Gen-Z icon Billie Eilish openly dating a male Millennial

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The old algorithm

The more money you have, the younger your wife.

Leonardo De Caprio doesn't bother with marriage. He treats women like second hand cars and upgrades to a younger new model when they hit 25. I know I will get shot for saying this, but wealthy men don't find a partner for stimulating conversation. They are just one of his many accessories.

Well maybe not progressives but it seems that the ones who have a problem with age gaps seem to be the more extreme feminist types at least in my social circles, but I could be wrong .

It also seems they have a problem when the woman is young and the man is older. For example if Macron was married to a 20 year old woman, at his current age of 44, I am assuming people would be bothered by it more?

In the modern context it's because Macron would be accused of taking advantage of a young woman who lacks the maturity to understand she might be being taken advantage of.

In the past history (up to the mid 20th century) it was acceptable for older men of all cultures routinely married teenage girls.

Interesting.
My partner's too wealthy to enjoy stimulating conversation with me, so I'm being used as a disabled accessory?

I'll let him know.

Give him my regards

My boyfriend is 5 years older, and we are both millennials where is our news coverage...lol.

I am almost 5 years older than my wife and we are both Baby Boomers. It's actually a good age combination IMO.

So the original point of the thread was that this relationship could be considered exploitive. She could be considered vulnerable, to my understanding she has self-esteem issues in particular with regard to body image. He on the other hand benefits from male privilege. The relationship does also violate the informal "half your age plus 7" rule so there's that. I can't help thinking that there are people who would disapprove of such a relationship if it involved personal acquaintances but believe there should be a different standard for judging celebrities. In fact, it seems many celebrities get into unhealthy relationships (perhaps for the entertainment value).

It would seem the age difference has been a topic of public discussion:

https://www.newsweek.com/billie-eilish-jesse-rutherford-age-gap-slammed-amid-romance-reports-1753474

It may be a bigger than usual deal in this case because Ms. Eilish has a reputation as an "influencer" insofar as her female contemporaries might either be inspired to emulate her or perhaps use her as a way to justify their own behavior. Generation Z seem to do more virtue signaling than Millennials which makes this stand out.

As for age gaps, from what I've observed I have the impression that when a man becomes committed to a woman substantially older than himself, he is probably somewhat regretful of that decision. Perhaps Macron is an exception, but without having done a formal study I can say I've seen a lot of evidence of such regret. My mother was almost 9 years older than my father and there were undeniably strains, in fact my father did indeed cheat on her once that I know of. At age 70, I am married to a 65-year-old and at the same age my father was married to a 78-soon-to-turn-79-year-old and I'm glad to not be in that position. Understand that I'm not trying to present a rationale for feeling that way but nevertheless I do. On the other hand, I avoided getting involved with somebody too much younger. When I was 28 or 29 I did get involved with somebody 6.5 years younger (this began with her as the pursuer) and age difference did sometimes come up, although in that case she was struggling with a disconnect between her physical attraction to me vs. shortcomings she saw in me as a partner in a committed relationship, so she may have just raised that issue as one talking point in her internal argument against continuing the relationship. When I met my wife, I guessed her age at 3 years younger than she actually was. I was relieved to learn she wasn't quite so young. She and I share life experiences much more than not.

OTOH I do think that today's society is more open-minded about age gaps in which the man is younger, and also more open-minded about age gaps in same-sex relationships, which has a bearing on how I made up the poll. Even though so far nobody had voted for an option that reflects "disapproval" at least the poll got a lot of votes which should be good for the continued health of this subforum.

But what I don't understand is what is it about people in the early twenties they make some incapable of dating because they like maturity? They are just incapable of relationships in general?

I don't follow?

Oh what I mean is why do older people think that people in their early 20s lack the capacity to make decision on who they should date?

Oh I don't think it's lack of capacity. If you are talking about an attractive young woman then they are spoilt for choice.

Oh okay, but if people are not saying younger people have a lack of capacity, then why do people care about people in their early 20s dating, if they can make informed decisions and are fine then?

Because the dating game is a marketplace. Young attractive women are the cream of the crop,.

But what does being the cream of the crop having to with not having the capacity to date, since that is what people complain about in age gaps?

I don't think it has anything to do with capacity, it's just that more experienced men are supposed to be able to assert dominance over young women in their own self-interest but the young women don't understand that, rather they think the man is in love with them but he's actually just using them. I'm not saying how true this is, but I think that's the popular perception, largely reinforced by all the #metoo stories of recent years.