Men have been dating women who are young enough to be their daughters and maybe even their granddaughters for generations. Even though some people frown at the idea, it seems to be an acceptable thing in society. Maybe it was the “women’s lib” or just changing times, but women have decided that if men can do it, so can they. While women can certainly date younger men, it may be a better idea, in theory than in actual practice.

The truth is that there is a reason why most men will marry a younger woman, although not necessarily much younger than them. While gender roles have become less rigid, they do still have some significance to many people and making changes like who the older spouse is may not necessarily work.

The following are the reasons why it may not be a good idea for a woman to date a younger man:

1. You may feel like you’re in a time warp.
You grew up with different cartoons, different video games (Atari, anybody?!), different cheesy prom ballads. And it’s a shocker when it first hits you, as Cara Halstead found out. “One day I realized that when I was doing dance routines to the Grease soundtrack, he was just being potty-trained!” But instead of dwelling on your pop-culture chasm, use this as an opportunity to get closer—introduce him to classic movies like Valley Girl and open your mind to the musical poetry of Poison.

Even if your young man happens to be sophisticated, chances are at least a few of his buddies aren’t as fully evolved. So don’t be surprised when your man drags you a kegger or takes off for a paint-ball weekend. Tip: Roll with it. Accepting each other’s pals — no matter how weird or annoying — is part of the older-woman/younger-man pact.

3. Finally, they may not be on your spawn schedule. Baby **** has busted up more than one of these romances. Just ask Lisa Cohn, 47, of Portland, OR. “For four years, I dated a guy who was five years younger than me. I was drawn to his good looks and great sense of humor,” she recalls. “But my biological clock was ticking wildly, and that freaked him out. Eventually, we broke up.” Other young dudes want children—but not with someone who has been there, done that. “I was recently dating a younger man who obviously knew that I had been married and had a child,” says Kris Lyndon, 40, of Phoenix. “After a while, he told me he wanted to get serious—but he’d rather experience marriage and pregnancy with a woman who was also experiencing it for the first time.”

Read more: Match.com