Is 16 The Appropriate Age Of Consent? (Read before posting, please) (mentally, girls)
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Being attracted to pubescent teens is not pedophilia.
Pedophilia - an adult sexual attraction to adolescents who have not yet reached puberty.
Ephebophilia - an adult sexual attraction to pubescent adolescents, generally 15-19.
The premise of the Age of Consent is when a person at a certain age is considered to be competent enough to consent to sexual acts, which is 16 in most places. This has been criticized as being an arbitrary concept but I think nature says that the average age of consent is indeed just. At 16 puberty usually ends meaning that people are sexually mature but more relevant to the subject is that cognitive abilities are fully matured at 16.
With I that said do you believe that 16 is the appropriate age to consider someone to be competent enough to consent to sexual acts?
No. It should be older. There is a joke among psychiatrists and others in the mental health field about the teenage brain not being fully myelinated. Look it up.
Being attracted to pubescent teens is not pedophilia.
Pedophilia - an adult sexual attraction to adolescents who have not yet reached puberty.
Ephebophilia - an adult sexual attraction to pubescent adolescents, generally 15-19.
In terms of psychological classifications, there are some important differences between pedophilia and ephebophilia (often used interchangeably with hebephilia).
Pedophilia is recognized as a psychiatric sexual dysfunction. Pedophiles are rarely attracted to anyone who has reached puberty.
Ephebophilia is not classified as a sexual dysfunction. Ephebophiles are almost always attracted to other adults, and virtually never to children.
In terms of psychological classifications, there are some important differences between pedophilia and ephebophilia (often used interchangeably with hebephilia).
Pedophilia is recognized as a psychiatric sexual dysfunction. Pedophiles are rarely attracted to anyone who has reached puberty.
Ephebophilia is not classified as a sexual dysfunction. Ephebophiles are almost always attracted to other adults, and virtually never to children.
Correct. There is generally a power-play that accompanies ephebophilia (but not always), whereas pedophilia is classified as a fetish.
Broadly speaking, sixteen is not a terrible place to draw the line. But I would add, with regards to citations above, that a person's level of cognitive development is only one of several factors to consider.
Another important factor is the difference is power between partners. A sixteen year old may have the required level of cognitive development to consent to sex with, say, a 35 year old. However, the sixteen year old is likely to be in a far more vulnerable position financially, socially, legally, etc. That would make it easier for a 35 year old to exploit a 16 year old than another 35 year old.
I agree with this (the bolded). That is a HUGE point. It's not whether a girl is menstruating, whether her frontal lobes are developed to a certain extent or anything else. When a teenager sleeps with a person in his or her, say, 30s there is generally a big, big inequality of power and somebody is going to get hurt. And guess who that somebody is.
That's why it's always good to ask for two forms of ID.
Ha! I have a friend who used to ask for ID if he was approached by a young-looking female.
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