So funny you mention this as I've been in that exact arm-wrestling match with a 35yo I've been dating a while now. Oldest woman I've had an LTR with in my life. There is that CONSTANT drive from her to exert control over everything from how often I see my friends to my behavior on social media etc, all in an attempt to twist me into her agenda. I am, of course, standing my ground firmly which pisses her off to no end but I have CLEARLY demonstrated that I'm the one willing to walk away if she doesn't accept my position and chooses to start drama over it (and I have done so multiple times - she always comes back after and apologizes). It feels like surfing a big wave - I'm right on the edge of disconnecting completely all the time because she just doesn't seem to be able to grasp that she will NOT budge me when it comes to my boundaries and there is only so much BS I'm willing to deal with after I communicate my boundaries to her and she continues to push back. But I do think over time I've made progress in molding her to where she is finally realizing what she has to let go of in order to be with me. Time will tell. The other funny thing to mention about this situation is that, despite the fact that my standing my ground pisses her off to no end, I also know it is likely one of the chief reasons she is still enthralled with me. If I caved to her demands, she'd probably be out the door real fast. Funny how that works..... we are brainwashed to serve women but it's just not what they want, even if they don't realize that fact.
As far as my own opinion about women and age - I've found that women, on average, can grow a lot from 20-28, but after 28 I haven't found that much changes for most women. I still see many early 30's women playing the same games as early 20's women. Most are stuck in infinite loops where they repeat the same actions that cause them grief/trouble/misunderstanding and they can't get out of them. How they process these experiences is responsible for how much baggage they end up having. Do they see the glass half full and think most people are genuinely good unless proven otherwise? Or do they see the glass as half empty and see most people as bad and out to get them? A classic example of this often discussed on SS is the women who get on OLD, and, let's say she's a 5 or a 6, she is able to get 9's to hook up with her, so she suddenly thinks she is a 9 and entitled to an LTR with them, but obviously these 9's are going to commit to her so they pump and dump her and instead of seeing this for what it is (her over-reaching and also not understanding the difference between casual sex and LTRs), she becomes a man-hater with trust issues and lots of baggage. Because of this, I pay literally zero attention to age when I select women. I use physical appearance to decide who to approach or pursue, and then used their attitude to determine whether or not to move forward, and if so, what I move forward with. The number of hot women over 40 is like 1:500 so I just don't end up selecting them. The 35yo I'm seeing now is a rare exception because she is so damn hot. But I date a lot of women in their early 20's and honestly I just don't see a whole lot of difference from 23-35 with one exception: I have found some early 20's women who still believe in the princess story. I don't see that in women past early 20's.