I blame Hollywood. A study conducted this year showed that, on average, a female film lead will be 4.5 years younger than her male counterpart (if you use only Woody Allen movies, that number blows out to over 17 years). And you'd be forgiven for thinking that number seems a little on the low side when you consider that Maggie Gyllenhaal (37) was recently told that she was too old to play the love interest of a 55 year old man, and no one seemed particularly surprised by that assertion. But Hollywood is getting it wrong (only on this point - in every other way it is flawless, of course). Straight women in the real world are starting to realise that they're not destined to end up with older guys just because that's what's traditionally been done. It might have made sense in times past - women needed the financial security offered to them by men and there's the whole "men can keep breeding into their 80s" thing too. Now, ladies have jobs and science on their side and our options are broader than ever before. Here are just a few benefits of bucking the trend and hooking up with a younger guy.