Does she like me?

[thejuice]

She's 22 years older than me.

I dated a woman 17 years older and a foot and a half shorter. Sheep laughed. Didnt care. Not outsourcing my happiness to external factors.

 

[Judge]

I dated a woman 17 years older and a foot and a half shorter. Sheep laughed. Didnt care.

Sounds familiar. Another relationship where I was 5'11" and she was 4'9".

 

[thejuice]

When we went to gigs i brought her a chair to stand on XD

OP has said age gap doesnt bother him, dont know what hes waiting for.

 

[Judge]

Some serious hindsight:

Such opportunities simply do not come up all that often for a great many autistic men.

 

[Masked Man]

Oh yes, I know that age is just a number. I've encountered some pretty negative opinions online about the idea, though. Why are you so in favour of it?

Again, I'm just curious.

Are you at all interested in possibly dating her or not?

If you're not interested in dating her then why worry about her age? If you don't want to date her then it doesn't matter whether she's older/younger/shorter/taller.

 

[Jonn]

Oh yes, I know that age is just a number. I've encountered some pretty negative opinions online about the idea, though. Why are you so in favour of it?

Again, I'm just curious.

I am a cognitive/thinking person, not an emotionalist who is led by the nose by social convention.

Remember:
Rule #1. There are no rulz.

 

[Judge]

I am a cognitive/thinking person, not an emotionalist who is led by the nose by social convention.

Remember:
Rule #1. There are no rulz.

Point taken when it comes to romance and relationships. That IMO as well, social conventions more often than not seem like an an obstacle more than a catalyst to steer couples towards one another.

 

[Jonn]

She's 22 years older than me.

Women generally live significantly longer than men.
She may, however, be concerned that she might deprive you of a life partner if the relationship develops further.

I have always had this in mind, after a certain age.
That is why I was in favour of any potential partner being polyamorous if they were significantly younger than me.

 

[Steelbookcollector217]

What OP does is up to him.

But Steelbook's assumptions aren't wrong.

I'd argue he should just "play the hand he's been dealt", but that's easy to say when you've aged out of the dating game.

yeah i'm sure men will always be stuck with that whether we like it or not

 

[Hypnalis]

yeah i'm sure men will always be stuck with that whether we like it or not

IMO there's hope for the future, but it will be a crooked path.

Right now the numbers don't add up.

For example on aggregate, GenZ is having less sex than previous generations. Possibly because marriage increases that particular statistic, and Gens X and Z have, statistically speaking, a marriage and relationship deficit.

That deficit is moving down the age range, which actually implies a shift in power and control over the 30+ age range, from XX to XY.

Historically, pair-bonding has not "organically" been facilitated by the desire of both parties to have children - that's been the result, not the initial cause. Cultural institutions (of the kind we now call religions) provided an opposing pressure, but they are weakening. Even the new economic influences of the last 10K(ish) years (marrying to retain land and generational wealth) are less important.

So the historical processes are weaker (or (statistically) broken), but the proportion of people who follow the modern version if it (marriage and kids in their early 20's, which is good for genetics and health) is falling continuously.

The likely development is that viable (not top tier - just viable) XX partners in the 30+ age-range for pair-bonding will be in short supply.

You seem to be in a difficult age bracket, but IMO this effect will kick in within ten years, so you should see the change, and may benefit from it.
:
:
Unfortunately the population collapse will affect this: e,g, rich countries that try to retain their labor force by allowing a disproportionate number of "XX immigrants of military age" (e.g. US up to this year, UK, several European countries) are implicitly influencing their XX/XY ratio.

As far as I know there are so few people researching this that we can't expect any useful insights from the functioning remnant of the "soft sciences" (because there aren't enough real scientists left in that domain).
:
:
But the future isn't predictable anyway, so the obvious uncertainly may be for the best:

Pangloss sometimes said to Candide:

"There is a concatenation of events in this best of all possible worlds: for if you had not been kicked out of a magnificent castle for love of Miss Cunegonde: if you had not been put into the Inquisition: if you had not walked over America: if you had not stabbed the Baron: if you had not lost all your sheep from the fine country of El Dorado: you would not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts."

"All that is very well," answered Candide, "but let us cultivate our garden."

Context:
That's the conclusion of "Candide"

Pangloss is the guy who believes that we must, regardless of any immediate inconvenience suffered by individuals, be living in the best of all possible worlds.
Candide can be said (at this stage of the book) to find comfort and purpose in the moment, and in the performance of everyday tasks.

Note that the book is a satire - the use of highly polarized positions like this is a recurring technique.

(also the web is full of prepared exam answers for the last section, for Zoomers and Gen-Alphas to use to cheat on their homework. If you want a different/better/more orthodox interpretation, there are plenty available).