It's easy to missapply today's standards/norms to how things were. Things have changed drastically in a relatively short time and I do believe a lot of things that were okay even 10 years ago are shuddered at now!!Seriously, age-gap relationships were regarded very differently 35 or 40 years ago. Jane Goldman is a good example: when she met Jonathan Ross, she was 16, yes, but she was also working fulltime on the Daily Star's showbiz page. Ross was considered a massive catch in 1986; he seemed to come out of nowhere (I think he might have been a TV researcher beforehand), and suddenly there he was, hosting The Last Resort in his trendy suits and ties. I know younger people will find this hard to believe, but he couldn't have been cooler.
When Jane began dating him, I didn't think, "She's 16 and he's 26 - how revolting", I thought, "Damn, she's lucky." And now they're about to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.
I wouldn't be a fan of a 16 year old dating a 25 year old now but that's knowing what we know now!