Age Vs Experience: On The Age Gap And Who It Benefits

In most areas of life, experience trumps age. Eg, you can’t walk into a DMV and demand a license simply because you’re 60. They'd tell you to get a learner's permit and pass the exams like the teenagers have to.

Yet in sex and dating, an age gap is often used to deter relationships where the man is older. Further, cultural rules on age gaps benefit the status quo in that men higher in the caste system can ignore them or simply get access to beautiful women much earlier in life than most men do. In essence, male and female compatibility should be factored less on age and more on sexual experience, the latter of which women beat men in by years. This is especially valid when speaking globally/internationally.

Most notably, it’s becoming common knowledge that women, even younger ones, have more sexual encounters than their male counterparts. Admittedly, there are edge cases and data to suggest otherwise. But most men aren’t the edge cases and as far as studies go: one source from the NIH even acknowledges that their findings may have been affected by social norms: ie, men over-reporting and women under-reporting. But empirically, one can’t deny this notion in general, given evidence such as women's higher success rate in real life and online (eg, dating apps). 

Moreover, and to paraphrase CGA, no-one seems to care about an age gap if the woman is ugly.  I went to college at 30 and experienced this firsthand: during junior year I befriended a girl who was significantly younger than me but who also wasn’t conventionally attractive. Granted, the relationship was platonic but I’m sure it wouldn’t have even occurred if the girl in question was hot, per the cultural parameters. The converse holds true as well: even if the woman is a man’s age or older--if she's attractive--there’d still be tension, given the scarcity of attractive women in the West.

All things considered, social norms that frown upon age gaps between partners may seem ethical on the surface. But in reality, it’s a way for the status quo to filter a resource (in this case access to attractive women) along class lines. With that said thanks for reading and stay pissed.