As a "hottie" at a young age, and an intellectual, I remember far too many men who wanted me for my body but didn't want me for myself or my abilities. My abilities were a detriment. It was not in any way " the time of my life" but a constant insult to who I was.
Paulina P made more money than her husband and it angered him, and one of the ways he took that out on her was to discount her thoughts and feelings and developing personality, the things he was originaly attracted to. Making money might be your be all end all, but for many of us women, it's just a means to an end. She had choices of younger and better looking men with just as much money but she chose the one she thought was listening and not just looking. As he became less famous, his self-esteem plummeted. That's what hurt the marriage, and IMO, any age gap larger than 12 or so years is risky. They fail at a higher degree.
Why? Less in common, fewer signposts to connect on emotionally. Different meanings to things. One person often seeing these not fun signs of age and not understanding or wanting to deal with those challenges. To her credit, Paulina stayed until the end, even though her marriage had fallen apart.
Having a younger woman's attention is sometimes seen as amazingly flattering even though she often knows less about who to pick or whether she can help or hurt his problems and he for her. That's part of what happened with Amber Heard and it blinded Johnny Depp to the quality of person he should have been with, someone like his ex-wife but with a few modifications. Similar in age might also have helped him with an obvious midlife crisis and other issues. Those with knowledge and life experience can help with a lot more.
Absolutely every woman I know has dated multliple poor and short men with they were younger. I was attracted to several shorter men and couldn't get them to budge, they wanted what they wanted, it seemed someone shorter than them, creating short kids. Me making more money than men was not a draw ever for a relationship. Sometimes for younger men to think I'd pay for sex alone, to a rude awakening, I wouldn't. And why should I when their smarter, nicer friends have more to offer? Like, I don’t know, generally not paying or covering half?
The script never flipped, women have always wanted to be wanted for who they are and have endevored to become better, richer, smarter, kinder, you name it, and still are often discounted for not looking hot enough alone. They never asked for this script at all, nor did they ask for having to look younger than their mate.
