Age and Attraction – Does It Really Matter?

I read a piece in MORE magazine today about men and how they really feel about women as they age. They talked to a group of men who were 25-50 and asked them questions about how they perceive women, if they would prefer a 25 year-old or a 45 year-old if they were equally attractive, how they feel about augmented breasts, etc.

The results were interesting. One of the men is the owner of a famous beauty salon and his answers are more focused on his appreciation for younger women. The other men, they keep saying that they appreciate the older women, that they like the lines and wisdom in their faces, but another points out a magazine with Lindsay Lohan on the cover, a magazine meant for men 30 and up.

Most of the men that I have dated have been younger than me. I married a man who was younger than me. When we broke up, he chose a woman who was younger than either of us, but she’s always looked older. I think that his attraction to her has nothing to do with age – she just plain accepts him as-is and I did not.

I was involved with a man who had previously lived with a woman who was younger. He said that the age difference was a problem. He never gave me a definitive answer that explained why this was – he mentioned they approached problems from different places, were at different stages of life, whatever. 

Finding someone you click with, why does a number have to come into play?  I know that at this stage in my life, I’ve been drawn to men who are around my age, that I have a shared past with. Something about growing up in that small town, something tells me that is the key, no our age.

I like this quote….

It’s almost like our culture has forgotten how to make a 45-year-old woman look like a beautiful 45-year-old woman. The social machinery is to try to force her into the mold of a 28-year-old.

Why is there the constant pressure to look younger, smaller, tighter, smoother, little, little, litte? Doesn’t that mean we want to own a smaller space, we want to diminish our physical presence?

Perhaps I’m over-thinking it, but what’s wrong with me being a big bold broad of 42?  If you don’t like the way I look, don’t look at me. You wouldn’t be my type anyway.

Image credit: All Posters.com