Are you a man? If you were, and you were being completely honest, you would admit that you generally find 18 year olds more attractive (physically), than 51 year old women.

That's not to say that the character and personality of an older women can't win you over. It's not to say that intellectually, you wouldn't find the older woman more attractive. And it's definitely not to say that an actual relationship between an 18 year old girl and a 47 year old man would actually work (it would likely be a disaster).

But on a physical level, younger women (18-30) are (usually) more attractive. Everybody knows this is the case, but people prefer to lie to themselves and obscure the reality.

Women generally prefer men older than them. Just look at the types of men teenage girls swoon over. 16 year old girls often love male actors in the 25-30 age range. Do 16 year old boys swoon over women in the 25-30 age range? Not often.

Having said all that, I like this article. Men generally aren't aware that their fertility will also decline (although later than women's fertility). The idea that young women like men in their 40s and 50s is also generally untrue. I believe women tend to prefer men around 5-6 years old (don't quote me on that.)

Another important point, is that our culture hyper-focuses on youth and beauty in women. It's all across our social media feeds, porn sites, movies, online dating and music videos. This is where the socialisation comes in. When you constantly see women on screens that are incredibly beautiful, you begin to value physical appearance more highly than you would have done in the hunter-gatherer environment.

Why are there images of female youth and beauty everywhere? Patriarchy? NO. It's because female youth and beauty SELLS. It draws attention from men and draws envy from women. It's like a marketing cheat-code. And that's why you see it everywhere, not because of patriarchy (not everything you see in the world can be attributed to patriarchy, funnily enough).