Are toyboys the new IT bags?

Is a teenage boy on your arm the new must-have accessory, or a very bad idea?

Iris Robinson, the wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister, may be just the latest in a string of high-profile woman to reveal a relationship with a much younger man, but she tops all the others.

Mrs Robinson is 60, and her former lover, Kirk McCambley, is 19. That's not half her age, but a third her age.

The news of her affair broke alongside the revelation that Sam Taylor-Wood, who is 43, is pregnant by her fiance, Aaron Johnson, 19.

Those of us coming up to landmark birthdays, or horrified by the odd wrinkle or grey hair, may look on with envy. Who wouldn't want, at 47, to be like Demi Moore, married to an Ashton Kutcher, 31?

Or would you? Would having some gorgeous young man on your arm and in your bed make you feel younger - or more insecure about getting older?

Is Demi and Ashton's happy marriage the exception? Are relationships with such big age gaps destined to be harder, and more likely to fail?

Or is this the future for successful, strong women?

Men have had affairs with much younger women for eternity, and without raising comment. Is Mrs Robinson's affair a sign that women are achieving equality? Or that we are behaving just as badly?

Whatever you believe, Marie Claire would like to hear from you by posting your opinion below and joining the debate

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