In terms of relationship, Tracee Ellis Ross is popping the tables on time.
“Often I date younger men,” Ross revealed on Tuesday’s episode of the “IMO” podcast with Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson.
The actor recalled having dinner with the Obamas and the way the dialog veered in the direction of her relationship preferences. She recounted how former President Barack Obama requested her why she dated youthful males. Her reply? “Because I can.”
Dia Dipasupil by way of Getty Photographs
“It’s not just that I’m older, I’m also very embodied,” Ross stated. “I am a full, very whole person who knows myself, who is in charge of my life, and who lives a very full, just robust life.”
That type of self-possession, she added, isn’t merely a perform of age. It’s the product of “life experience” — and an unshakable sense of self-worth. She credit her confidence to not the passage of time, however to the knowledge it brings.
Many have heard that you must kiss just a few frogs to search out your prince and Ross isn’t any stranger to this. Nonetheless, her relationship life has impressed some introspection: Why do youthful males maintain gravitating in the direction of her?
Spoiler alert — it’s not simply because they’re “hot and gorgeous.”
Christopher Polk by way of Getty Photographs
“A lot of men my age are steeped in a toxic masculinity and have been raised in a culture where there is a particular way that a relationship looks,” she stated.
And when Ross catches a whiff of that acquainted dynamic? She exits stage left and refuses to “do it again.”
Ross stated she notices youthful males have extra of an “openness” — whether or not it’s by way of “gender fluidity or not even having an issue with homosexuality.”
“I have long been past the age where I feel like it’s my job to teach somebody or grow them up,” Ross added.
