Why did ancient men like to marry "little" wives?

Many men like wives who are younger than themselves. This is not only the case in China, but also abroad. So why is this phenomenon so common? Are there any advantages to men being older than women? Today we will take a look at what the scientists have found.

Finnish Sami: Wife must be 15 years younger

Usually, men marry wives younger than themselves, and women choose older men as husbands. But is this choice driven by culture, genetics or environment? Is there an optimal age difference between husband and wife? The latest research shows that among the Sami people in pre-industrial Finland, men would marry women 15 years younger than them, which would help them produce more offspring.

Young wives can give birth to more children

Samuli Helle, an ecologist at the University of Turku in Finland, said: "The Sami people only marry once in their lifetime. After studying the impact of the age difference between husband and wife in Sami marriages on the family's fertility, we found that if you marry a woman who is 14.6 years younger than you, the young wife will successfully give birth to more children for her husband, and their offspring will live to at least 18 years old."

Age differences between couples around the 19th century

The researchers came to their findings by looking at church records of 700 couples living in Utsjoki, Inari and Enontekio between the 17th and 19th centuries to eliminate the effects of modern medical advances on child survival. However, only 10% of these 700 couples had husbands and wives with the optimal age difference. Among the 700 pairs, there were men who married women 20 years older than them, and women who married husbands 25 years older than themselves. The overall average age difference was 3 years.

A woman's reproductive age affects her offspring's survival rate

The increasing number of Sami marriages that do not show the optimal age difference may be related to social factors such as their marriage customs and the ability of reindeer to support their families (Sami people generally rely on reindeer for their livelihoods). But ultimately a woman's childbearing age is the biggest factor affecting the survival rate of her offspring. A research paper published in Biology Letters pointed out that younger women generally give birth to more healthy children. Marrying an older woman or a man who is much older than you is the most detrimental to successful reproduction.

Young women's bodies are more attractive

In fact, in addition to having children, men marry in order to live a happy sex life. Then women’s sexual ability is also one of the very important assessment indicators. Young wives have more perfect bodies and are more sexually attractive. Therefore, in order to have a harmonious and happy sex life, men prefer to marry a younger wife.

Happiness is more important than age gap

Of course, with better living conditions and more advanced medical technology in modern times, childbirth is no longer as dangerous as it was in ancient times. Just like what the famous brand Lelo said: Perfect love is based on good feelings. Therefore, if the relationship is harmonious, the married life will naturally be better. In fact, no matter how big the age difference is, as long as both parties feel happy and healthy, that is the most important thing. After all, reproduction is the result of marriage, but it is not the ultimate goal. The purposes of marriage are multifaceted, but happiness is the ultimate and most desirable result for everyone. Age gap is not a problem!

How old is a man compared to a woman?

Confucius was born to a 72-year-old father and an 18-year-old mother. The age difference between his parents was equivalent to 82 and 28 years. Thus, a generation of sages was born, who influenced China for more than two thousand years. Does that mean that bigger is better for men and smaller is better for women?

Not really. Everything has to be done in moderation. It's just like moving a worn-out old bed into a brand new villa, installing a bathroom worth tens of thousands of dollars in a shabby second-hand house, matching a platinum chain with a glass pendant, or a diamond pendant with an iron chain. It always feels wrong.

But it is normal for there to be an age gap between men and women. And often the man is older than the woman. So how old can a beautiful girl accept as her husband? One year older, two years older, three years older? Or ten years older, eight years older?

Professor Gu Niu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, based on the principles of China's I Ching and Einstein's theory of relativity, has finally found the answer to this question and the mathematical formula after fifty years of in-depth research. That is, a beautiful girl can safely and boldly marry a man who is 14 years older than her!