No One Over 30

The guy on the left is 18.
The guy on the right is 38.

Which would you rather invite home for a hookup?  Or, assuming similar personalities, a date?




The answer is obvious, yet a surprising number of gay men would reject the 38 year old out of hand.

They specify on their dating app profiles:

No one over 30
Legal age to 30 only
Under 30 only

Ok, if you're 20 years old yourself, you might want to limit your dating to someone with shared cultural references  and life experiences -- it's hard to discuss the problems of your first job with someone nearing retirement!  But for hookups, what difference does it make?

Besides, the vast majority of 20 year olds are fine with older guys, or even prefer them.  The under 30 only provisos come almost entirely from men who haven't been inside a twink bar since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Why such a bizarre age restriction?






Sometimes I suspect that when they say under 30 only, what they mean is:

If they're not fishing for kids, why are they limiting themselves to the 24% of the adult population that is aged 18-29?

Do they think they will have better luck with someone young and inexperienced?

Do they think that everyone aged 18-29 is gorgeous, no exceptions, and everyone over 30 is hideous, no exceptions?

Do they break up with their boyfriends on their 30th birthday?

What if they meet someone in a bar?  Can they tell instinctively, or do they have to check id?

And why bother?  Most gay men over 40 get approached by twinks all the time anyway.  Why specify it in your profile.

I shouldn't care if you have a ludicrous, bizarre requirement that cuts you off from 75% of the adult male population.  There are plenty of twinks to go around.

But one of these days I would like to go out with a guy and NOT have everyone assume that we are father and son.

See also: How to Avoid Being a Creepy Old Guy; and A Week of Hookups and Dates with Older Guys