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MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
2021-09-22 03:48:23

All other things being equal, no, it's not. That's not a noticeable age difference. (Unless he's around six years old, I guess.)

CrypticMirror Since: Jan, 2001
2021-09-22 05:43:41

I wouldn't think so. I would think there has to be at least a generation's worth of difference between them.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
2021-09-22 15:43:16

Plus it's not Likes Older Women if being older isn't a reason he's attracted to her. That's just liking a woman who's also older than him.

The way I usually judge if situations like this count is if it is, or can be, lampshaded In-Universe.

Edited by sgamer82
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
2021-09-22 18:06:28

No, and a ton of the examples I've seen of it are misuse for that reason.

RoseAndHeather (Edited uphill both ways)
2021-09-22 18:50:03

I think a whole generation might be going a bit far — something like 10 years does seem reasonable, though. And agreed that it's been badly misused and should be limited to something that's actually noticeable in-universe, not just any instance of a guy liking a woman who's older than him.

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Zuxtron (On A Trope Odyssey)
2021-09-22 19:05:56

Personally, I'd define it as wanting a relationship that fails the Age-Gap Algebra test (it's weird to date someone younger than half your age plus seven).

Carnildo Since: Jan, 2001
2021-09-22 22:47:07

I wouldn't put an absolute age limit on it. I could see a six-year-old with a Precocious Crush on an eight-year-old being Played for Laughs as Likes Older Women.

jOSEFdelaville Since: Dec, 2018
2021-09-22 23:52:22

My personnal opinion is that the age gap should either be noticable, (so, not just 1-2 years), significant to the story, or be discussed In-Universe for this trope to be in effect. Last time I looked at this trope page, it was full of examples saying "[[man]] is in a relationship with [[woman]] who is one year older".

GnomeTitan Since: Aug, 2013
2021-09-23 01:14:02

I think one reason for the misuse is that there are actually two tropes.

This trope is supposed to be "man or boy is attracted to, or in a relationship with, much older women" (with the definition of "much" depending on a lot of things).

But society still has some sort of a (quite unreasonable) expectation that in a relationship, the man should be older than the woman. I guess this goes back to the 19th century, when men were supposed to get an education and start a career before marrying, but women weren't. Today it's very much a Discredited Trope, but I think it still lingers on to the extent that some people react to a man marrying even a slightly older woman.

And, of course, some people are far too literal-minded and don't read the trope description.

Edited by GnomeTitan
Reymma Since: Feb, 2015
2021-09-23 08:42:06

I sense another source of confusion: while the description isn't all that clear, the trope name suggests it's about a man attracted to older women in general, so there would have to be some kind of pattern and not just a single relationship.

Some of this misuse (for single relationships) might be covered by a trope that is "May–December Romance with an older woman and younger man that is maligned by others".

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GnomeTitan Since: Aug, 2013
2021-09-23 14:37:02

If the age difference is large enough, and the character is just attracted to his partner and not older women in general, it is a case of May–December Romance. I don't think we need a new trope which would just be The Same, but More Specific.

Edited by GnomeTitan
GastonRabbit MOD (General of TV Troops)
2021-09-23 15:19:12

I think this discussion would be better suited to Trope Talk.

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SeptimusHeap MOD (Edited uphill both ways)
2021-09-26 03:06:38

Aye, so locking.

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