Q: Is it taboo to date a guy 6 years older in college?

A: I honestly laughed out loud when I saw this question in my inbox. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a soft spot for the older men. When I was 19, I found myself newly single after a two-year relationship. After about a week of crying in bed and eating ice cream, I decided it was time to date–and I had eyes only for older men. For two years, I dated men that were anywhere from five to eighteen (that’s not a typo!) years older than me.

What did I learn? From 18 to 38, men don’t mature all that much. Relationship angst is relationship angst, no matter the age difference. Of course, maturity level of both parties is a huge factor. Without fail, every man I dated in that two-year period would marvel at how mature I was for my age. It’s true–I’m a bit of an old woman trapped in a 20-something’s body. Dating older men worked for me because even though I was still in school, I wasn’t living on campus and was no way involved in the college social scene. And I much preferred being taken out to a nice restaurant and enjoying a glass of (illegal) wine with dinner than doing a keg stand with my significant other.

In your case, six years can be a total non-issue; he’s only a few years out of college and may very well be on the same wavelength as you in terms of relationships and lifestyle. You’re also less likely to run into the Peter Pan complex that was present in many of the older guys I dated, especially the 30-something-musician-still-waiting-for-his-big-break type. Read More »

An older friend of mine once advised me that I should stick with my college boyfriend. I thought this was strange advice at the time. I had warned so many friends of mine upon high school graduation that sticking with their high school boyfriends was a terrible idea, so I figured the same would go for college.

Weren’t you supposed to explore your options? Date? Have fun in your twenties before settling down in your thirties? Now that I’ve graduated, I know exactly why she said it. Dating post-college is a major shock to the system.

I went on a date recently with a guy who I’d met at a poetry reading. I thought he might be a few years older than me and I was okay with that, but on the date it came to light that he was actually many, many years older than me, fourteen to be exact (that’s Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher territory). I figured I’d dated older men before, so I decided to give him a chance. We talked about jobs, our shared neighborhood haunts (we both lived in the East Village), and then the subject of past relationships came up and he told me about his ex. Read More »

Whenever I think about what I’m looking for in a dude, the question of age limit always comes up. Younger is usually a no-go (I’d like to be with someone who’s got all their keg stands out of their system, thank you), but just how old is too old?

My cut off is somewhere around 5 years. Any older than that and I think my partner and I would be in different life stages (unless of course Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt are looking. I’ll do anything for them).

Apparently, Hayden Panettiere doesn’t share my opinion of an appropriate age gap, because it’s recently been reported and she and 30-year-old Milo Ventimiglia (who?) are an official item.

These two Heroes co-stars (honestly, the only reason I even know their names is because I watched an episode of the show once) have a 12 year age difference between them, and while some people might not think that’s a big deal, I can’t help but think that just 18 and 30 is pretty much the biggest gap you can have.

18 means college, smoking legally if you feel like it, waiting three more years to drink, and finally moving out of your parents’ house. 30 means mortgages, thinking about a family, and maybe writing up the first draft of your will. Could these two people be any more at odds? Read More »

I’m totally for love conquering all and knowing no bounds and all that fluffy good stuff, but honestly, does anyone really believe this story??

An 82-year-old Argentinean woman married a 24-year-old man last week, making those of us who aren’t naive idiots shake our heads. Apparently, the two had been “engaged for several years” and found love after the guy’s mother died and left him with his elderly caretaker/new wife at the age of 15.

When reporters asked the woman if the marriage would be more “than just spiritual” (he should have just straight up asked if they were going to bone) she replied that it would be, making most of the media laugh on the outside and most definitely retch on the inside. Read More »