What's the acceptable age difference in a relationship?

[Hunter65416]

Its kinda weird, for an example a 17 or 18 year old dating a 15 year old is a bit weird but fastfoward another 10 years and a 27 year old dating a 25 year old is more than acceptable, why is that :S

 

[Galletea]

There is no limits, provided both parties are adults. The 16/18 age thing is only weird because at school you are separated into year groups, so the distance of one year is made more of a distance by the segregation of ages. This is why when you're 16 and dating an 18 year old it seems scandalous, but being 23 and dating a 25 year old is completely normal.

 

[Phasmal]

Its up to you, really.

I don't think I would date a guy younger than me, but my boyfriend's only like a month older than me.

When you're around teenage age it can be a bit complicated because of who's techincally an adult and who isn't.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Rule of thumb: There is ALWAYS a relevant XKCD comic for every situation. Here ye are.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

I've always heard the acceptable low end was half your age, plus 7. I'm 23, so the youngest I should be dating is 18-19, which honestly seems pretty reasonable. As for the upper end, I suppose you can go as high as you feel comfortable with, but I wouldn't recommend going above 10-15 years older than you unless it's a real, bonafide "TWUE WUV" situation.

 

[Zantos]

Half your age, plus 7 is a rule that's always served well. For upper boundary, you have to be in their half age plus 7 zone. I'm 22, I can date an 18 year old, seems fair.

 

[JoJo]

There's a greater difference in maturation between a 15 year old and a 18 year old than between say a 25 year old and 28 year old. The former are still developing at a fast rate whilst the latter are pretty much fully formed mentally and so less difference.

 

[SwagBite]

It's like multiplication. If It's under 15, do it in your head.

But seriously, the "Half your age + 7" is what I've always heard.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I've always heard the acceptable low end was half your age, plus 7.

That's just a silly internet meme.

The real answer is there is no firm answer. 14 year old used to marry 40 year olds all the time and no one blinked.

People used to do all sorts of shit without blinking, like taking slaves and persecuting gays. Fortunately, both our morals and eyelids have evolved since then. The firm answer regarding those things today is definitely "that's fucked".

OT: The half plus seven rule stands. It allows a generous dating pool for each age bracket without falling into "that's just gross" territory. As for why? I don't know. I guess the younger the person is, the more it seems like you're taking advantage of their naivety and insecurity. Someone much older getting with someone relatively inexperienced with the world just seems predatory.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

That's just a silly internet meme.

It may well be a silly internet meme, but that doesn't make it any less of an apposite standard to operate by in most situations if not necessarily a rule of thumb. At any rate, the older you get, age disparity seems to matter less and less.

 

[manic_depressive13]

It's "fucked" based on your own opinion only. Nothing more. Other people have other opinions, there is no "definitely".

For example, in Australia where you live the age of consent is 18 for marriage. In Japan its 20. Are you barbarians because you picked a different arbitrary number? In the US of course a good number of states allow marriage at ANY age, as long as you have parental and/or court consent.

It is not my opinion only. It is the opinion of enough people in my society that there are laws prohibiting those things. The only morality is the collective morality. To the Japanese perhaps we are barbarians.

OT: The half plus seven rule stands. It allows a generous dating pool for each age bracket without falling into "that's just gross" territory. As for why? I don't know. I guess the younger the person is, the more it seems like you're taking advantage of their naivety and insecurity. Someone much older getting with someone relatively inexperienced with the world just seems predatory.

"I don't know" is the key to what you say above, it is totally without any foundation.

Are you sure you're not angry enough? The "I don't know" indicated that I can't can't say for certain why pedophilia or significant age gaps in relationships aren't smiled upon, but I have a general idea which probably constitutes at least part of the reason.

But of course you don't mind pedophilia or slavery. You're a hardass little nihilist. You'd kill me as soon as look at me, eh?

 

[Xenowolf]

As long as both are 18+ and consenting, why should it even matter?

 

[Smertnik]

Eh, I had a 15 year old girlfriend when I was 19 and know quite a few people who have had/are having relationships on a similar scale. It can work, provided the younger party is mature enough.
As for acceptance? It mostly depends on the culture, as I see it. Where I live age of consent is 13 or 14, I believe, anything above is rather silly, in my opinion (and it's not like it'd stop teens from screwing anyway). In the end it all comes down to whether the parties involved are consent with the relationship or not. Everything else is irrelevant.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Someone came up with a formula:
Your Age/2+7. For example, 14/2+7=14, 28/2+7=21. The answer is the minimum age you should date, if you follow the formula. It also comes to a minimum limit at 14.

As for why? I don't know.

It's actually just a pretty basic linear recurrence relation. High-school maths.

 

[sleekie]

It's "fucked" based on your own opinion only. Nothing more. Other people have other opinions, there is no "definitely".

For example, in Australia where you live the age of consent is 18 for marriage. In Japan its 20. Are you barbarians because you picked a different arbitrary number? In the US of course a good number of states allow marriage at ANY age, as long as you have parental and/or court consent.

It is not my opinion only. It is the opinion of enough people in my society that there are laws prohibiting those things. The only morality is the collective morality. To the Japanese perhaps we are barbarians.

OT: The half plus seven rule stands. It allows a generous dating pool for each age bracket without falling into "that's just gross" territory. As for why? I don't know. I guess the younger the person is, the more it seems like you're taking advantage of their naivety and insecurity. Someone much older getting with someone relatively inexperienced with the world just seems predatory.

"I don't know" is the key to what you say above, it is totally without any foundation.

Are you sure you're not angry enough? The "I don't know" indicated that I can't can't say for certain why pedophilia or significant age gaps in relationships aren't smiled upon, but I have a general idea which probably constitutes at least part of the reason.

But of course you don't mind pedophilia or slavery. You're a hardass little nihilist. You'd kill me as soon as look at me, eh?

Oh come on. On the one hand, you're being moral because your society agrees with you, but on the other hand when society did things differently, it wasn't? You're just saying whatever pops into your head.

Also nice pile of strawmen.

 

[manic_depressive13]

As for why? I don't know.

It's actually just a pretty basic linear recurrence relation. High-school maths.

...What? The fact that a two or three year age gap in a relationship is far more socially acceptable later on in life than it is in one's teenage years has nothing to do with high school maths.

Oh come on. On the one hand, you're being moral because your society agrees with you, but on the other hand when society did things differently, it wasn't? You're just saying whatever pops into your head.

It was considered moral at the time. It isn't anymore. Is that really a difficult concept to follow?

Also nice pile of strawmen.

If you have a match we can make a bonfire.