elfling Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hey people, What is your best story of meddlers, whether strangers or people you know, giving you flak because your choice of a partner for a date or a relationship was outside the local gender norms of couples? I'm thinking of pairings such as older woman/younger man, taller woman/shorter man, working mom / househusband, etc. which are outside the American gender norms. If you have different gender norms in your locale, those stories are also welcome. Please, no stories of people below 21. This thread isn't about pedophiles or teen dating. It's about mutually consenting full adults who others should assume will know what is best for themselves. Also, no S & M stuff. Please don't go there! Not on my thread. The anecdote I'll share is an age gap example I'm choosing for the absurdity factor. Once when I had a date with a man who was only 5 years younger than me, a bouncer at a bar made a public scene when he saw our IDs and realized the age gap, and he called me a "cradle robber" in a very rude manner. I felt the bouncer was unjustly insulting me, implying I was some old creep exploiting a youngun'. Meanwhile my date told me he felt the bouncer was insulting HIM, by implying he was just an immature boy being exploited, not a man. This is my best anecdote, because the age gap was so small and insignificant that the bouncer's behavior was not only rude, but also truly ABSURD! I've had bigger dating age gaps since then, though. And if you're curious, I broke it off with that guy due to issues of incompatibility related to his religion. The age gap was irrelevant and never bothered either of us. However, flak from others over defying gender norms can potentially contribute to a break up, if the flak is intrusive enough. Also I've noticed that that when age gap couples break up, people say, "Oh, see, older woman/younger man doesn't work", but when the average older man/younger woman couples break up (with the man 1-7 years older), which is MOST BROKEN COUPLES, people never question there was something wrong with the older man/younger woman norm. People seem to look for false proof of things they take on faith based on tradition, and ignore real evidence to the contrary. But I digressed - I don't really want this thread to be a philosophical debate, just a thread to list anecdotes. I want to hear your best anecdotes... the absurd, the insane, the infuriating, the hilarious... Link to post Share on other sites
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