I've never succumbed to the societal norm that one should be with someone close to one's age. Today, I'm certain I'm judged by the age of the women I date. To be clear, I have never chosen my mates based on their age. I date the women I relate to at the time.
When I was younger, much younger, I was very "old" mentally. I found myself associating with an older crowd, therefore older women. Today, my mentality is much different. I've loosened up, I'm in a "transitional" state of mind. I relate to women much younger.
There are so many judgements passed on us. We seek approval and make our decisions based on satisfying the nebulous "they." I'm not certain where or who I was seeking approval, but I now know that I cannot truly identify "them." Our society places a tremendous amount of pressure on us as individuals. For girls, it's the media view of beauty, for men, it's the accepted norm of being a provider. Make no mistake, one consistent complaint I hear from the most independent of women is they wish men were more "manly" and did all the things they grew up expecting. All those poor guys who are classified as "nice" don't stand a chance in a world where they are told to respect and appreciate women, treat them as equals and don't judge by external beauty.
Well, I have a shocking truth - men and women, both genders, have been so well programmed that we are both expected to know how to balance meeting the societal, traditional role norms and our new world reality of equality. Yes, I know there are always exceptions. But again, I'll contend that the most independent of women are only that way because they thought they had to do that or because they can't find a man to be a "man." That's pretty f--ked up if you ask me.
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