Does your radar sound the alert when a gal seeks men much older than herself?

[JR]

This belief is the main driving force behind the international dating industry

No it's not. The reason is that old men want hot, young women to lay next to.

But all in all I think you are close to theme of this endreavor.

[Misha]

That's my take on it, feel free to crucify me..

Why? I agree with you. Most Russian women will seek to date/marry a man within 5 years of their age. All things being equal, they will prefer by far younger to older in my experience. The only question is when things are not equal how far they are willing to push the envelope. Fortunately, my wife considered 10 years to be acceptable.

[possum]

Fortunately, my wife considered 10 years to be acceptable.

Like I said, albeit not in so many words, a 10 year gap is perfectly acceptable in this culture..

[GQBlues]

....most Russian women marry local men very close to their own age...

That's is the very essence and value that is easily missed in these discussions.

RWs involved in international marriages is atypical. The majority of RW are in fact married to local men who are within or close to their respective ages. The relatively small number of RWs married to local, but older, men falls outside of what may be termed in FSU as their societal norm. As further mentioned in your post, there is a dynamic in international dating that exist which isn't prevalent to their local dating scene: a larger base number of older men searching in a social pool which include a huge number of (much) younger women.

Given proper context, and only strictly within that context - what exactly can be termed as normal? What is considered normal in an abnormal world?

Usual disclaimer applies.