In today's society, there is a stigma about age in relationships. On average, a couple will have no more than 5 years between their age. Anything past that is seen as an age-gap, but there seems to be a limit to the acceptance of this gap. From what I've seen, anything over 10 years and people start to whisper behind your back. So, I'm going to go against the grain and say that age, in a relationship, doesn't matter. To an extent. Let me explain.
We've all seen the meme for "Love is Love" where it says "age" and shows a man and a little girl where the girl is 10 and the man is 36. Now that's totally not okay in my mind. No 10 year old should be in any kind of relationship let alone with someone that is an entire lifetime older than them. But, what about a 23 year old who has fallen for a 40 year old? Is this wrong? To the majority of society, yes.
But why is this so bad? If both people are of age, are happy, are in love, are doing all the things that a healthy relationship requires, why does it matter how old they are?
This stigma is something that is very important to me. Maybe because I've been in a relationship with a seemingly major age gap - 19 years - or maybe because I've seen friends in relationships like this. Maybe it's because I've seen people much older than me in relationships with age gaps equal to the one in my previous relationship who have lived a long happy life together. Whatever the reason, it's important that we stop putting people down for being in relationships that we may not completely agree with.
If you see your friend in a relationship where they are happy, don't tear them down because the other person is much older or much younger than they are. Age isn't going to leave bruises on their arms from being grabbed too tightly in a fight. Age isn't going to leave them crying on the couch from verbal abuse. Age isn't going to make a person miserable. Age is just a number.
Now this doesn't just apply to major age gaps either. There are college age men and women who get into relationships with somebody who may be 2 or 3 years younger than them. Now usually this isn't such a big deal, but all society sees is a college person with a high school person and they freak out. This isn't okay either! If both people are of consenting age, are happy, and are doing all the things a healthy relationship requires - leave them alone!
In today's world, we are so set on pulling people apart for all the things that we think are wrong with them and their lives that we can't see for ten seconds what is going right and what works in their life. Just because it's something you wouldn't do doesn't mean it's automatically wrong.
To be completely honest, the person that I have been flirting with for the last week (and who has been flirting back) is much older than I am. But why does that matter? We are both adults, it's harmless flirting, and even if something were to happen the age wouldn't matter. It's a number people.
In my opinion, mentality plays a huge part in relationships. If you are an 18 year old that has been through enough in life to have the mentality of a 25 year old, the way you see relationships is going to be different than somebody who acts like a typical 18 year old.
What it boils down to is this - everybody has their preferences. Everybody is attracted to a certain type of people. If somebody is attracted to people much older or much younger than themselves, you have no reason to tell them to stop unless they are bordering illegal (i.e. your 26 year old best friend that is trying to pick up a 9 year old. Just no. Stop.). If both the people are of age, are happy, and are in a healthy relationship, just let them be happy together. Be a good friend and be supportive.
