| rdfs:comment | - A story where a man scores with a woman because the man had a protective role towards the woman when she was a child. She looked up to the man, thought of him as a parent or beloved uncle, a role model, counted on him to be there when she needs him, etc. In the more extreme cases she might have even vowed to marry him when she grew up. Then, when She Is All Grown Up, the girl often decides she is in love with the man, or vice versa. Examples of Wife Husbandry include:
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| abstract | - A story where a man scores with a woman because the man had a protective role towards the woman when she was a child. She looked up to the man, thought of him as a parent or beloved uncle, a role model, counted on him to be there when she needs him, etc. In the more extreme cases she might have even vowed to marry him when she grew up. Then, when She Is All Grown Up, the girl often decides she is in love with the man, or vice versa. Nothing is ever said about how inappropriate, and even creepy, this is. If the man was a real parent, this would be incest, but of course they're Not Blood Relatives. Often, the story tries to excuse the man's behavior by claiming that he resisted the idea of a relationship but it's the girl who convinced him. Advanced cases can have him trying to play The Matchmaker with her and men her own age despite his Matchmaker Crush; he may even be Oblivious to Love because of it. This makes it less creepy, in that he didn't plan it in advance, and it is what she wants as well. A source of Values Dissonance in older works, because it used to be common practice for noblemen to marry younger women from friendly families, so this trope would have occurred a lot both in fiction and real life. Even in modern times, some people argue that this is not a problem as long as the former child is now an adult and able to properly consent. Your Mileage May Vary on whether or not There Should Be a Law. Known in Japan (and until recently on this wiki) as the Hikaru Genji Plan, after the main character in The Tale of Genji, who kidnapped a young girl from a life of poverty for the purpose of marrying her once she grew up. The current name is a pun, as Husbandry is the act of raising something (animal husbandry, plant husbandry, etc.), and also contains the word Husband. This is by definition a subtrope of May-December Romance or in supernatural settings Mayfly-December Romance, but not every romance with a significant age gap falls under this. Compare Pygmalion Plot, The Jailbait Wait, Teacher-Student Romance, Parental Incest and Incest Is Relative. See also Father, I Want to Marry My Brother. Examples of Wife Husbandry include:
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