Age Gaps.. They're Not So Black and White -- FULL EPISODE!

Timestamps: Story 1: 3:21 Story 2: 13:13 Story 3: 26:52 Story 4: 44:08 Story 5: 56:12 Story 6: 1:06:00

The only time an age gap is a red flag to me is when the older person knew the younger person before they were an adult. Then you have to wonder if grooming was involved.

My philosophy on age gaps is that the older you get, the acceptable gap gets wider. 10 years between an 18 and 28 year old is huge but its practically nothing if a 40 year old and a 50 year old start dating

honestly for the first story, the mistake the mother in law made was questioning the young girls intentions, when she should question why her VERY ADULT SON is dating a TEENAGER. Also they only dated a year before getting married with that age gap, that doesn't sound well.

First story still gave me red flags. You wouldn't lose all your friendships over a relationship that was completely safe/healthy.

The second story 🤢 he literally groomed her since she was 1

The groomer story genuinely makes me terrified for their unborn child CUZ HE RAISED HER RAISED HER

Story #2 if someone told me that they started dating someone inappropriate when they turned 18, knowing they had a different relationship before hand. Sorry, there’s no chance I’m gonna sit there and believe that everything was perfectly platonic until their 18th birthday

In that second story it's almost like he trapped her by getting her pregnant, and only was okay with her telling them because he knew that if she was pregnant her family would have to be okay with it for the sake of her and her kid...fucked up shit, jesus...

I’m pretty sure the main argument against age gaps isn’t age gaps, its power imbalances. My best friends parents are 20 years apart but they eat when her mom was 40 and her dad was 60, both of them were established in careers and had previous marriages, and had equal footing. But, another friend of mine had a 3 year age gap crush when she was 17 and all of our group had to remind her how bad of an idea it was to ‘date’ someone who was in a weird position of authority over her. The age gaps aren’t just about age, its about power and if someone has too much of it over their SO.

As a former sugar baby I don’t like age gaps... old men are truly disgusting, lots of old men want to date young girls not women their own ages because they think they can get away with the bullshit they do dating someone younger... older women wouldn’t put up with those antics because they are too wise

My parents are 7 years apart, which doesn’t sound bad until you find out they started dating when my mom was 15 and dad was 22.

I am so concerned for the girl who ended up pregnant with the guy who literally changed her diapers because he could have possibly groomed her as a child or even assaulted her and on top of that it’s possible that he could do the same to his own child! (There’s a case where the dad got his own daughter pregnant and ended up killing both of them along with the rest of his family)

Okay, but how did the people from the first story meet and become friends? Like I don't know any 19 year olds who just hang out with 40 year olds. I think how they met definetly influences wether or not it's creepy.

That third story about the rent was a huge red flag. It feels like such a groomer move. Increase the target's financial burden to either put strain on her relationship with her parents or increase her dependence on him. The fact he changed his time instantly makes it seem like the money thing was just an excuse to take more power and control. Glad she is out of that situation but that dude seems dangerous.

cousin is definitely a homophobe. butch women are often considered “predatory” because they’re masculine gay women and especially so if the partner is fem. there is really nothing wrong with the age gap (from someone who is always suspicious of age gaps), the cousin is just looking for a more acceptable outlet to spew their hate of butch women, they’re definitely homophobic/lesbophobic.

The third story reminds me of one of my boyfriends friends. When him and his girlfriend were looking to move in together, he had a higher salary while she worked a minimum wage job. His budget for rent/expenses was much higher than hers would be based on their incomes. They decided to combine the same proportion (for example 30% of their income) of their individual incomes meaning they are still both contributing and it is the same financial strain on each of their paycheques. When my boyfriend told me about this I thought that it was a great compromise!

The context of an age gap relationship is everything. When did you meet? Are you financially independent? Is there a power imbalance?. My boyfriend is 15 years older but we met when I was 27. Both had good jobs and both were on our own.

I’m in a 12 year age gap and literally never think about it 👀 only time it sucks is when we make references to nostalgic music/tv cause he was literally 27 when I was 15 like that’s fucking weird lmao

Age gaps only gross me out if the oldest partner is old enough to be the parent to the other. It creeps me out when people my age (24) are dating/marrying people older than my parents age lol