I say, that is a jolly rotten blemish on one's past.

Would someone worry about the stigma associated with dating someone of a different skin colour? Or any potential stigma relating to encounters with someone of the same sex. To talk of such stigmas would be racist or homophobic. Age-racism must surely chime with the fact that discrimination took place in any of these cases. You are marking someone out as being different. Worse still you are spreading a message that such people are regarded as lower status, lower ranking, lower life forms. People that date those that belong to a different religion can encounter stigma within their families too.

Two ladies, same common feature. They both had visible blemishes on their faces. One saw it as a beauty mark the other something that marks them down tremendously. Upon meeting one another, one of them was in for a shock. "You go out like that - without makeup to cover it!? " Indeed, she did for never once did she see it as a negative. It was a part of who she was. It was a part of her identity. Any odd looks were treated the same as one who is famous. A little attention for sure but she carried it off, treated it as being completely normal.

An affair with an older/younger person is an experience to treasure. You learn many things. You may have been treated well. Respected more than you have with people of a similar age. Your life was enriched. When you see it as a badge of honour, something to be proud of rather than ashamed of, you can walk with your head held high. With pride.

So many things in life comes down to how we frame things. Whether we decide to view them in a positive light or sulk in the dark. To say that I have a stigma attached to me because of the free choice I made is a grave insult to all involved. The whole point of equality is to give people the freedom to decide for themselves who they date. Those that admonish people for dating people they don't approve of are the sinners, not the ones that date those who they are drawn towards.