“That is exactly what i meant by age gap… current societal norms that dictate that 23 year old guys are dating 19 year old girls.”
That may be what you mean, but it is not what I mean. I see it is pointless to try and explain, yet again, because you will spin it into an age gap thing again. Without elaborating. We have eliminated a fair percentage of boys ages 18-22 from the dating pool because we have determined that unless you are “sitting in yeshiva” (and I use the term loosely) you are not a good shidduch prospect. The smaller pool of guys then goes on a search for the mystical reason to say no to a shidduch once a girls name is mentioned to him and the girl is relegated to his “list”, further complicating things. This results in hysterical girls and their parents who see themselves 4 months removed from seminary and still single as the time to panic. They pester harried and overworked shadchanim who in turn are frustrated by the antics of boys and their mothers as they continue to “look into” the suggestions given to them. What a world we live in.