i really dislike the ideology that once one member of a ship is at the very least 18, then no matter how old the other member is, it’s not problematic.

A 49 year old dating an 18 year old? Nope. A 27 year old? Nope. A 24 year old? Still nope. 6 years can be a lot. You probably wouldn’t advise a high schooler to go out with someone who’s a fully functioning adult. It’s easy to put in perspective and say it’s obviously not okay for a 21 year old to pursue a 15 year old. Despite the age gap being the same as 18-24, it’s much easier to determine that it’s a big “no”. Obviously? The 15 year old is a minor. Why else? Well, the 21yo is so much older. That’s way more mature. A 15yo isn’t an adult for another 3 whole years. The maturity between is tremendous, obviously. Once you’re 18, though, you’re good. If it’s easy to see there’s probably a maturity gap in the 3 years from 15-18, it should be easier to see it between 18-24. A full-fledged adult who’s been out of schooling for 1-2 years pursuing someone who’s barely legal, has just (or maybe not even) finished high school, and has yet to live independently for the first time. There is a huge maturity difference. There’s lots of great posts going around advising freshmen to avoid dating seniors-14-15yos fresh out of middle school being pursued by 18yos-adults. There’s obviously a maturity difference. Your 20s is very much still a time of much development- you are barely an adult and still developing as an independent young adult-scientifically, your brain is still developing. There’s a huge gap between 18 and 24-you probably would not advise an actual 18 year old to date an actual 24 year old-someone who’s much more mature, 6 years older, and has so much more experience-the entirety of college, plus some. It’s easy to see the difference between high school freshmen and seniors-someone just starting college and someone with it well behind them should be the same.