CELEBRITY CULTURE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Not only can you look to TV or movies to see ‘inappropriate relationships’ depicted. You can also find evidence of ‘questionable’ age-gap relationships in celebrity culture.

Growing up we saw questionable age-gap relationships that weren’t always questioned at the time : such as Kylie Jenner and Tyga, Fergie and Justin Timberlake’s brief dating history, Wilmer Valderrama and Demi Lovato.

During their relationships nobody questioned the age gap but as the years have passed people have begun to question age gap relationships with questions such as “what is a questionable age-gap?” Or “Is it appropriate to have age gaps in relationships?”

An honourable age-gap relationship that some people don't always recognised is Jay Z and Beyonce. They have a twelve- year age-gap and I believe the reason that people are unaware is due to the lack of reporting on it, but also don't last as long as someone in the same age bracket. They have been together for twenty years and three children.

According to a study conducted by Emory Atlanta University which found that age-gap relationships that had a difference of "five years had an 18% chance of splitting up" and the wider the age gap the higher the chance of them splitting up.

Social media can also incredibly detrimental to shaping public opinion. If all of your favourite influencers and celebrities are in these age-gap relationships and posting that to young and impressionable fans, it poses the question of whether or not it is a good idea to pursue relationships with age differences.

Many age-gap relationships with an older man was accepted during the time Beyonce and Jay-z got together also. It was almost popularised in the nineties for younger women to seek relationships with older men. Journalist Lape Olarinoye explains more here about stereotypes regarding age-gap relationship acceptance from then to now.

Another reason why we might question the nature and the difference in their ages was due to the lack of disapproval from friends and family. Khloe Kardashian the older sister of Kylie Jenner once defended the relationship said that her younger sister wasn't a "normal seventeen year old" and that at sixteen she was probably partaking in sexual relations with men similar ages to Tyga.

Having this sort of public encouragement of inappropriate relationships can be especially damaging for young impressionable minds. As this sort of language by people with influence and a young fan base could conjure the beginning of age-gap relationships that may bleed into the area of illegal as well as inappropriate.

However, it is important to highlight both sides of the spectrum. In the photo we have an eighteen year old Aaron Johnson and a fourty-two year old Sam Taylor shortly before they announced their relationship. They didn't receive as much hate in the early years of their relationship. But as of recently people have been directing hate towards Sam, referring to her as a "grandma" , a "predator" due to their 23 year difference in age as well as claiming that Aaron is a "victim" of grooming. He has denied all claims of this.

TikTok has seen a rise in discontent among those in age-gap relationships where they question the origin of these age-gap relationships and whether something far more morbid led to the communion. Relationships such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife Sam have seen backlash from teen fans of the male actor pointing out that they have smaller age gaps with him than he does with his wife. The couple met when Sam directed the movie “nowhere boy” and Aaron starred in it at seventeen. Fans are referring to Sam as “granny”, “hag” and “she’s too old to handle him” among other derogatory languages, but would this be the same if a man had the same age gap?

PRINT MEDIA 

Society has developed dangerous and unpleasant stereotypes for women seeking older or younger romantic relationships. This can be seen through the language that is used by print media.

Stereotypes such as ‘sugar babies’, ‘gold diggers’ and ‘trophy wives’, are commonly used when referring to younger women and even ‘jail bait’ has been used when referring to younger women in age-gap relationships. Women who date older are usually referred to as ‘cougars’, ‘she’s going through a midlife crisis’, and that she may be trying to chase "her youth".

This isn’t to say that men do not get called negative things when dating older or younger. It is just less likely to be as vocal in print media.

Two newspapers I will be discussing and comparing specifically is

THE INDEPENDENT V THE SUN 

Comparing The Independent’s to The Sun you can see that even though they have completely different target audiences and reading ages. The language that they use when discussing women especially those in age-gap relationships is bordering on derogatory and is shaping an opinion that one way is right and one is wrong.

The Sun tends to write stories from an everyday person's perspective and is commonly known as a “gossip mag” and that is reflected in the content that they produce, they have an agony aunt column that features some stories surrounding age-gap relationships. A lot of their content is influenced by their target audience.

Whereas The Independent writes to appease a far more older and educated audience. With content around politics, sports , travel and more.

The thing these two newspapers have in common;The language that they use when discussing women especially those in age-gap relationships is bordering on derogatory and is shaping an opinion that one way is right and one is wrong.

I spoke with Journalist Lape Olarinoye about print media's encouragement of stereotypes and mocking of women in age-gap relationships, especially those seeking younger companionship. You can listen here (1:45-2:08).

Comparing the language used when speaking about age-gap relationships , The independent uses language that makes the reader question the intention of age-gap relationships , similarly to what Lape was saying this sort of language conditions society to view things in only one way.

Using words such as "defending", or the emphasis on not being "too old" when speaking about men being with younger women. By using this language they are infantilising the situation and making it seem that the male is far more innocent in the relationship.

but using stereotypes such as "cougars", "toy boys" to describe women in relationships with younger men encourages the narrative that they are acting in a predatory way. Posing the man in the situation as the child in the relationship with the use of 'boy'.

Whereas The Sun's language when speaking about age-gap relationships is far more "in your face". When discussing women in age-gap relationships with younger men, the age is always highlighted "old enough to be his mum", " similar age to my children", my partner is always "mistaken for my son".

There is also the whole "daddy" and "mummy" issue stereotype. The stereotype insists those who date older must have parental issues and are curing them by dating older.

This was addressed in an article by The Independent when speaking about Hilaria and Alec Baldwin's relationship the headline was "sometimes I am his Mommy" , which was obviously supposed to be played off as a joke , but actually plays into very twisted power dynamic by insinuating that he is her father the majority of the time. As well as sexualising something that is meant to be pure.