Legally, yes. You can’t and shouldn’t prevent them from dating.
But, it’s still creepy, it’s usually still predatory, and there can be a huge power imbalance. Basically, the main thing is whether either person can easily leave at any time - often the younger one can’t.
I don’t know man. If at 50 I ran into a 20 something that was into dating me, I’d feel more like prey than a predator. But, who am I kidding? If the roles were reversed and I was a 20 something encountering a 50+ cougar, I’d still feel like prey. It’s definitely all about power dynamics, but I don’t think making assumptions about adult people’s situations based on age alone is appropriate or helpful.
How is that any different than 18 year olds getting an apartment together and being too broke to easily move out if needed? And there are plenty of older people in the same boat financially. In fact most people live paycheck to paycheck.
I guess what you really mean is that poor people should only date other poor people, to make it a fair power balance. /s
Legally, yes. You can’t and shouldn’t prevent them from dating.
But, it’s still creepy, it’s usually still predatory, and there can be a huge power imbalance. Basically, the main thing is whether either person can easily leave at any time - often the younger one can’t.
I don’t know man. If at 50 I ran into a 20 something that was into dating me, I’d feel more like prey than a predator. But, who am I kidding? If the roles were reversed and I was a 20 something encountering a 50+ cougar, I’d still feel like prey. It’s definitely all about power dynamics, but I don’t think making assumptions about adult people’s situations based on age alone is appropriate or helpful.
How is that any different than 18 year olds getting an apartment together and being too broke to easily move out if needed? And there are plenty of older people in the same boat financially. In fact most people live paycheck to paycheck.
I guess what you really mean is that poor people should only date other poor people, to make it a fair power balance. /s