3 ms·

Which adult/child sexual contact is ok, then? The problem with sexual contact between an adult and a child is that one can never be sure that the child wasn't

Which adult/child sexual contact is ok, then? The problem with sexual contact between an adult and a child is that one can never be sure that the child wasn't coerced in some way. However, that does not make the inverse true, that every instance of sexual contact between an adult and a child is subject to (implicit) abuse of power. It seems to me that Moeller was making a subtle point that I have also made in discussions about the subject: that it is perfectly possible to imagine a situation where sexual contact between an child and an adult takes place with mutual consent and without coercion. One can imagine a 12 year old seducing a 30 year old neighbor, without either of them being harmed by the experience. In many discussions, this can be a relevant point, that defuse blanket statements. This does not change a thing about the fact that you want the law to forbid such things. And then: "A 16-year-old girl from Oregon, a beautiful, intelligent young woman" ... When one uses such language to talk about kids.. sheesh. These 'kids' are old enough to bear children and have done so during the majority of human history. They have all secondary sexual characteristics that are intended to arouse the males of the species and they are fertile. If you don't find some of them attractive, something is unusual with your hormones.

tjic 17y ago
> One can imagine a 12 year old seducing a 30 year old neighbor, without harming either of them. "One" can imagine that? I, for one, CAN NOT imagine that sexual contact between a 12 year old and a 30 year old can ever be anything other than a grave problem.
- Confusion 17y ago
  There has been plenty of research into the way both men and women that have experienced early sexual contact rate those experiences later in their life, with many case stories. You would be surprised by the amount of positive experiences. They are only a minority and it doesn't change the way the law should be or the fact that we should disapprove of such encounters. However, it does change the 'ultimate evil' view that people tend to have of pedophilia. Like in the case of theft or murder, there are plenty of exceptions, where we can understand why someone would break the law. We may even sympathize with someone that kills an abusive husband or steals from Goldman-Sachs after losing everything. In the same way, we should be capable of sympathizing with some of the people that have committed an act of pedophilia.
sophacles 17y ago
These "kids" are also old enough to be put to death for criminal acts as adults. It is a silly, illogical double standard. Somehow we have no problem saying that that they are completely incapable of making decisions about something relatively harmless like sex with their peers, yet we have no problem making them inhuman monsters who are perfectly capable of having made cold decisions in a completely capable light when it is a person's death?
sigzero 17y ago
"These 'kids' are old enough to bear children and have done so during the majority of human history." Historically children have been given less and less responsibility as the grow up and maturity has followed the same path.

tjic 17y ago

> One can imagine a 12 year old seducing a 30 year old neighbor, without harming either of them. "One" can imagine that? I, for one, CAN NOT imagine that sexual contact between a 12 year old and a 30 year old can ever be anything other than a grave problem.

Confusion 17y ago
There has been plenty of research into the way both men and women that have experienced early sexual contact rate those experiences later in their life, with many case stories. You would be surprised by the amount of positive experiences. They are only a minority and it doesn't change the way the law should be or the fact that we should disapprove of such encounters. However, it does change the 'ultimate evil' view that people tend to have of pedophilia. Like in the case of theft or murder, there are plenty of exceptions, where we can understand why someone would break the law. We may even sympathize with someone that kills an abusive husband or steals from Goldman-Sachs after losing everything. In the same way, we should be capable of sympathizing with some of the people that have committed an act of pedophilia.

sophacles 17y ago

These "kids" are also old enough to be put to death for criminal acts as adults. It is a silly, illogical double standard. Somehow we have no problem saying that that they are completely incapable of making decisions about something relatively harmless like sex with their peers, yet we have no problem making them inhuman monsters who are perfectly capable of having made cold decisions in a completely capable light when it is a person's death?

sigzero 17y ago

"These 'kids' are old enough to bear children and have done so during the majority of human history." Historically children have been given less and less responsibility as the grow up and maturity has followed the same path.