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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it acceptable to say another women is more attractive because she’s younger?

139 replies

Pluto5 · 08/03/2026 20:32

After a year and a bit of OLD after losing my husband of 20 years I’ve had enough. I’ve met one full on narc, one womaniser, one very socially introverted and the other still in love with his ex. Plus not to mention about 50 more that have wasted my time texting just to fizzle.

so I went on Chat GPT and it told me to detox from all men for minimum of 6 weeks. Block all ex’s and dating apps. Apps had been deleted since October anyway. I’d just started and an American man added me as a friend on Instagram he’s 32 I’m 41. We’d been commenting on the same post. He described himself as very chilled out and nonchalant. Texts every day for a month but at times it’s been a bit slow or long I In-between due to time difference. Lately we started phoning each other most days, he has talked about having a fair few ex’s but has never lived with anyone, he lives with his mum and brother as rent is expensive. He’s says it’s his fault all previous relationships have ended as he didn’t prioritise the women’s needs. This was so refreshing compared to men here. If there is a pause in text time he will explain where he’s been and apologise.

he mentioned a few of his ex’s were Asian . So to cut a massive long story short, I’ve tried to end it a few times as I keep thinking logically where would-it go? I have 4 kids here 3 teenagers, I’m in my last year of nursing school. He has twice said I wish you all the best if you don’t think it will work I’m not going to convince you if your mind is made up but I’ve expressed that I think it could.

he’s also said a few times that he hopes I’m attractive to him. Plus he gushes if I say I’m starting to miss it when we don’t speak. We have a lot of jokey banter.

last night after a 3 hour phone call I said he was very cute and he said “ my looks?” I said no your personality but yes obviously I do think you’re good looking. I don't think he’s anything special I’d say a 5/6 at most but I like his personality. Then I flipped it and said “do you think I’m cute as you’ve never said”. So he phones me and said “ do I think you’re cute?” Then he said let me think about it, then he said mmmmm yes for a 41 year old but not compared to a 27 year old. I was gobsmacked, I asked what he meant and said I get loads of attention and he said yes what do men say? You’re attractive or you’re attractive for your age? He said everyone knows a women’s prime is in her 20s you can’t expect to compete. I didn’t try to compete. He said my body and long blonde hair would bump me up when I’m out that’s why I’d get attention. But he said if you looked at the face of a 24 year old and yours hers would be bette. He said if he was out with me, people would say I was attractive for my age but would say she’s 9 years older. He said if he was out with a 27 year old they would just say he was out with a 10 🤦‍♀️

every conversation is pretty much a debate. He said to me the other day that all parents have a favourite kid. When I said I don’t he said I was lying. He hasn’t got kids so he can’t know. He said from what other people have told him and what he sees he believes it’s true.

I messaged him this morning to say I was deeply offended and he said he understood and he was sorry he made me feel like that. I said that doesn’t really help to put my mind at rest. I said you could have just said I’m attractive but why the comparison and I said I just worry that he thinks I’m too old for him and every year I’d have an expiry date. He said he never said that ever but will let me think what I like.

I then left him a voice note saying I know he is a bit emotionally guarded and doesn’t like showing vunerabikity but sometimes I need reassurance especially when you’ve insulted me. I said if you message or ring me I’ll take it you want to build something still if you don’t then it’s a no. He’s had me on read for 4 hours. I’m really upset how that all turned so fast.

that was not a normal response from him was it? The more I think about it the weirder it goes. He’s also said he has no trouble cutting people off as he doesn’t feel stuff or even if he does he can still just walk away. Is this avoident behaviour? .

OP posts:
Stillsmellingit · 09/03/2026 16:42

He was chasing you, got you hanging on by a string and then decided to put you in your place, so to speak, by putting you down, insinuating that you shouldn't wear a bikini and that you're not all that. Also being argumentative by needing to be right or believing he's always right is a big red flag telling you that he's controlling and manipulative. All of it screams insecure and immature. Don't waste your energy giving him another thought.

MxCactus · 09/03/2026 17:05

Duckiewasthefirstniceguy · 09/03/2026 16:21

Actually, I’m going to give this a go, as this thread is really irritating me.

OP, no sane person answers ‘do you think I’m cute?’ by launching into a comparative ranking exercise about how a 27 year old face would beat a 41 year old face. Even if someone privately thinks younger people are generally more attractive, you simply do not say that to the person you’re flirting with. It is rude, tactless and socially bizarre. His little lecture about women being in their ‘prime’ in their twenties just makes it worse. That is the sort of thing you might hear from a terminally online incel on Reddit, not from someone attempting to charm a woman.

But your reaction to it is also very strange. You keep trying to prove that you’re attractive. The screenshots of men messaging you, the repeated references to how much attention you get, the insistence that you look younger than 41 are all desperate and completely irrelevant. The issue is not whether you are objectively attractive or whether you look young, it’s that a man you were speaking to thought it was appropriate to compare you unfavourably to hypothetical women in their twenties. You do not need to present evidence to establish that this was rude.

This is an extraordinary amount of emotional energy here for a four-week Instagram acquaintance with a man you have never met, who lives on another continent, lives with his mother, and with whom there was no realistic future. Three-hour calls, bikini photos, voice notes asking him to reassure you, sending him memes before blocking him.

The correct, emotionally healthy, rational response was to think ‘what a weird thing to say’ and disengage. Instead you’re telling us about how you look 30 and how many men are in your inbox.

Therapy. Therapy. Therapy.

100% agree with this post

JoyfulSpring · 09/03/2026 17:24

I can smell the desperation from here...
Like a 32 year old man in a other country is going to be interested in a woman in her 40s with teenage kids and a 7 year old. You were both killing time talking to one another. Just get over it and move on.

MmeWorthington · 09/03/2026 18:16

Post a pic OP, so that we can assure you that you really are ‘cute’ and look like a 30 yo.

Hopefully that will repair your self esteem enough for you to kick this guy to the kerb.

oceanblue1 · 09/03/2026 18:25

Pluto5 · 08/03/2026 21:24

He’s not that fit, I said a 5/6 max, it was the conversation I liked. He is real we FaceTimed and spoke for hours/weeks

Even if he genuinely thought you were only good-looking "for your age", only a socially inept idiot would actually SAY that to you. I'd move on. If it was his conversation you liked, you're already proving you're much less superficial than he is and deserve someone who views women for more than just their age.

ThatCyanCat · 09/03/2026 18:51

Pluto5 · 09/03/2026 16:19

I am into my looks always have been, wouldn’t say vain but it is important to look good. So yes it does offend me if someone doesn’t think I’m attractive. I get not everyone will find everyone attractive but when it’s someone you are seeing I thought they are supposed to.

I can find many men attractive but the minute they open their mouth or convo doesn’t hit that attraction will go same the other way around, men I wouldn’t necessarily find attractive straight away can grow on me through banter etc. a bit like the American, I liked his personality so it made him more attractive. Well until Saturday night 😂

So yes it does offend me if someone doesn’t think I’m attractive. I get not everyone will find everyone attractive

One of these statements is not like the other.

but when it’s someone you are seeing I thought they are supposed to.

It's called "negging", OP, and it's working on you beyond an incel's wildest dreams. I don't mean to be rude, but you're in your 40s... even if your looks are important to you, you really should have developed a stronger internal sense of self by now not to be obsessing like this over a total nugget who lives in America with his mum (have you even met?). This is beyond adolescent. I'm exhausted just reading it.

You honestly need to sort this out. It's madness.

oceanblue1 · 09/03/2026 19:39

Also OP, you mentioned this guy was Muslim. They do tend to have different cultural expectations and norms and are more hyper-focused on youth IMO. Women in Muslim cultures are less likely to have careers outside the home or as much independence, so they are valued more when they are at peak childbearing years. If he prefers a younger woman though, why isn't he with one? Sounds like he's a timewaster....

StephensLass1977 · 09/03/2026 20:23

God, read this back, will you!

He's said you're no longer in your prime, that younger women will always trump you, that you're only noticeable because of your hair, he picks fights with you, he's tried to end it with you, and he's called you a liar. What, exactly, is happening here?

Middleagedspreadisreal · 09/03/2026 20:30

You sound desperate

Lolalady · 10/03/2026 10:16

I sympathise with you OP however I know from experience that online dating is a minefield. I thought I was very much a “woman of the world” but I never realised how many weird men are out there!!!

Put this experience behind you and move on. You deserve better

Gossipisgood · 10/03/2026 10:42

He sounds a right Prick. Block him & move on. He doesn't care how he's made you feel so don't waste your time on him.

Barbarella73 · 11/03/2026 09:55

Pluto5 · 09/03/2026 16:19

I am into my looks always have been, wouldn’t say vain but it is important to look good. So yes it does offend me if someone doesn’t think I’m attractive. I get not everyone will find everyone attractive but when it’s someone you are seeing I thought they are supposed to.

I can find many men attractive but the minute they open their mouth or convo doesn’t hit that attraction will go same the other way around, men I wouldn’t necessarily find attractive straight away can grow on me through banter etc. a bit like the American, I liked his personality so it made him more attractive. Well until Saturday night 😂

‘someone you are seeing’ - that’s a real stretch OP 😂

icouldholditwithacobweb · 11/03/2026 10:47

You sound like you're lonely and fantasising about having someone who cares about you. That's why you're putting so much weight on a few conversations with some dickhead who still lives with his mummy (at 32!!) because "rent is expensive". Did you honestly think anything was ever going to happen? He lives in another country across an ocean and can't afford to move out let alone fly to see you once, never mind any meaningful number of times. There's nothing there. Never was, never will be. Only wishful thinking and hopeful delusions.

Sorry to sound harsh, but maybe you need to hear this. Stop kidding yourself about some guy who talks a good game before flipping it on you, let the manbaby go and find a fuckbuddy who lives near you who can show you a good time and who you can ditch without remorse if he isn't fun to spend time with.

oceanblue1 · 11/03/2026 13:18

Even if this guy wasn't a total narc, there are other issues too...

  • He lives with his mum, which probably means he's broke. Who would pay for a flight for the two of you to meet each other? Sounds like you would be footing the bill. For a guy who already proved himself unworthy.
  • He doesn't have children and may want to start a family, whereas you already have grown up kids, so you're at different life stages. That doesn't bode well for a serious relationship and if you only want a casual one, it doesn't justify all the travelling one or both of you would need to do.
  • He sounds very immature for his age, ranking women's looks in a childish way.
I would block him tbh.
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