-Someone on here, in one of the threads, once said something about it ultimately being a good thing if the anti-age gap standard became so severe that it became untenable; people would have to see how unreasonable it was and rebel (I can't remember exactly what they said). I don't think I took it very seriously, at time, it might have seem far-fetched to me, but I think I'm coming around to that point of view, if I understand/remember them correctly (and this isn't to suggest that I think anti-age gap prejudice should be promoted in the hopes that it might eventually lead to this or that there's no other/better way).
-Most men, not all (not even all straight teleiophile men), prefer girls and women who appear to be in their reproductive years (as I've said a million times before, menarche is considered delayed if it hasn't occurred by 15, leaving aside precocious puberty it can occur as early as ten. The average girl has menarche at 12, although it's different for different racial/national groups and the average age has lowered over time due to less malnutrition and high-fat diets, I vaguely remember one study that put the latest figure at 11.9 for American girls. Typically a girl's periods will become more consistent and she will reach full sexual maturity within two years after menarche although I think the age at which menarche/spermarche would be considered delayed might be the least arbitrary standard for adulthood since there's a black and white difference between people who can reproduce and those who can't for age-related reasons. Menopause, which occurs when a woman has no more functioning eggs available and this ultimately leads to a virtual cessation of estrogen and progesterone production, is considered premature if it occurs before 40; only around 1% of women will hit menopause before 40, and early if it occurs before 45; only around 5% of women will hit menopause before 45. Only around 1% of women hit menopause after 60 and around 10% of women will hit menopause after 55, so most hit menopause between 45 through 54. Sorry for the overly long run-off point but to generalize and simplify things we can say that women's reproductive years are from 15 through 44, although women in their early 40s might be perimenopausal and pregnancy will be higher risk and harder to achieve at that age). No amount of cultural conditioning or social condemnation or moralizing negates this basic fact that is rooted in human biology. It seems to me that the taboo around men in their 40s, 50s, etc. expressing attraction to or interest in women in their 20s (and not even just those in their early 20s, even the ones in their late twenties and sometimes 30s) has gotten worse over the years or decades. I don't know if I have a skewed perception of things and most people wouldn't be critical of a 50-year-old man who wants to date a 25-year-old woman or if things have 'always' been this bad ('always' as in since, let's say, the 80s. I think the early 70s are sometimes considered the start of the 'modern modern' era and it's hard to imagine that people were as opposed to men in their 30s or 40s or older being with women in their 20s back then; even if it was taboo it's hard to believe that it hasn't gotten worse. The average 20-something-year old woman will probably personally prefer men in their 20s or 30s, I'm sure that's always been true, but that's not what I'm talking about).
-What I'm getting at is that if it's taboo for middle-aged men, or even those in their 30s, to express interest in younger women you are forbidding them from lusting after or crushing on most of the women they see in movies, tv shows, magazines, etc., most of the women who are presented as sex symbols in American pop culture. Depending on how old these men are, you're telling them that they're not allowed to be attracted to most of the women whom they're attracted to. Speaking intuitively (not in terms of ideals, logical consistency or right or wrong), it's a harder hit emotionally to be told that it's shameful to be attracted to women in their 20s because it's impossible to avoid them. It is very harsh (for me and I'm sure some other people feel the same way) to scold or reprimand someone for being attracted to teens but depending on your line of work you probably don't come across them that often, even most of the teens in tv shows and movies are played by people in their 20s. So it is harsh but you could soften it with, "Jesus, can't you just drool over the girls who are 18 and older, do you need to go that young," that won't help if you're madly in love with a specific teenage girl but if we're just talking about attraction there are other fish in the sea. Even the "it's okay after 25 because that's when the brain develops" line of reasoning is a little easier to deal with.
Can you imagine going your entire life constantly trying to guard against lustful thoughts or feelings of romantic affection for women who are forbidden fruit and never being free to at least semi-satisfy your desires via fantasy because you don't want to be perverted or creepy or exploitative and you just have no outlet for your sexuality in terms of fantasy because you've convinced yourself that attraction can be immoral, realistically I wouldn't be surprised if most of the middle-aged men who claim to be deeply disgusted at the idea of being with women in their early 20s fantasize about them regularly (I'm sure people lie in claiming to not be attracted to certain age groups just as they lie about not being attracted to racial out-group members or people they dislike or at odds with, etc. and insofar as that can help them to maintain a sense of dignity I don't even necessarily have a problem with it, I just wish that people would stop shaming other people for their attraction) but it can still be really psychologically damaging to have to keep that to yourself for fear of being shamed or humiliated for what is naturally a source of pleasure for you.
-There are some women in their 20s who are so shockingly attractive that you cannot be a heterosexual teleiophile man and not fantasize about them, unless you're suffering from depression, anxiety or some unbearable emotional distress or have no libido for that reason or as the result of various medical issues. You cannot realistically expect men to not sexualize them (this is obviously true about teenagers as well but, again, they're not most of the fish in the sea). They (the antis) are setting up this standard that is impossible to meet and I don't think they realize, tactically, what a long-term win this might be for the pro-MAP side. People could respond to this unrealistic/overly brutal standard by creating a more moderate compromise (e.g. 'how about 18 and up but no younger?") but it still has the potential to make average people much more sympathetic to true pedophiles and hebephiles (not that I really think of hebephilia or ephebophilia especially as meaningful categories) since they can now relate to being shamed for wanting something that would give them pleasure, not even for specific acts or 'fetishes' but for being attracted to certain people (who; not what, when, where or how). People often think in absolutes and it might be easier to just eliminate a standard than to compromise by modifying it. That people who will wave the lgbtq flag and talk about 'love is love' and removing some of the shame around female sexual liberation (not that feminists necessarily support this to begin with but they're not likely to shame women when they are promiscuous or 'allow men to degrade them') will turn around and demonize male sexuality (which is what so much, if not all, of the anti-age gap stigma is ultimately rooted in, arguably even when women are being shamed; as much as I don't want to take a page out of the feminist handbook by claiming that "what appears to be discrimination against you is really all about me, as usual)" or critique older men for either being attracted to or preferring significantly younger women as though it were their choice is something I will never be able to wrap my mind around (what is so special about homosexuals? What about incestuous relationships? What about the girl who falls in love with the bad guy, or the 'Nazi,' as much as she hates what he does or some of his beliefs? I've never understood why they are the 'it' group when it comes to forbidden or misunderstood love or why it is only in regards to homosexuality that we start talking about 'love is love' and 'attraction is perfectly healthy and natural,' etc. I DON'T GET IT). I mean no disrespect to individual people, anyone (feminist, Trump support, hardcore leftist, alt-right white nationalist, anarchist, BLM critical race theorist, ) can have a good heart (their ideas might contradict that but people are complicated) but I am never, ever going to see myself as a 'liberal guy.'
Things getting worse before they get better, because they got worse
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