The 10-year 1-year Rule goes international

I sat in a small room above my friend's shop in the bazaar today and had lunch with his wife. As we talked about all areas of life, it came out in conversation that she is ten years younger than her husband. My eyes grew large, and she reassured me that this is good. She said, "What do 22 year old boys know about marriage or family? They are boys. They know nothing. It is not good to marry a man under 30." She proceeded to tell me that it is never good for a woman to marry a man more than maybe, one year younger, but up to ten years older is acceptable.

Could this be possible? Could the ten-year-one-year rule really exist outside the US? (There I go being ethnocentric again). For those of you unfamiliar with this rule, it simply states that in most cases, a woman should never date someone more than one year younger, or ten years older than herself. But it works the other way for men: they should never date a woman more than one year older, or ten years younger (but the cut off being 18...so a 25 year old man can only date down to an 18 year old). This was something my friends and I in school would joke and laugh about, and I always just laugh even more when I meet friends outside of school who also follow this rule.

But for a woman in Turkey to tell me about the rule? Amazing. Some things just don't change wherever you go.