On Mother’s day, 47-year-old Empire star, Taraji P. Henson got engaged to her ex-NFL player boyfriend, Kelvin Hayden, who is 34 years old. The superstar took to Instagram to announce the exciting news, and revealed that she reportedly cried so hard, her lashes fell off! The pair had been dating for two years prior to the engagement.
Taraji is one of several African-American celebrities in Hollywood, who seem to be opting for dating and/or marrying younger men. Fellow actress and now bestselling author, Gabrielle Union, 45, also married her significantly younger heartthrob, 36-year-old basketball champion, Dwayne Wade, and they seem to equally be going strong considering they dated for 9 years and have been married for roughly 4 years.
Well like Aaliyah said, “Age ain’t nothing but a number” right?
What are some perks that come with dating a younger man, if at all any?
We’ve compiled a list of some below and we’ll let you be the judge!
Refreshing perspective
The older you get, the more your belief systems are formed. Dating a younger man might help with looking at life through brand new lens and this isn’t always such a bad thing. In fact, it might help you grow and get you out of your comfort zone in ways that you never knew could be possible.
He will absolutely adore you
I can’t help but think of Mommager-in-Chief, Kris Jenner and now ex-boyfriend (stay with me here), Corey Gamble. Whenever I watched them relate to each other on their hit-reality TV series, Keeping up with the Kardashians, it always seemed like he almost looked up to her. It turns out that this is a major perk of dating a younger man as chances are, you’ve treaded the path they will only later walk through and you’ve had more life experiences than they have. Similar to a mentor-mentee relationship, there’s a sense of adulation that naturally flows as a result.
They’ll make you feel young
This is perhaps the most obvious benefit that comes with dating a younger man. When you’re much older, sometimes, you’re looking to still feel young and get involved in activities that make you feel alive and healthy. Older men are less likely to feel the need to experiment and become adventurous as they’re probably stuck in their ways and have already been there, done that. It goes without saying that a younger person’s lifestyle might be more refreshing and fun.
You’re taken back to the roots of love
Discarding societal norms by dating a younger man can be so liberating and also force you to focus on the parts of the relationship that truly matter, such as how he treats you and makes you feel.
He’s more optimistic about love
An older man has probably been through failed relationships, marriage(s), or even worse, the death of a partner. As a result, he is less excited about love or the possibility of romance. On the contrary, a younger man has had less negative experiences from which to feed off so it makes sense that he’s more positive about the possibility of a relationship that he isn’t automatically thinking about the prospect of it failing and may be even more prone to putting in the necessary work as a result of his mindset.
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There you have it! Would you consider dating a younger lad or is it a big no-no for you?
