Meghan Murphy@MeghanEMurphy
While I think there are many reasons young men might be into older women, I also think it's actually not that deep... They like and are attracted to older women, and older women like and are attracted back...
The reasons behind the attraction are both superficial (older women no longer look "old" in the way they once did, thanks to better skincare regimes and knowledge about self-care—i.e. lifting weights, proper nutrition, hydration, etc.), that is to say, men are attracted to attractive women regardless of age and regardless of what the manosphere claims about a "wall" that really does not exist, as well as it being vibes/personality-oriented.
Older women are more comfortable with themselves, more straight-up, easier to talk to, have healthier boundaries, are less insecure and needy, and are probably going to be less high-maintenance. They know how to take care of themselves and already have fulfilling lives they like, so aren't looking for a man to fill some kind of gaping hole within (or without). They probably just want someone who can add to an already full and content life in a fun and chill way.
Young women do tend to be more insecure, higher anxiety, more needy, higher drama, more superficial, and more high-maintenance, which are not necessarily very attractive qualities.
(This isn't intended to be a dis towards young women, it's just a reality I've experienced and observed having been both a woman in her 20s and her 40s.)
Moreover, young men are dealing with a generation of young women who are angry at the world (and at "white men" and "patriarchy" specifically), full of anxiety and have fully absorbed a politic shaped by social media nonsense. "Men are shit" is a common refrain from younger women and really do seem to believe that they can't be around—never mind date—anyone who doesn't share their beliefs and politics, which they believe are 100% correct.
Inevitably the more "based" young man is going to be viewed as "bad" by this iteration of young women.
Also, frankly, the sexual compatibility between a younger man and older woman is likely to be more satisfying on both ends on account of the sexual comfort and experience of older women, which young women, especially those who grew up online, in a porn culture (which, despite appearances, is actually very anti-sex, and does nothing to teach young women about healthy sexuality or sexual enjoyment, but is probably more likely to traumatize them and turn them off of sex), don't have.
I have seen endless cope in response to discussions of this reality and trend, likely in part from people who simply haven't experienced it because they aren't out in the world experiencing it and are just reading about it online, so for them it just doesn't parse with the side-narratives they're being fed on the internet, and then of course from men who are working hard to ensure young women fear ageing past 25, so they settle for dickheads and losers lest they become lonely, useless, invisible "cat ladies," as they've been informed they will by a bunch of embittered incels and manosphere geeks.
I'm unconvinced this trend is going to cause some kind of crisis wherein young men straight up stop pursuing or being interested in women their own age, but I do think that if young people in general don't get offline and out into the real world, they are going to miss out on all the fun and joy of being human, which includes meeting and flirting with and dating one another.
If men are afraid to approach young women because they act like assholes in response and young women can't have normal conversations with men their own age without politicizing everything, that is going to be a problem, just as men who decide to spend all their time online, watching manosphere streamers and gooning will be a problem.
Meanwhile, those of us who are still out and about, active in the real world, are going to continue having a fun time and the bitter internet people can stay mad about it ✌️