Interesting discussion. As someone who prefers to date men older than myself, I would like to point out that having things in common and life experience are sometimes harder to find in trans-generational relationships. I do have a loosely defined age range for guys I'd like to date, simply because going too far past my own generation will leave us with fewer common experiences, and thus less to talk about. This is not to say an interesting man who is outside my preferred age range is not going to get a chance. (Lord knows, I've got some less-than-ideal aspects too, and appreciate when someone overlooks them long enough to give me a shot!) But it can mean that I've got less interest in a man because unless our non-sexual interests have a pretty sizable overlap, there can be a failure to connect that is in part due to age differences.

Generally speaking, this isn't a deal-breaker, but it is a point of concern and not addressing it when it comes up seems short-sighted.