--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new.morning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new.morning <no_reply@> > > wrote: > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajranatha@> wrote: > > > > > > > > My partner has always interestingly 'pined: 'Men who search > > > > after younger women are looking for a mate their own emotional > > > > age.' In other words "you're attracted to someone your own > > > > emotional age (as opposed to your biological age)." > > > > > > If I understand your point, that is such a strange mind set -- > > > the premise that age correlates with emotional maturity -- > > > > I thought he was saying that age does *not* > > correlate with emotional maturity--that an > > older man who pursues younger women is > > emotionally immature. > > The implication in his statement, IMO, was that youngerwomen > are less mature than older women.
Right, which is probably true in most cases, for both men and women. His suggestion is that *lack* of correlation in (some) men accounts for their attraction to younger women whose chronological age *is* correlated to their emotional maturity. > > > more > > > specifically that a woman 10 years younger is more emotionally > > > mature than one 10 years older. > > > > Boy, I don't know how you came up with this-- > > it doesn't even fit with what you said to start > > with. > > See above. Yeah, I think you got the second part backwards. Should be "a woman 10 years older is more emotionally mature than one 10 years younger." Otherwise your two statements immediately above are contradictory. > > But I also seriously doubt > > that a formula like that would apply across > > the board. A woman might well be mature > > beyond her years, for one thing; and for > > another, emotional-age differences tend to > > decrease as folks get older. A 50-year-old > > and a 60-year-old are likely to be much > > closer in emotional age than a 30-year-old > > and a 20-year-old, even though the > > chronological age difference is the same. > > > > In any case, I suspect that the biological > > imperative is much more significant than > > emotional immaturity in men, generally > > speaking, as the explanation for why men have > > traditionally sought mates younger than > > themselves. The younger the woman, the more > > children she can bear the man before her > > menopause; and presumably the man will remain > > capable of siring offspring more or less > > indefinitely, until he's so decrepit he can > > no longer function sexually. > > > > Plus which, up to a point, the older the man, > > the better able he'll be to support and protect > > the woman and her children while she's busy > > churning them out and raising them. > > > > In other words, that men are attracted to younger > > women is an evolutionary survival trait. > > > > Hmmm, if we put Vaj's theory and the biological > > imperative together, maybe emotional immaturity > > in men is also an evolutionary survival trait... > > Good points. > > And though you mention only immature men, clearly immaturity > is not a isolated to men. That was the issue here, i.e., a theory for why (some) men are attracted to younger women. It may be why some women are attracted to younger men as well, possibly for a similar reason, but that wasn't what we were discussing, so I didn't mention it.
