Do you know why older men prefer younger wives?

Miss Finder –The Journo, tries to find answers:

If we look at the marriages world over, probably we will find that most of the marriages happen where men are comparatively older than their wives. This has become the most normal phenomenon! But here the point of discussion is a bit different –why older men (say fifty plus or higher) prefer much younger wives (say with an age difference of twenty or thirty plus or even more)? There are many well known relationships of the kind, such as Tony Curtis (82), and Jill Vandenburg (40), Michael Douglas (63), and Catherine Zeta Jones (38), or the late Anna Nicole Smith who married an ailing 89-year-old oil tycoon when she was only 26.

Is it culture, genetics or the environment which drives such a choice? A latest research shows that, at least for the Sami people of pre-industrial Finland, men should marry a woman almost 15 years their junior to maximize their chances of having the most offspring that survive.

Men with an eye for younger ladies, and women, who prefer a more mature man, are not just obeying cultural stereotypes: both have evolved to appreciate an age gap when it comes to sex and marriage -researchers have found in another study in Austria, sometime back. According to the research, natural selection has driven each gender's age preferences in mutually compatible ways. The explanation given is that men have a preference for partners who are visibly fertile, which is enhanced by youth, while women seek resources and status, which tend to increase with a man's age.

Researches always have their own findings! But off the records, when men, justify this mating pattern as some kind of an evolutionary sway that they have no control over -doesn’t that seem more like the fantasy of a group of old men wishing to shrug off their sexual greed for not being able to keep their tools in their pants for the more desirous and hotter younger babes? At least that’s how one of my colleagues puts it –“men of all ages are suckers for the young female aesthetics”.

Well! On a different perspective, it could also be that men mate with younger women because they struggle with the realities of growing old, and by mating with younger women they feel, however speciously, that they are still young!

Or, could I say that men always like to boss relationships and the younger the woman is, the easier it is!

And, how could you dump this logic that a young hot and beautiful wife is for many wealthy men a status symbol like a Ferrari or a Lear Jet which gives them a macho image of power and potency in their social and professional lives?

Well, well, well! Discussions debates and probabilities never cease to end! But, love never justifies any logic! It just happens! You never calculate the age difference before falling for someone. And if you do, it’s pure mathematics, not love! What do you say guys?

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• Do you know why women are marrying younger men?
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Do you know why Taj Mahal was built?

Prof. Know Why answers:

Taj Mahal -the spectacular mausoleum, located on the right bank of river Yamuna in Agra, India, is one of the "new seven wonders of the world". Built entirely of white marble, Taj Mahal, is said to be the “eternal symbol of love”, the world has ever seen! Historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. It appears pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, people say, depict different moods of a woman. Different people may have different views of the Taj Mahal, but it is best appreciated when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it -"love"! Perhaps, there is no better and grand monument built ever, in the history of human civilization, dedicated to love!

But, why was the Taj Mahal built? In all, Taj Mahal covers an area of more than 60 acres. It took more than 20,000 workers, comprising of masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders and other artisans from India, Central Asia and Iran, for about 17 years (1631 – 1648) to complete this spectacular work of art. Yes! So was the love of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife that he built this grand piece of history to make their love, immortal! The opulent, domed mausoleum is regarded as the finest example of Mughal art and architecture. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj Mahal has been described as "having been designed by giants and finished by jewelers". The Taj Mahal rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four minarets, each more than 13 stories tall. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen.

Arjumand Bano Begum (later known as Mumtaz Mahal) was the woman in whose memory the Taj Mahal was built. Shah Jahan married Arjumand Bano when she was 14 years of age, and the imperial city of Agra was already agog with the stories of her beauty. She became the third wife of Shah Jahan and remained his inseparable companion. As a symbol of her faith and love she bore Shah Jahan 14 children. She breathed her last after delivering their 14th child in 1631 at the age of 38. It is said that it was Mumtaz Mahal who on her deathbed asked Shah Jahan to create a symbol of their love for posterity. Though many historians believe that it was the grief-stricken emperor himself, who decided to build the world’s most memorable symbol of love, Taj Mahal, in the loving memory of his dearest wife.

In Shah Jahan’s later years, he was imprisoned by his son Aurangzeb. He spent his days in confinement, by staring at the Taj Mahal from his prison cell window, till he died after eight years in captivity at the age of 74. Later, his grave was also added to the Taj Mahal.

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Do you know why we fall in love?

Prof. Know Why answers:

When you are young, passion is so strong that it’s almost impossible to stop loving someone! But ever thought why this happens? Well, it’s all in the brain. First comes initial attraction, the spark. Then comes the wild dizzying infatuation of romance – a unique magic between two people who can’t stop thinking about each other. The brain uses its chemical arsenal to focus our attention on one person, forsaking all others - say research scientists.

The brain in its first phase of love is much like a brain on drugs, i.e. the cravings and pleasure unleashed are as strong as any drug. And certain regions in the brain are deactivated, such as within the ‘amygdala’, associated with fear. That’s why you can do many insane things, when in love.

All these ‘falling for’ episodes are actually the effects of conflicting reactions of the front brain and the middle brain. The front brain is believed to be the logical thinker, with reasoning and experience. So while the front brain is lecturing you about the flirtatious nature of the girl and telling you that she is the wrong person for a long time steady relationship, the middle brain is awed by her sexy thighs, deep cleavage and her come-hither stare.

And alas, when it comes to choosing mates, even smart neurons in the brain can make dumb choices. So if the owner of the brain is in 20s, all bets are off. But if the brain’s owner is in his 40s he might think twice about that cleavage baring temptress, and might listen to his front brain.

So who would you like to listen to – the middle or the front brain?

Post your experiences – how you feel when you are in love?