To ask if most straight men are attracted much younger women?

What I meant was basically what you said. I think some people associate feminism with extreme views. Stuff like the recent thread titled something like 'AIl men are filthy losers'. So they see people saying things like "if you believe in equality you're a feminist" then they read these threads and think no that doesn't represent me.

It's difficult because sometimes the same posters have other views I'd agree with but I don't share their general outlook. I guess it's like how I agree there are some issues with immigration and cultural integration but I'm absolutely not a Tommy Robinson or BNP supporter.

I agree that old men may see young women as easier to manipulate and dominate and that this for some will be part of the appeal. I don't think its particularly revolutionary that there are men who use their advantage, be that wealth, status, power or life experience to manipulate women and will consider the percieved easier target of a young woman attractive. Though I doubt they trawl the internet for surveys about where the age groups stand on feminism before deciding if their young bodies appeal.
Regardless, young women rejecting the label of feminist (which is not at all the same as rejecting feminist principles) hasn't translated to a desire to partner with older men. The stats for this remain tiny. So whether in reality the men would find them more complient remains for the most part a matter of old mens fantasies.

I think this pretty much sums it up.

Very late to this thread but I really don’t think men in general are attracted to much younger women. Not in my experience anyway. There is probably a subset of (insecure?) men who are, but the majority go for women more or less within their own age group who they find attractive.

For tomorrow : when you say men think that feminists will make them conform to feminists ideas of what a man should be, what kind of ideas do you mean?

Hmm, what do you mean by many women 'not agreeing with the reality/implementation" of feminism?

I thought it was more of an issue with extremes (eg. Believe literally all women no matter what, exaggerations about rape culture & patriarchy etc) rather than disagreeing with the 'reality/implementation" of equal rights?

Anecdotally, I'm Gen Z & several friends are proud feminists, others don't like the word/connotations but believe in equal rights.

Edit : Sorry, I know it's v late! Not expecting an answer now!

These kind if claims irritate me, but I think it's essentially because women often associate feminists now with terminally online SJW activist-just-for-show types who make a lot of claims without much backing & are overly woke (extreme over Gaza, Just Stop Oil, trans issues etc)

I will always stand by the Gloria Steinem definition of feminist meaning 'believing in the equality & full humanity of men and women', but clearly many don't associate it with that. In surveys women mostly associate it with extreme, they also say they support equal rights mostly so it's more of a disagreement with extreme connotations than equal rights per se.

There's more but I can't be arsed to post tbh as it was just intended as a passing comment. And let's be honest people will find reasons to disagree with them.

I was right that most young women aren't feminists but also sort of wrong in that they're still more likely to be feminists than older women in recent years. I also saw a European graph previously which I'm not searching for now as need to be up at 5am and should've been asleep hours ago. Sweden was the most feminist with 40%.

Women seem to agree with many of the stated principles of feminism but not with the reality/implementation of it. I agree in some ways. It does attract a lot of bitter people who want to hate on men while perpetually serenading on their tiny violin.

It's like how nobody can really say men's rights are a bad thing but an MRA is generally a euphemism for a sexist guy that has a whole maris piper on his shoulder.

According to the results from the 2016 Fawcett society state of the nation report only 4% men and 9% women polled labelled themselves as feminists. When asked to describe what the word meant to them a shocking 26% of the words used were negative e.g. irrelevant, bitchy, while 22% used positive terms such as strong-willed.

https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/socscilibrarians/2016/01/22/only-7-of-people-describe-themselves-as-feminists/

More in depth article of the above study.

Only 7 per cent of Britons consider themselves feminists

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/only-7-per-cent-of-britons-consider-themselves-feminists/

Less than a third of American women identify as feminists

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/american-women-and-feminism

Slightly more women consider themselves feminists now (38%) than they did in 2016 (32%), close to half (48%) of women still say they are not feminists, according to new data from YouGov Omnibus.

Among non-feminists, there are a few common reasons they don’t identify with the label. Almost half (48%) of non-feminist women say “feminists are too extreme.”

https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/21348-feminism-american-women-2018

New YouGov poll reveals only 35% of Britons identify as feminist

www.google.com/amp/s/thenewfeminist.co.uk/2025/03/new-yougov-poll-reveals-only-35-of-britons-identify-as-feminist/%3famp=1

What statistics do you have about most younger women not being feminists? My daughter and her friends are most definitely feminists. My experience differs from your broad brush statement. In fact, my experience is that generation Z are in no hurry to be in relationships at all.

Most younger women aren't feminists nowadays and I think this appeals to a lot of men truth be told. Not because they want to be misogynists. Sometimes because they want to be a man and not be chastised for it or expected to conform to some feminist idea of 'what a man should be'.

I'd imagine a midlife crisis will in some cases exacerbate this dynamic because men more often tend to do things like buy a motorbike/fast car or start working out rather than take up tiddlywinks.

I recall reading so e statistics that said men generally will always go for the younger woman.

Except I'm pretty sure my last 4 relationships were all with men who were younger! Current one being nearly 11 years! 😱

I think there may some truth in men who basically don't know/feel they are ready to settle down, and if the woman is prime child bearing age and wants kids it's an added pressure some men seemingly run away from....but the weirdly quite often you find they leave, get with a younger woman and have kids and get married-all the things they apparently weren't "ready" for 🤔🤨

Well, logically if we're saying somebody is attractive with or without hair it's probably the case that they're generally attractive. Most men with hair are average looking so it's a false equivalence to compare a hunk with a full head of hair to an Uncle Fester lookalike.

However, as above we have studies comparing the same men with and without hair and thousands of women voted that they looked more confident and dominant when bald. That's not my opinion, that's what thousands of women said.

Indeed they don’t. But the original post I quoted seemed to be saying that they fancy Jason Statham so baldness is attractive. When the reality is that most men do not age well whether they go bald or otherwise.

Exactly. Many a double chin has been hidden by a beard. I remember quite fancying this guy at my previous workplace. Bit of a dad bod, but in the true sense as opposed to just being a euphemism for being a bit fat - like when obese women describe themselves as 'curvy'.

He was an ex rugby player with a good shoulder/waist ratio and a tiny bit of a belly. Nice beard and rugged features. But then he randomly shaved the beard off and his face somehow looked a bit doughy with a small double chin that bunched up when he looked down. I didn't fancy him at all then! Thankfully, he grew it back sharpish.

I mean, speaking bluntly, there are plenty of white-haired men in their 50s/60s who seem to think nothing of hitting on me, a woman in her 30s (it was the same in my 20s). None of these men have been "naturally attractive" or charming, and I doubt they had much in the way of money or power. There is "always one" at just about every event/bar/party I go to, and it's usually an old(er) guy who doesn't stand a chance. You just don't really see this behaviour from women.

I seem to be generally considered an attractive woman, judging on the responses I get, but I get more direct approaches from genuinely old or otherwise unattractive men. There is plenty of staring from the younger and more attractive ones, and even some blushing on occasion, but it rarely goes further than that. Sexual confidence in men seems to be inversely proportional to attractiveness a lot of the time - or at least it is often unaffected by unattractiveness or unsuitability.

I'm not saying men can't be insecure - of course they can - but the extent of that pales in comparison to female insecurity. I mean, women make up approximately 87% of cosmetic surgery patients in recent years, which speaks for itself.

And I can't see many men having a chance with a beautiful young babe with a perfect body (to paraphrase one poster on this thread) and turning it down because they thought themselves too "old" and "saggy"! That sentiment has been expressed by several women on this thread. Men don't count themselves out anywhere near as much as women.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.independent.co.uk/life-style/men-body-weight-dysmorphia-epidemic-b2219275.html&ved=2ahUKEwjM5rDk8KiQAxUZd0EAHbLOB0EQFnoECGYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VSrtT6NqQ1c9e1glakH0c

This article is also revealing since it's about gay men : who typically seek both looks and status in a partner. Whereas straight men do have less pressure because women tend to value other qualities more, at least to some extent.

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/gay-loneliness/

Another example of a disturbing surgery on the rise :

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/nov/09/would-you-have-your-legs-broken-to-make-yourself-taller-the-men-who-go-through-hell-for-a-little-extra-height

No, that's not the full picture. A lot of incels do have genuine body image issues. Height is a common one, facial features another. That's where the whole 'looksmaxxing' and bodybuilding element comes in, trying to compensate for perceived shortcomings in appearance.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/feb/15/from-bone-smashing-to-chin-extensions-how-looksmaxxing-is-reshaping-young-mens-faces

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/magazine/teeth-mewing-incels.html&ved=2ahUKEwiomfrW36iQAxVERkEAHSF7K0YQFnoECDEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw02oLlkRFVUcbICmItpOHYl

The incels think they are v good looking and wonderful but nasty women won't have sex with them when they ask for it.

I'm not that convinced by this. The incel movement is an extreme example, but most men do have some concern about their appearance & sexual appeal. If your theory holds, why is male insecurity about height a thing? Why do so many men spend a fortune on hair replacements? Why do men try to gain muscle/bulk up (obviously partly for strength/exercise, but not only). And a more indelicate one : Why do so many men worry about penis size?

The men who have the kind of attitude you describe probably are naturally attractive and/or have power/money/charm etc so don't need to worry if their looks are poorer

Honestly, I'd just find a much younger man boring.

I think you had a lucky escape.💐

I guess it's up to us to keep shaming then....