Sometimes shortly after I post a new poll, a more popular blog or blogs link to my site and messes with the statistics. So these polls are less scientific than ever. However, I think we can still learn something about ourselves from them, so here we go.
READER AGE
Replies: 272
Female under 21: 26
Female 21-25: 83 (30%)
Female 26-30: 77 (28%)
Female 31-35: 28
Female 36-40: 15
Female 41-49: 10
Female 50+: 2
A Kindly Priest: 2
An Eavesdropper: 29 (10%)
There were only 2 eavesdroppers and no priests until the link incidents. I believe there are only two priests who regularly cast a paternal eye over this blog, one in Ireland and one down the road from B.A. and me.
But even before the link incidents, I noticed that apparently more twenty-somethings than thirty-somethings read this blog, which surprised me. I originally meant my blog to be for women of about 35 who were panicked or unhappy about what might be their permanent Single status. However, that was back in 2006 before I was discovered by Notre Dame, Christendom, St Andrews, et alia.
It shouldn't surprise me because you are much more likely to be Single in your twenties than your thirties, not to mention messing around on the computer, procrastinating from your term paper.
ACCEPTABLE AGE GAP (i.e. How Old is Too Old?)
Replies: 272
I would date only men younger than me. 1
I would date only men my age or younger. 3
I would date men up to five years older than me. 72
I would date men up to ten years older than me. 135
I would date men up to fifteen years older than me. 38
I would date men up to twenty years older than me. 20
I would date men up to thirty years older than me. 2
I would date men over thirty years older than me. 1
Whew! Well, I think it is safe to say that men of 40 are quite justified in trying to date women of 31, as it would seem many women are open to dating men up to 10 years older than themselves. There is a sharp drop-off after that, however, so if they are 10 years or more older than the women who intrigue them, they might approach with caution and not too much investment.
A five year age gap does not look like a problem at all.
8 comments:
Okay, I feel old (and Single) now. :p
~theobromophile the 30-something never-married
It might be neat to learn what the relationship/vocation status of the readers is too, in relation to their age.
I personally would have liked slightly smaller ranges for the dating age question. At 28, I'd be fine dating a 35-year-old, but 38 seems a bit too much of a stretch. I wonder how many of the other voters in the 10-year difference category really just meant they'd be ok with dating a man more than 5 years their senior.
--MEG
I think 10 years older is a very common age gap. My friends have married guys 10 years their senior, and I've known others that have dated men with that age gap. In my experience most women don't have a problem with an actual 10 year age gap, so the poll is likely a true representation.
A 20 year age gap means that the guy is going to have more in common with your parents than with you since a generation is roughly 20 years.
15 is stretching it for me, because often people are at different places in their life when there's that big of an age gap. I know I wouldn't care if the love of my life was 15 years older, but generally speaking it is a harder age gap to bridge.
Just turned 24, never married, never seriously dated as an adult, never dated another Christian, even.
Toronto is difficult for very tall intellectual female trad types...
Regarding the age of those who visit this site-you mention that people are more likely to be single in their 20's than 30's. That's true, but as people enter their 40's, many of them become single again, i.e. because of divorce. For this reason, I found it surprising that a lot more 40-somethings did not show up in the poll. Believe me, there are a ton of single women (and men) over the age of 40, Catholic and non-Catholic alike. My guess is that you put your finger on it when you mentioned the 20-somethings being on the computer more often.
Magdalene, you are at the right blog then.
By the way, not having seriously dated by age 24 is perfectly normal in the historical and worldwide scheme of things. Dating is a contemporary, North American invention.
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