What do you think of girls who go for younger guys?

When I was 16 I had my first date ever with a girl who was 2 years older than I was. I was a coward then and she was the one who asked me out. I never thought about the age difference but I do remember being awed at how she handled the waiters at the place we went: a cozy pizza parlor in the suburbs of Chicago where I went to school. I was wowed that she actually drove her mom's car like an expert.

In college when I was about 20 years old I remember going out with another older girl. I remember she said she was 23. I said cool and that was that. She had a job in real estate. Again there was nothing that caused me to think about the numbers gap and we had a great time.

But when I came back here I notice a distinct preference in men to go for younger women, or perhaps older women who looked young. Yesterday was the 2nd time this week that someone asked me why I'm going out with an older woman. Shirley my gf is in reality 2 years younger than I am. We are kinda like Spiderman and his girlfriend.

Ok, maybe Shirl dresses up more maturely but that's her own style whereas I'm less picky about my clothes. I'm used to being mistaken for someone in his late teens. I guess I should have seen it coming.

Anyway there seems to be this unwritten rule here that girls are supposed to go out with guys older than them. Why? What difference does a couple of years make or even 5 or 6 for that matter. I actually have a friend in New Jersey who dated a 25 year old woman when he was 16. He thought she was hot and she didn't mind and they dated for a while. They separated when he went on to college.

Personally age was never a criteria for me. I can understand why its not a good idea to be dating someone old enough to be your parent but not if they are just a few years apart. Or am I missing something here?