Interesting commentary. My take on this is in terms of masculine and feminine energies. While those are only placeholder terms for two types of energies (yin/yaang, order/chaos, and the ever-present dichotomy of the universe).

Most men have masculine core essences and most women have feminine core essences.

Now, the higher the magnitude of a man's masculine energy, the more he'll be attracted to women with higher feminine energy.

The thing with barely legal girls or young women in general is, they tend to have higher feminine energy - for the sole reason that they haven't been "hardened" by the hardships and rigors of the real world yet.

This doesn't mean older women don't possess feminine energy or younger women aren't mature.

It only means that, as a woman, the older you get, in most cases, your feminine energy tends to go down.

That's why some men prefer young women.

While I'm 22 and have dated women ranging from 18 to 29.

When I'm say 27 or 30 and looking to settle down, I'll most probably go for a woman 7 or even 9 years younger