That's a very Gen Z attitude that appears to be common. It's not shared among people of older generations. A 22 year old is an adult that can determine who she wants to date without a bunch of young femininst men rushing to defend her, which is what happened to my son. "May June romances" are a thing throughout history. Only recently have we expanded this to include young men and older women.
No, that's an "everyone younger than a boomer" attitude about age differences in relationships. In the early '00s I remember the "half your age + 7" rule being a decent guideline for what's socially acceptable. That would put your son's lower limit at 26.5.
So if a 22 year old woman wanted to date a 39 year old man you would discourage it and call it socially unacceptable? What if she was really wanted to? Or have younger generations now infantalized young women and decided they can't make up their own minds?
No point arguing with them. These people are just the puritans of the past -- they've just flipped what constitutes purity. I'm a younger millennial and it's hard enough for me to understand the supposed 'logic' of leftie morality police, and I've been surrounded by them my entire life. If you're a boomer (judging by you having a 38 y/o son), you're unlikely to ever understand the way they think, and it's not worth trying. Just reassure your son that there's nothing to be ashamed of for asking out an adult woman, and encourage him to brush it off rather than trying to justify it to anyone. They can smell weakness, and attempting to defend yourself against accusations is (somewhat validly) perceived as vulnerability. There's nothing you can say that will change their mind, and if you show them that it bothers you, they'll just double down on the attacks.
Nobody's obligated to follow your rules. We sacrificed the concept of societal obligation decades ago, and we're not bringing it back just because age gaps make you feel icky.
Enough people have taken this scorched earth attitude over random things like this that most people have few, if any, friends now so it hardly matters anymore.
It happens that groups invent their own rules, but I assure you, the rest of the world doesn't have a problem with a 39 year old man and a 22 year old woman. I don't know how the poeple in your bubble expect to have kids.
I’m struck by how much of this discourse functions as unintentional anti-natalism. You can’t build families in a culture where the first step (asking someone out) is treated as inherently suspect. Is the long-term plan here just to fade away politely?
