Yes, men and women are different....thats not just biology though, is it!
We are all socialised to associate certain things with certain age/genders, some of it with not great origins.
For every woman whos marriage has lasted 30 years and is great, there's a woman who looks back and can see just how she was groomed.
For every woman who had a great fling and has fond memories and thinks she was totally in control, there's a woman who looks back and sees exactly why that man wasnt dating women his own age.
For every woman who thinks her maturity and independence is what attracted the older man, is a woman who recognises now that the maturity and independence is what made her such a good target.
If we think of it in terms of rape culture.
Men making little misogynistic jokes to make their friends laugh, contributes to rape culture. But they havnt raped anyone. But they dont make that joke in a vacuum.
Men 26 dating a 19 contributes to the culture where its normalised for men to date younger women, so 42 and 18, 21 and 14 etc. The 26 year old hasnt done anything wrong legally, but he also wasnt attracted to a 19 year old rather than a 26 year old in a vacuum.
I used to be on the fence until I realised that 99% of the time if you ask a woman who was 19 when she met her 26 year old husband if she would be happy with her 19 year old dating a 26 year old, they say 'well, thats different, I was mature for my age'
Every teenager thinks they are mature for their age. And sometimes these women say 'well i had a job and my own home, my 19 year old doesnt..' and this ignores the fact that you can have these things without emotional maturity, and that was very often the case 20 years for many reasons.
But in short, they are never really enthusiastic about their daughters doing the same and that speaks volumes...