Of course it will matter. Debuono actually references why she won't date younger women past a certain point. Basically, its not just maturity, its the life experiences that you have to live awhile to gain.

Obviously, we've all come up against the whole age thing. I've been years ahead of the curve in many respects for most of my life, and I hated being marginalized for being young. I still do!

For some age can definately be a deal breaker. Essentially, I think if a woman and I can be on the same page when it somes to maturity and issues and such, that their age would kind of take a back seat.... I personally would go pretty far up on age difference thing. I like the older ladies! What can I say, their are some hotties out there. (plus, being 19, older is only up in like 30's, so thats not even really middle aged yet). However, at this juncture, I wouldn't go a whole lot younger. But thats because if I go much younger it would be illegal! I'll reassess the younger ladies again in a couple years...

After I had my first daughter , I was 15 years old and it didn't immediately connect to me how much the age of people really mattered. My husband, who was just my boyfriend then, and I decided we should see other people and I did spent a significant number of years (about six) dating other people while he and I dated.

First of all, I truly believe that when you are underage, regardless of how experienced you are, age matters a LOT. There is a four year age difference between me and my husband, and until I turned 18, I refused to name him as my daughter's father, because of the legal ramifications. There are numerous factors beyond legalities when you're underage.

With that being said, I will agree that age is less of a factor than maturity level. We all know adults who behave as children and no one in their right mind would want to date them, unless that's what you're into. There is a correlation between chronological age and experience/emotional maturity, but it's not a guarantee. Dating for me is difficult, because I feel like I've ALWAYS had children. And dating as a parent is difficult. It's less to do with age and more to do with who you feel is appropriate to be around your kids.

I've personally found that the people I dated between the ages of 15-21 were easier to connect with if they were older, because they had a sense of what it was like to be a parent. Between 15-18 I did date several men and women who were significantly older than me anywhere from 5-25 years. The oldest person I dated as a 15 year old was 25, andyou can bet if any of my kids did that, I would hit them with a broom (not really!). The oldest person I dated as a 21 year old was 46. I never dated anyone younger and I didn't want to because they didn't fit the bill for what I was looking for in experience/maturity/common sense. Common sense develops with age, and I will neverbelieve any differently. As a pregnant 14 year old, my first reaction was "ohmigod, my parents will KILL me" NOT things like "how will I take care of this baby?" or the myriad of other stuff [by the way, to ANY of you girls who think being pregnant as a teen is fun, I'll just let you know that when I had my daughter, they would NOT give me an epidural due to my age] There was just a lot of stuff that came about that people who were older were more likely to understand. I don't think this is specific to parenting either. By the time I was 28, I'd established my career, or rather working to establish it. I worked long hours to do it, and someone who was 22 and in college, even though that age difference is legal and not all that significant, would have made a big difference. I'll ignore all the worries I had as a college student, like, picking my kids up from daycare or paying the bills or whateve or finding a decent job with flexibile hours. But I would thnk of Reading Week as catching up week, and would sleep in class and stuff like that. Stuff that I can't do at work now. [Unless I play on the internet!]

I'm use to dating older womyn since I was 18 yrs old. So by me dating someone say like 8 years younger than me makes me uncomfortable. I'm 31 and I can't see myself dating a 22 year old even if she is mature. Sorry. Trust me I was 19 dated a 17 year old so I've been there just want to be with womyn who are stabled in their lives. Sounds crazy I know especially that fastest growing age for millionaires are now 24/25. I think.

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I have dated women my age, older than me, and younger than me. Age really has nothing to do with how a person is. Both the older and my age ladies had some serious issues. For me personally, the best experience I had was with someone younger than me, she was definately more together than the older lady i was with.

So for me now, I dont really look at the age, but at the person, and definately take the time to get to know them and listen to my instincts.

 

I have always been really mature for my age... like I am 26 and act at least twice my age now.  My girlfriend is 35 but acts like she is my age.  Often people think that I am the older one.  We have not had a lot of issues when it comes to the difference in our ages.  I personally don't think that I could date anyone that was more than just a couple years younger than me.  Mostly because they would probably be bored out of their minds by me.  But if I felt a connection with someone, their age wouldn't be a factor.

when I was younger, I never realized just how much life experience brings about perspective. I've always been mature for my age, even as a kid,so I assumed that meant I was just like older folks. I'd be frustrated when they told me I was young, until I got older and realized what they were talking about. No matter how mature I was, there is no substitute for the experience of seeing life and history for the number of years I've been on the planet.

I have friends of all ages, but I can't see myself with someone more than a few years younger than me. Older doesn't matter. I dated a woman who was 10 years younger than me a few years ago. She was mature, but i still felt like I was dating a kid because we grew up in different eras. I'm a baby boomer and she was  gen-ex.

I think the example of 26 and 35 is fine if that works for you, I probably wouldn't date someone  10 years younger again, but I wouldn't rule it out 100%.