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I don't think the dangers of childbirth are the reason. If men prefer younger women for the purposes of childbirth, it is more likely because the younger woman has more child-bearing years remaining, and thus is likely to produce more children. And the younger woman might prefer someone somewhat older, because he's more likely to have resouorces to support a family.
On the other hand, I am reminded of the movie Kingpin, where the Amish character is laughing at someone because his wife has such narrow hips that she won't be able to have a lot of children. Of course it's a joke, we laugh because it is "obvious" that a person would prefer slender woman with narrow hips, rather than one who has wider hips. That's an area where reproductive capacities really aren't driving us. In past decades, sex symbols had much wider hips than today, and it is quite possible that they might in decades to come.
But the reaction to older women and younger men seems to go beyond mere preference, some people seem to get rather disturbed by the idea, even if the age difference is actually slight. I remember being being shocked at a difference of a single year.
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