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"I think one of the most surprising things we found in our study was that most older women still feel the same societal pressures about pairing with a younger man that were evident in studies conducted more than 30 years ago," says Caron, professor of family relations and human sexuality at the University of Maine.
While she says the world seems slightly more accepting of a younger man falling for an older gal, the image of the older woman as the wayward seductress—or in Hollywood terms, "Mrs. Robinson"—still prevails.
"Pretty much all the couples in our study cautioned that you have to be prepared to deal with the social stigmas, because they are still here, and they can be particularly cruel to women," says Caron.
So considering relationship waters are already pretty hard to navigate, even without societal pressures, what's the attraction? The answers might surprise you.
