I do like older men..but not much older. I am 29 now, but I think 45ish would be my limit.

The 14 year gap itself isn't a problem for me, it's the age of the youngest party.
I would have no problem with a 30 year old and a 44 year old dating. But 18 and 32 seems like a bigger gap, mainly because of the emotional maturity and stages in life they are both in.

i was 19 and a guy i was dating 35

I've been with my fiance for a couple years and we are 20 years apart.

it depends on how mature they are. Age doesnt matter

it depends on the people. when I was 18 I dated a 25 year old man. I honestly was just a girl still who wasn't sure of what I wanted and he was a man who had an idea of what he wanted. we were together for 4 years. It ended badly. I wasnt ready for the house, kids and marriage he was.

don't care about what people think!

To each his own, but I personally wouldn't be at all comfortable with that.

Each to their own on this. What should matter is she happy. Yes she shouldn't allow him to be a dick to you cuz you are her friend.

Not a problem by me. It's situational, sometimes those relationships are okay, most of the time they don't work out.

It's really hard to say...the biggest problem for me would be just being in such different points in their lives, you know? If she's emotionally mature enough, and knows what she's possible getting into, then all systems go...I guess!

Big age gaps can be okay...but the part about him being mean to you is concerning. If a partner is ever mean to my friends I take that as a huge warning sign. My best friends are for life; lovers come and go.

There would be some seeerious judgement there and if it didn't work out, some potentials might have been scared away

For a relationship? I have my doubts. Even if you were the most mature 18 year old in the world, you still probably haven't had the life experiences that you'd have as someone in their 30s--I'd worry (or at least, be on guard) that it would be easy for an 18 year old to be taken advantage of, if the guy is a creep. Also, you have to wonder about a 32 year old who wants to hang around with an 18 year old--maybe she's incredibly mature and they click really well, but unfortunately, there are a lot of guys who hang around with much younger women and take advantage of their lack of life experiences, the type of experiences that make you wiser, and end up using and taking advantage of them. Those guys ruin it for everyone.

It happened to me...I had a relationship with a man 17 years my senior, when I was 24 and he was 40. It...did not end well, and the age did play a significant role in it.

Now I'm with a guy ten years older than me and it's been wonderful. I do go for older guys, but...sometimes the age gap can be a negative thing. But it also depends on the age of the people involved--a 14 year age gap, like with your friend and her boyfriend, wouldn't make me raise my eyebrows if she were say, 30 and he was 44. It's the fact that she's 18 that makes me worry. Most 18 year olds are still figuring their lives out, still have a lot of growing to do...18 is still high school age, after all. Just something to think about...

Im ok with it

i think it's mostly a problem of holding back the younger person . like, it's nice to be with someone who can navigate your twenties with you.

As long as the people involved are mature and legal, that's all that matters.
My wife is 25 years older than me. I was 22 when we met. I'm an old 20 something, and she's a young 50-something. we meet in the middle.
there are a lot of people that do make age-gaps looks bad. those with mommy/daddy issues that don't explore them in a safe and open manner, and golddiggers are among those that give it a bad look.
being open to love is wonderful.

I think it really depends on the situation and the maturity of the people involved.

I don't have a problem with i (I was 18 dating someone 27). But it probably won't work...unless she's mature. However, I wish her luck and I hope things work out. Age is just a number.

I think it's a little odd when someone is old enough to be their partner's parent. But it's not my life, not my relationship, not my place to judge.

of course it depends on the people in question...but that is a pretty large age gap. That kind of thing gets gossiped about, and makes people wary, so it's hard to have lots of mutual friends (not to mention families who are okay with it).

Age does not matter most of the time, I don't see anything
wrong with this..

Such a wide variety of answers... I feel like my opinion falls in the middle here. Lots of people feel strongly one way or the other, but personally I feel it's a bit naive to say that age never plays a role in a relationship. Likewise, it also seems terribly unfair to say; "That'll never work!" Obviously, it can, and does, sometimes. Another important thing to note is how many people here said; "I WAS an 18/19 year old dating an older man." As in, not any more. Some people have success stories, but not all do.

I agree that the maturity of the two people is the most important thing to take into account. I'm going to be really blunt here: I don't think most 18 year olds are mature enough to be with an older guy. At 18, I certainly wasn't. And sometimes it's in very surprising ways: I don't necessarily mean to say that I was a horribly immature person, just that a few years (especially in that time zone) can make a huge difference. Even the change in maturity from high school to college and from your first year of college to your second is HUGE. I started college at 15 and after a year, I hardly wanted to talk to my friends from high school any more. By the time I was a junior in college, they were just becoming freshmen and I thought on a daily basis; "Are you guys really doing this? Come on..." And of course, although I don't feel as mature as some of the seniors I know personally, most of the seniors I know have a very different level of maturity from other students in college. People I know who have lived on their own have an even more developed level of maturity (although not all of them do). In the end, I think it's possible, but it's not advisable. Maybe he is the one... But more than likely he's not. Besides, what's a 35 year old man doing with an 18 year old girl anyways? I'm thinking that's a bad call on HIS part more than hers.

Kind of skeeves me out.