Acceptable Age Gap?

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35 year old female here. I have so many disadvantages with the opposite sex that I might as well not bother trying anymore. Add to that list is my strong preference for men under 30, well, usually more like 22-26. I assume this preference is due to my own emotional immaturity. Oh, this accounts for why I gave up on online dating too. Yeh you can only imagine the trolling!
Slightly off subject, but I feel like I usually relate more to traits found in ASD men based only on what I read in forums or other general online articles about autism. Could be wrong about that, as I do not personally know anyone with Asperger's.

@TarheelBabe1980: Don't worry about the age gap. You love who you love. Many guys are attracted to older women.

As for me, while I prefer people closer to my age (I will be 37 in December), I am mostly looking for people with the same interests.

Personally I could care less about age as long as she is legal. But I will say that sometimes if the age difference is too great you could have less in common with the other person.

Personally I want someone younger for a number of reasons. I'm 38. Maybe I'm creepy or perverted or whatever you want to call me, but ideally I'd want someone 28-34. My wife was 4 years younger than me. We met at 26 and 22. I cannot really be attracted to many women any older than me... I have a thing for a youthful face... I just do. Can't help it. I'm not perfect. I'm really not that judgemental about a woman's appearance in most ways though I clearly have my preferences. Youthful face and some immaturity are sort of a thing.

Part of this is due to the very small age gap between myself and my mom (she had me at 18). The idea of being physical with an older women always just creeped me out for that reason....

Also the reason older men and younger women get together is because women are usually more mature at an earlier age... there's little chance a 40 year old woman is going to be interested in dating me seriously because of the fact that my maturity level is that of an early 20s guy. The things I like, I smoke pot daily, the way I talk and act, work a whatever job with little security or direction, are things all well below what you'd expect from an almost 40yr old man. I'd be far more on the same level with a girl in the age range I referred to. I think that at that age, the late bloomers are starting to seek direction and find out who they really are, and I'm sort of in that spot at 38... most men are not. Of course most of the younger women who would date someone more than a few years older would likely generally be doing it because they seek more security, which I do not provide.

I don't know why it can't just be a personal preference without it being labeled. There's certainly a heavily predatory motivation in many men in this regard, so I understand it to an extent. But it's really not always the case across the board. You can't overstate male immaturity...

I've generally dated guys within +\- 5 years of my age, but provided everybody's a legal adult, age ain't nothing but a number. I deny no one the occasional gorgeous 19 year old, but a steady stream of them from a person 25-30+ elicits giant eye rolls.

That said, stage of life matters too. To me, a 21 yo who has had a job for three years likely has more in common with 27 yo college grad with 3 yrs work experience than a 21 yo college junior.

Lucky you
I am going die alone. Life only gets worse and worse for me. No woman wants a permanently disabled ugly guy on min wage who's playful

Ten years is my personal acceptable distance, doesn't mean anything outside my own established perimeter of course.

I think age is less relevant for people on the spectrum as we tend to look younger, my adult girlfriend is often mistaken as a teenager.

That could be due to the naivety or innocence that people perceive in us but I think another factor is that people on the spectrum are less likely to be involved in the party scene.

I definitely need a younger man. Any guy my age or older all just seem too worldly. I haven't been around that much. Not very many life experiences. I also don't act or feel my age. (Heavy sigh)

I was 7 years older than my wife. We met met when I was 30 and she 22. There was a bit of a cultural gap but that never was a big problem for us. The marriage ended but not because of the age difference. Before meeting her I had dated a woman 6 years older than I am, and I think age was a factor for me in our breakup.

I can't say though that I ever had a definite mindset or plan that I would marry someone older or younger by a set number or years.

I don't think at my current age (23) I'd be comfortable dating anyone more than 2 years younger or 5 years older. I say less years younger because I'd feel uncomfortable dating someone in their teens or who wasn't legally of age in every way too.

My current boyfriend is almost a year younger than me. He's turning 23 in late November, I turn 24 in early February.

As for older people, you tend to lack things in common in terms of interests, you're often at different stages of your life, and I just feel weird about dating people who are significantly older. Honestly I'd say three years in most cases, 5 only for special cases.