Big Age Gaps should not be romanticized
Especially when one partner is a minor, big age gaps should not be normalized in film and book tropes, even more so in real life.
They say age doesn’t matter, but it could let you go to jail.
Big age gaps have been seen in movie and book tropes for a while now. Lolita and My Teacher are among those that openly tackle this subject. However, this “trope” doesn’t only happen or end in fiction. In fact, real-life famous celebrities even go beyond the screens and date partners beyond their years.
It is sadly not a new thing for couples with big age gaps to come out and what’s even sadder is how society just comes to terms with it in the long run. It even got to a point where this type of relationship has become so normalized that some actors think they can get away with it.
Like Leonardo DiCaprio. It is not even a surprise at this point that Leo has a preference for dating women who are no older than 25. Late last year, the Titanic star broke up with his girlfriend for four years Camila Morrone as she turned 25.
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After their split, he’s been linked to model Gigi Hadid, whom he has just been reported to have split up with. Gigi is already 27, so the Internet joked she was above his age limit.
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Following that rumor, he was linked to 23-year-old Victoria Lamas and more recently 19-year-old model Eden Polani.
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Although sources claim that Leo was not dating Polani and that there was no confirmation of the rumors between him and Victoria, the Internet says “enough with jokes and call Leo’s behavior out for what it is: predatory.”
The Internet also pointed out how weird Leonardo is for dating girls who are much younger than him, wondering what he could possibly have in common with them. Some of them have not even been born yet when his hit movie ‘Titanic’ came out.
After the photo between him and Eden circulated, the Internet immediately dug up similar age gaps. One of which was ‘The Last of Us‘ stars Pedro Pascal (47) and Bella Ramsey (19) who play a seemingly father-daughter duo in the series.
realized something about THAT age gap pic.twitter.com/kqikZCkot6
— simone! (@parasocialyte) February 7, 2023
Locally, a celebrity couple brought to the spotlight for their big age gap is Maris Racal and Rico Blanco that have a 25-year age gap. While Rico and Maris both got into their relationship as consenting adults with something in common as the pair are musicians, hence why the Internet is giving them support, the same could not be said for Freddie Aguilar who dated a 16-year-old, and the couple that made so much noise with their reveal, Bugoy Cariño and Ej Laure who have a child together and was suspected to start dating when Bugoy was still a minor while Ej was already of age.
It is one thing to date someone with a bigger age gap, but a whole different story when the other party is a minor because it is illegal and could actually be a case of grooming.
Age gaps can affect relationships in more ways than one. Physical differences are not the only things to consider, but emotional and psychological differences too. The difference in emotional maturity, for example, could cause the more mature partner heavier emotional load as said in an article by Psych Central.
Partners with big age gaps also could have a difference in priorities as said by PyschPoint co-founder and mental health counselor, GinaMarie Guarino. Another thing to consider could be the earlier passing of the older partner.
Research also backs up the higher divorce rate between couples with larger age gaps mentioning that long-term satisfaction level also gets affected as the age gap between partners increases.
“Age is just a number” shouldn’t always be applied in all situations, and this includes starting relationships with minors. It may be true that anyone should love whom they want, but when a relationship may potentially cause harm and trauma for being toxic and predatory, then that really should not be normalized and more importantly romanticized.
banner by: @justdrawrin
The post <b> Big Age Gaps should not be romanticized </b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.
Source: we the pvblic
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