I just got judged by someone because of the age gap between me and this girl. Why?

I am a guy who turned 23 just 3 weeks ago and like this girl who is 19 and she is turning 20 in April. We met for the first time via Instagram on July 2023 when she was 19 and I was 22. We will be 19 and 23 for a bit over 3 months and finally we will be 20 and 23 after her birthday in April. She is in 2nd year 4th semester of college and I just graduated college 5-6 months ago and I am a soon to be an MBA student and gave exams for it recently. We were in the same school but didn't know each other in school days but now we know each other via Instagram and get along well and planning to meet up in a restaurant soon as we are both foodies and send each other virtual hugs. I was seeing some video on YouTube about age gaps between adults as I was worried about our age gap and I mentioned it in the comments. Most said it's fine but one particular person said that it's weird that I am dating a teenage kid and said how she will be a kid till 20. That person went too far even saying that I groomed her and how disgusting I am for being a grown man dating a teenager. I am so angry. How is 19 and 23 grooming? We are close in age and our age gap is just 3 years 3 months. We have so much in common and are comfortable with each other too. Comments like these and seeing comments on Reddit makes me feel afraid whether I am being appropriate by sending her hugs and being flirty with her at times. I like her but today this person kept saying how I am grooming a teenager. Why do some people judge these small age gaps like this? We are both legally adults and only 3 years 3 months apart in age.

Reply 1

StriderHort

If you ask a question to essentially 'Everyone' then you're going to get a few weird and extreme replies, bear in the age of consent and how this is socially interpreted varies across the world.

Reply 2

Surnia

Sometimes it's not the age gap that is the issue,but the age of the youngest partner.

In this case, meh, it's just someone online that is looking for a reaction. Ignore them.