The mentality of men who target rich older women

I admit that when I see pictures of older women with their younger boyfriends or husbands I wonder about the motivation of the younger man, not necessarily in relationships where the younger man is established enough himself and is worth as much or more than the older woman. In relationships where the younger man has nothing but his looks to recommend him, it’s difficult not to think that he’s married to a woman who is old enough to be his mother, and who isn’t particularly the most youthful looking 50-something/60-something year old woman, for her money.

Consider Ivana Trump and her husband Rossano Rubicondi. Obviously I don’t know either of these people and it’s not a good idea to make assumptions about people when you know nothing about them, but it’s difficult to believe Rossano Rubicondi is married to Ivana Trump because he’s in love with her. It goes too far against the norm for a man in his 30s to prefer the physical appearance of a woman who is beginning to show signs of old age. It would seem more likely that it’s the woman’s money that makes her so attractive.

I found this ad which I came across today very interesting:

My friend is a good-looking young guy, and wants to meet an old lady that’ll spend money on him, make him over, etc. He’s willing to give up all of his personal opinions and control of his appearance. We were trying to think of places he could meet older women looking to spoil a cute young guy, but we were stumped. Any ideas? [ source ]

I’m willing to bet that Rossano Rubicondi is married Ivana Trump for a similar reason.

I do appreciate that physical appearance isn’t the only thing that counts in a relationship. In fact, relationships that are centered around physical attraction seldom last; and there’s every possibility that Rossano Rubicondi is truly in love with Ivana Trump and that his love for her allows him to look beyond her sagging breasts, her sagging butt, her cellulite, wrinkles and all the other imperfections that start reducing a woman’s market value as early as age 35.

Ivana Trump isn’t exactly holding up remarkably well, no offense to Ivana. She’s still a beautiful lady but she’s reached that point where men are more likely to pay her to start wearing turtlenecks and long sleeves only when she goes out in public. Rossano Rubicondi would need to be a very enlightened, heroic romance novel character to be above giving any weight whatsoever to a woman’s physical appearance in deciding to get involved with her in the first place; but who knows?

In general though, cases of good looking younger men dating rich older women are all about the man putting on the performance of his life to make the woman believe he finds her beautiful even with all her flaws. Money is the only thing with any power in these relationships. Take the money out of the equation and there’s no relationship. What man would put himself at risk of being ridiculed for dating a woman who looks old enough to be his grandmother, even if she’s only old enough to be his mother, if there wasn’t a multimillion dollar incentive?