Would women in their 40s be happy with men in their 20s?

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I see a lot on dating advice forums online, a lot of women in their 30s complain about how they have trouble getting guys their own age, and that guys in their 30s go for women in their 20s a lot and this leaves a lot of women being romantically challenged to find a guy when they are in their 40s.

I also see a lot of guys in their 20s complain about how it's hard to find a woman their own age, because they keep going for older guys in their 30s a lot. So I wonder, since 20 year old men have it the toughest it seems as well as women in their 40s, would it make sense for the two groups to just date each other? Since they are what's the most left over it seems, wouldn't they just be happier with each other, rather than avoiding dating each other in the market?

It's just a thought I had, based on what people say about their love lives, but what do you think out of curiosity?

I would think very much so. More oldermature women might have forgot just what a younger guy can be like. And they may never want to go back to their own age-range again. It Happens.

There will be some biological women, or trans-women, who would be happy with men who are trans-men or biological men of any age bracket. That's a fact of probability.

If someone is looking for something specific, they can simply set up a dating profile to say what they are looking for. You can measure your success on your own, anecdotal experience. There aren't really scientific studies as specific as this question, based on particulr locations & so it's best just to be 'in the field' on this matter.

If you are not willing to try looking practically, then you might as well not ask the question. But if you ask the question and you are open to trying to get what you want - then it was worth asking the question.

If a woman in her 40's happens to like a man in his 20's, then why not go for it.

But I don't feel women in their 40's should preclude themselves from finding a nice man more their own age.

Above is an image of Sexual Market Value broken down by age and gender. What is sexual market value? It's how attractive you as a romantic and sexual option. The higher your SMV, the easier it will be to attract partners, and higher quality partners as well.


You may notice something if you look at the graph. Women tend to peak in their twenties, and then around the age of 30, men's and women's SMV intersects with each other. There's are two major reasons for this. The first reason is that what determines a woman's sexual market value is primarily her physical appearance. Men tend to be attracted to youth, beauty, and a fit body, since men are primarily visual by nature. For this reason, women in their twenties are in their prime in terms of sexual market value. Another reason is because women, unlike men, have a shorter window of time to have children. So men who want to have children will look for younger and more fertile women to start a family with.


What determines a man's SMV is a combination of looks, status, and wealth. Even though men do tend to lose looks as they get older, if a man has status and wealth, his sexual market value isn't as negatively impacted. As a result, men tend to peak in their thirties or early forties. A 35 year old man can date a 26 year old woman and it's not that weird.


What can you learn from all of this? If you're a young guy, take your education and your career seriously, and you can be a lot more successful with women in your thirties then in your twenties.

I don’t go by Venn diagrams when I choose who is appealing to me.

But it does help if you have a steady career.

If a 40 year old woman wants to date a guy in his 20s she should reassure him up front that she won't pressure him into commitment.

I personally feel the emotional age difference not the chronological age would prevent dating.

There's definitely some hot 40 year olds out there. So maybe some guys in their twenties should try and dating a 40 year old woman.

Most unattached women in their 40s will date men in their 50s or even 60s rather than men in their 20s. Maybe men in their 30s if such men are well employed and otherwise have their s**t together. The reasons are obvious.

Very, very few woman in the 40s could attract a high quality man in his twenties. Most women in their 40s would have a hard time attracting a high quality man their own age.

When my ex-wife left me, she was a very young looking 41 (she can still pass for 5-10 years younger). She had her looks, her figure, and my alimony, so she was quite eligible. I used to tell her she should find herself an orthodontist about 5-10 years older than her who would be happy to take care of her with no drama. Nope, she dated younger guys. Almost 20 years later and she is still alone (and collecting my alimony).

I know of supposed "high-quality" men in their 20's who have dated older women.

I would only date a woman in her 40's if she was never married and had no kids and was fine with not having relations if I was in my 20's again and she was a virgin.

For what it's worth, I dated a woman 18 years older than I. She was pretty much my most stable relationship.
Do understand the breakup had nothing to do with the age difference