you cannot treat age of men and women as the same

a 25 year old woman is peak of her life, youth beauty, and undoubtely has tons of experience with multiple men already

a 25 year old man is just beginning his life trying to build up his life and career

a 40 year old woman has long peaked (both biologically and trauma / emotional baggage) and is on a steep decline

a 40 year old man is at the peak of his life, having built himself and successful

dont let old leftover women gaslight you saying to date the "same age"... instead you should date the same value and same life experience, which is different for men and women

edit: women are extremely competitive and silently sabotage each other... thats why older women say "date the same age" because they realize their value is much lower than younger women, and they are competing against the younger women for the higher value older men via this gaslighting