselves too much in the past. Smoking, too much drinking, tanning, playing with narcotics, bad sleeping habits, poor stress management, etc. Some unfortunately have bad genes.
Woggle Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Nice double standard. It sounds like she is doing the same thing she condemns.
ptp Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 The accumulation of wealth, power, and status over time is now a normal possibility for both men and women. Obviously I am speaking gross generalities but, just want to make that clear and that there are exceptions. No doubt women can gain wealth/power but, women are way more attracted to a wealthy powerful man than a man is attracted to a wealthy powerful woman. Also as a woman ages the risk of birth defects such down syndrome increases significantly after 35. There is such a clear link that Ob/Gyn docs use the term AMA (advanced maternal age).
Woggle Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I think it depends on the woman or man. Most of the ones I've seen who age terribly have been people who abused themselves too much in the past. Smoking, too much drinking, tanning, playing with narcotics, bad sleeping habits, poor stress management, etc. Some unfortunately have bad genes. The tanning is what does some women in. It's like they are made of leather.
grkBoy Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Look at the females of Jersey Shore. Unless they spend a lot of their money on cosmetic work, they are going to look terrible in 10 years.
Woggle Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Look at the females of Jersey Shore. Unless they spend a lot of their money on cosmetic work, they are going to look terrible in 10 years. There is one of them on there that actually looks good. I don't know her name but the rest just look like trainwrecks. The men aren't too much better either though. The situation looks like an old man's head on top of a 23 year old body.
tigressA Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I think I'll go to my 10th or 20th HS reunion just to see how bad everyone looks--women and men. When I was in HS it was THE thing to go tanning all the time, and a good portion of my graduating class were (and still are) basically high-functioning alcoholics. Some of them already look quite unfortunate at only 24-25. Having kids/getting married while still very young has been quite the stress bomb for some of my former classmates--they're overweight, their faces are puffy, complexions are sallow.
zengirl Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Hairlines matter a lot in this btw. A guy without a receding hairline probably ages a tad better than the average woman, but a guy with one ages a whole lot worse. And individuals are different across the board. I think men and women both have equal chances of remaining youthful. Youth is often a reflection of health and happiness anyway. Now that I'm over 40, I have noticed how youthful an age it is. I thought I'd post a picture of myself to give people a sense of what 40 is like. The photo was taken a year ago when I was 40. I think I look pretty normal for someone my age, although people say I look younger. http://www.loveshack.org/forums/album.php?u=88713 I'll take down the photo in a few days. I don't feel comfortable leaving it up too long. Remember your sunscreen kiddies. Take it from me, it's your skin that will be the tell tale sign of age. Damn, girl, you look good! I wear sunscreen daily and don't like tanning or getting darker, and I'm hoping it'll pay off as well. My Mom DOES tan (a bit, and never in a bed---at the beach) and she still looks really young at 50, so I'm not worried. (The other side of my family is Japanese, and many of my aunts look 12 forever, so I'm REALLY not worried.) It depends on the person and not the gender. Everybody ages and nobody looks the same at 45 as they did at 25. I will say that many of the women I know who used to live hard and go wild are now showing signs of what that life did to their bodies as they hit their mid to late 30s and are turning themselves into plastic people in order to avoid reality. How you live definitely has a lot to do with it. BUT I have several people in my family who looked the same for a long time. My Japanese aunts are in their 50s, and when you see pictures from their 20s, all you notice is the style changes. A lot of Japanese women don't age forever and then seem to age overnight, though; it's weird. My gran was this way apparently, but I was too young to notice, obviously. Seriously. My Mom looked the same as when I was little for a long time, though she's been going to the beach more in recent years and it shows a bit now (she still looks young, but she can't pass for 20s anymore---she's in her early 50s though, so that's still good). I still look the same (will be 27 soon) as I did at 15, almost exactly (slightly more curves, but a face shot = the same). I even still have a photo I really like of myself up on dating websites (when on there---not now, with the BF, obviously). I do note that ONE of the photos is me when I'm 16, but I don't say which one. No one EVER guesses correctly. I've also seen people look YOUNGER in their 30s than they did in their 20s, usually due to weight loss or something of that nature. So, it really is hard to tell.
chphan Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 There's no way in hell can a woman age worst than a man unless she's totally unfit. 50% of the men out there all have hair loss problems, some at an early age while some at a late age. Any men who goes through hair loss stages can tell you it does alot to your self-esteem and such. Sure some guys look good bald but let's be honest, no man in their right mind want to lose their hair period. I'm just glad my hair loss started in 30s and not in 20s like I read and heard from so many other guys. I can't even imagine how those guys can deal with that problem at such an early age. So unless 50% of the women out there have hair loss problems, I don't see that coming close to us guys.
FitChick Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I think the fact that it is now more acceptable for a younger man to date an older woman, even much older, shows that women look better nowadays than in the past when they were locked into rigid roles and were supposed to look a certain way at a certain age. Women today have many tools at their disposal regarding appearance: cosmetics, advanced nutrition, fitness, plastic surgery, bioidentical hormones, fashion, younger looking hairstyles. More than men do. Of course, lifestyle is key for men and women. I dated a man in his 60s who looked and acted younger than a lot of men in their 40s. He wasn't bald and he wasn't fat. Generally speaking though, that is the exception which is why I date younger men. They often don't have a clue that I am older than they are. One even said, "Aren't you worried about the age gap?" I thought, Uh oh, he knows I'm older. Instead he thought I was much younger than he was (he had gray hair, wrinkles and age spots -- a tennis player). I let him have his illusions... There was a TV show a few years ago at a 20-year high school reunion. Some people could still pass for students, others for their own parents and a variety in between. The show was about how lifestyle affects not only looks but health. They did blood tests on them and some had blood profiles of much younger and some very old people. The lesson is to take care of your body!
Pierre Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Men and women probably age about the same. However, young women are preferred by men whereas young men are not always preferred by women. The reason is rather simple. We are here in the planet to perpetuate the species. We are all programmed to reproduce and that is why we do dating. Even those that claim not to want children succumb to the mating drive. Young women are able to bear children; old women cannot. Young men can have children; old men can also have children. So age is crucial for men. For women age is not such a big deal.
Woggle Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 Another example of gender hatred is thinking the opposite sex ages badly. It's funny how everybody here swears their own sex ages the best.
tigressA Posted August 12, 2011 Posted August 12, 2011 I'm just glad my hair loss started in 30s and not in 20s like I read and heard from so many other guys. I can't even imagine how those guys can deal with that problem at such an early age. So unless 50% of the women out there have hair loss problems, I don't see that coming close to us guys. I don't like bald/balding guys. I went out on a first date with a guy I met online who was 23 and he was severely balding; it was a huge turn-off (as was his mumbling but that's for another thread). I made an excuse to end the date early. I wouldn't have gone out with him if his pics had been authentic--they were really misleading. My BF is 30 and he still has a full head of shiny black hair He also has great skin and is well within his normal weight range. No one believes he's 30. I still have to remind myself of it sometimes.
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