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psychology
advice
Is it really inappropriate to ask a woman her age?
psychologyadvice
tynamite
Tatiana
I don't think women do ask men their age all the time. The reason is that we know if we ask we have to offer up our own age, so we prefer to avoid age related discussions entirely. I think you might be commenting on your own personal experience, but as you currently go to university you're in an environment where people already have a good idea what each other's age is and also it is less sensitive
tynamite
Me
There is a phrase that's called It's rude to ask a woman what her age is. There is no such equivalent phrase for men. It's the women who are more insecure about revealing their age than men are.
tynamite
Tatiana
Some people (myself included) think it is very hypocritical to tell somebody not to do something when you've just done it yourself, regardless of their gender.
tynamite
Me
I agree. But some people in this world act emotionally based on how they feel, instead of logic, when they feel stuff. Therefore they make inconsistent and unintended decisions.
tynamite
Lee
Adisa, I completely agree. It's a double standard. The best way I can explain it from a woman's perspective is that men age better than women. At least, that's been my experience from the countless people I've seen and know in my life. As women degrade over the years, older men become more distinguished with age. Not true of all men or all women but the majority. Look at couples and you'll see. Couples who have been together for a long time, it seems like the man is aging at half the speed of the woman and that can be a difficult thing. Women rely on their looks more than men do. It's just a fact of life. Men have other things they are more sensitive about like money and having a successful career. This sounds old fashioned but these ancient ideas are still very much around today. It's not fair but it's reality.
I suppose that asking for a woman's age is just another way to label her on what she looks like, but with men, that's not the case. Even if it was the case for men, they wouldn't mind.
When women say that it's inappropiate to ask them for their age, what they really mean is that they don't want to be judged purely on what they look like. The most perplexing word is objectified, What does that mean, and why exactly is that bad? Women live in a different world than men, like a parallel universe, and this question is something that us men will never get.