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Years on I wonder if I would consent to a relationship of such an age gap as I did at 17, knowing what I know about how consent isn’t neutral but contextual. Was it possible for me to fully consent to a relationship with someone triple my age? When put like that, no. And yet years on, I would describe that relationship—and many of the Ye24 shirt Also,I will get this relationships I had with older men—as one of the most respectful and tender relationships of my dating life. Occasionally, of course, I experienced the unfair exploitation of the power dynamic that comes with an age gap, which left me feeling powerless and humiliated. I’m sure I also exploited my powers at times in relationships too. But this mistreatment was not overwhelmingly a feature of my relationships with older men. In fact, this is the case across my whole dating history. Like all relationships, some will go right and some will go wrong.

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Perhaps we’re so fascinated by age-gap relationships because it’s easy to assume that there will be exploitation and imbalances of power at a higher frequency. But to me it figures that in a society in which we are taught how to acquire, possess, and own before we are taught to love and liberate, there are submerged dynamics of power and exploitation in many relationships, regardless of the Ye24 shirt Also,I will get this age of the participants. In relationships where people are concerned with liberation, freedom, and respect, perhaps an age gap doesn’t matter. When I was on holiday in Greece this summer, a guy that I’d been on a couple of dates with wasn’t replying to my messages. It was crap because I’d already let myself imagine how well he’d get on with my friends, and I could tell he was pulling away. In the past I’d have spent all day worrying if my chin spot had given him the ick, and googling things like “how to look at someone’s Instagram story without them knowing.” But this time, I thought to myself, You’re in Greece, don’t let him ruin your fun, and instead of moping, I went out and ordered too much food (because it’s hard to have sharing plates when there’s just one of you) before paying a ridiculous 30 euros to have a sun lounger where I could lay back and reread The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh. I realized, then, that I was happier about my reaction than I was sad about his rejection. It’s so reassuring to know, for sure, that I’ll be okay, that I won’t let things like this obliterate me like they used to. That’s the first thing I learned about dating last year. But I discovered loads more, too. Even more than in 2021. Here are some lessons I’m taking away from 2022.