As we progress into our twenties, dating younger men is much more common. Possibly because in your teens it could border on illegal but also because younger men hold a certain appeal for twenty something women. They're low maintenance, more fun, less likely to shove a ring in your face too soon or mention potential children after the first date. However, (by living vicariously through my friend) I have found that relationships with fresher meat can be more fraught with drama than you would think.
Younger men get impressed but just as equally intimidated by an older woman. I joke with my one that I'm a cougar. In reality I'm a month older than him but I was a year above him in school- think how scandalous it would have been if I had been a fifth former dating a forth former?! Ok maybe not the best example. Anywho, for guys it's quite a thrill...to begin with.
You see my friend ended up rubbing one of her young fellas up the wrong way, literally. Everything had been going swimmingly for a few weeks or so (equivalent to a couple months when it comes to relationships with younger men). The pair were acting like innocent youths and taking things slow. A peck on the cheek and holding hands was all the action they were in on, she boasted to me after their two week anniversary.
Ofcourse one day the tension became too much and the inevitable occurred. The next day, Ashton we'll call him, was acting strangely and didn't text my friend for hours (the ultimate snub from the younger male).Naturally she was gutted but all was not lost. Her co worker, a good friend of Ashton's,was able to do what girls do best- dig, pester and nag until they get to the bottom of a male's innermost thoughts.
Turns out that the poor wee fella had been put off by a bit of 'in the moment' back scratching! My friend was mystified, as was I. Surely there was more to it than that. But no, that was it. They haven't really hung out since. He took her overzealousness as a sign of kinkyness and scurried away like a widdle rabbit. I guess it's because the incident hit him where it hurts the most- the nether regions. He obviously felt inexperienced and a man scorned in the bedroom is worse than fifty pre menstrual women in a small room with no air con if you ask me. There is no way that you can say the right thing and make it better.
On the other hand, her second young beau was quite the opposite of Ashton. He can be named Dustin. When asked (hypothetically ofcourse), whether he would mind a few marks on his back, Dustin said he'd suggest swimming to his mates so he could wear them proudly like battle wounds. You see this guy has the opposite problem. Plenty of experience in the sack but virtually none when it comes to treating women as equals. Not that he's an outright chauvinist but until my twenty something friend came into his life he didn't realise he could actually be friends with a girlfriend. Who would have thought that females can converse, have fun and entertain just like men do?! Crazy.
Ofcourse you would think he would fall head over heels and by the sounds he kind of has. BUT his years of single sex highschool education and silly teenage girls who think a date happens at 2am on a Saturday morning (in his bed) have scarred this young man. He is a complete and utter commitment phobe. My friend hasn't proposed marriage or mentioned kids. She just wanted a monogamous relationship- it was like she had suggested World War Three.
So it seems that dating younger specimens can be a minefield for twenty something women. It turns out that men on the cusp of the age where long term relationships are the norm, happen to be the most neurotic beings out there. Makes us women look completely level headed- which we all know isn't always the case when it comes to relationships.
I have a new found respect for Demi Moore.
