Saudi GazetteIn most parts of the world for a marriage to take place, a man always has to be taller and older in age than the woman, with a good income of course and Saudi Arabia is no different from others. The society doesn't easily accept if the girl is taller or older in age than the man, subjecting both of them to criticisms of all kind. To avoid such nasty reactions some couples refrain from revealing their true ages. Sometimes, a woman looks younger than the man although she is older than him in age, but as soon as people come to know about their ages their attitude toward them changes drastically. Nouha Amer, 29, a Saudi house wife is five years older than her husband. She believes that people usually pass comments about them because they know their age difference. “I don't understand people's attitude and why they are so biased on this issue. What is their problem if I'm elder than my husband? We are a happy couple and ours is a successful marriage.” Amer, on the contrary, said that those marriages are unsuccessful in which the wife is younger than the husband. She has been married for the past two years. People think that Amer married a younger man because she was coming of age and her chances of finding a suitable proposal was diminishing. Amer however denies that fact and does not care what people think about them because to her, happiness with him is all that matters. “My friends always taunt me and tell me that my marriage will soon end in divorce because our society doesn't accept such relations. It's funny and I feel sorry for those who judge our relation based on our age. The funniest comment I have heard is that I look like my husband's mother,” said Amer. Soraya Ali, 24, a Saudi national is married to a man who is two years younger than her. Initially, her parents refused to get her married to a younger man but later realized that he was a good human being and that they were wrong in judging him. Ali was previously engaged to a man six years older than her. She said he behaved like a teenager, was irresponsible and depended on her for everything. Ali said that the younger man in her life now is responsible, takes care of her and acts like a man; she sometimes forgets that he is even younger than her. In another incident, a man told Saudi Gazette that he wanted to marry a divorcee who was nine years older than him and had two daughters from her previous marriage. He said that despite telling his family of the good character and personality she had, they refused to accept her as his wife because of the big age difference between them. “I feel sorry for her,” he said. __
