When I was 16/17, I was hit on, cat called, and oggled by grown men all the time. I’m a busty gal, not as much so in high school but more than my peers, I’m sure that didn’t help.
Youth is fetishized by some more than others. My husband claims he would not find an older teen hot, but I bet that’s not universally true. Some of that is probably just sparing my feelings. Look at Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, for example. I wouldn’t guess she’s 16.
I remember the SNL where Lindsay Lohan had recently turned 18 and there was an entire sketch with the cast ogling her. I’m pretty sure that she was probably still really good looking a good bit before that.
I used drop off my kids at high school many of the girls looked like well young girls, but a fair amount of them looked like we’ll young women.
That’s no gif.
I suspect society tries to push the ‘age of grossness’ upwards. Which is probably good. Sex can be really scarring for teens.
Yes sex can be scarring, but that can happen at any age. I’m not sure it’s that scarring if it’s consensual. More often than not it’s just disappointing. I first had sex when I was a teen with adults. It was just disappointing because it wasn’t as glamorous as I saw in p0rn. But I certainly wasn’t scarred. It was my decision after all.
Teens are more prone to nonconsensual sex, by adults or peer pressure, that can be scarring. If that’s what you mean.
I don’t know that much psychology. But I’m under the impression that things like Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personality) are more likely to develop in younger people. Could be for a lot of reasons though, or I could be off on my age parameters.
I agree that most teens (and probably some children) aren’t scarred at all by consensual sex.
Kids are also soooo varied in terms development. I bet you did algebra before your peers.
Nah
In what percent of cases? There aren’t many guarantees in life, but one guarantee is that teenagers are horny. Sex in high school is ubiquitous.
A biological, evolutionary sexual attractiveness for a post puberty person is natural as it is associated with reproduction. Developed society recognizes that these urges ignore social, emotional, mental maturity. Said another way just because a person can reproduce doesn’t mean they are able to handle the effects, implication, or responsibility of trying to reproduce (or activities producing the same hormonal responses). To address this imbalance in maturity society chooses an arbitrary cut off that determines the legal boundary between adult and child, age 18.
The legal limit may enhance the appeal of the underaged person for some, the anti-social aspect of the taboo increases an emotional response. Since the age limit is arbitrary a few individuals are mentally, socially, emotionally mature when underage. This fact is used by some to break the law or more likely as justification (without evidence) after breaking the law. The psychology of powerful people that are motivated by the negative use of power goes beyond this post. Simply put, breaking rules is rewarding and a measure of power for some people (I am powerful I do what I want. I do what I want so I am powerful). In summary, seeing a 16 year old girl and saying “She is attractive” is not wrong, saying “I want to fuck her” is wrong. Acting on the “I want to fuck her” is very wrong and illegal.
Side note: In America our consumer/hedonistic culture/society mislabels wants as needs such that people have trouble distinguishing between desire and deserve.
I don’t know that it’s ubiquitous. Seems like about half of teens have had sex by age 18, and there are a lot of sources with different numbers, but 50% is on the higher side of those.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2017/201706_NSFG.htm
Yes to all of this. But, I don’t know, there might also be a slippery slope thing that happens?
Like… we could say it’s “gross and illegal” for a guy like Gaetz to have sex with a 17 year old.
Or… we could say it’s “gross and illegal” for a guy like Gaetz to have sex with a 15 year old.
Maybe by setting the bar higher, we convince the bad-boys that 17 is the exciting taboo law to break, and not 15.
Dan Savage once had a thing where he encouraged readers to write about their May/September relationships. A lot of people wrote about having sex underage, with adults.
I was struck that almost all of the men had found it a positive experience. Especially gay men who grew up in places that told them they could never have a healthy gay relationship. One guy said the memory of that liaison was the only reason he didn’t kill himself.
But most of the women regretted the underage sex with an adult.
There might be some real difference in the sexes there. Or, you know, bias in who wrote or in what he published.
Fair question, but modern society worries a lot about small odds. We have things like car-seat laws and workman’s comp insurance.
Conversely, it tells you how many adults have had the sexorz with underage kids. We like to pretend this is not commonplace given current societal views and laws. Or maybe it’s the same small % of adults who do, but likely still a % that’s greater than expected.
I agree that it’s way underreported for very obvious reasons. I had a high school teacher who had rumors of having an affair come out with a student 10 years after the fact. I legitimately felt sorry for the guy; after 10 years had passed, he’s probably a totally different person and probably doesn’t even remember large portions of it.
Makes sense. Kellyanne doesn’t seem to have the Dorian gene.
Well, the fact that we have laws specifically against it tells you that it’s done. Miss Manners once said that she collects old etiquette books as a hobby, and your can tell what people actually did at various points in time by what they tell you not to do. For instance, she has an old one that instructs you not to blow you nose into the table cloth. Modern etiquette books don’t mention that, because they don’t have to.
this thread seems to be trending into BBB territory…
