1. Pedophilia, hebephilia, and ephebophilia are three different conditions. Of these, only pedophilia is categorized as a sexual disorder by the DSM-5, the bible of psychology. Hebephilia is an attraction towards younger adolescents, while ephebophilia is an attraction towards older adolescents. Both are normal and observed in male adults.
2. Adolescents are not children in a literal sense. The classic definition of a child is someone who either has not entered puberty or whose puberty has not caused a dramatic effect yet (this has to be mentioned because some people start puberty at the age of 9 and no one would argue that person is already an adolescent). Adolescents can impregnate, get impregnated, ejaculate, menstruate, drive, go out with their friends, travel, and hold many of the responsibilities that adults do. They are closer to being adults than children.
3. "The brain doesn't fully mature until the age of 25" is not a strong argument to oppose the age gap relationships. Even though adolescents have a lot to mature in that sense, what never gets mentioned is their peak fluid cognitive skills at that age, the most biologically based type of intelligence. They reason better and quicker than most adults because of their higher fluid IQ, which is only possible due to a brain that has not fully matured yet. It's why young people learn languages more easily. Adults have more practical knowledge and wisdom, but this should not prevent them from wanting to date adolescents; it should be used to instruct and guide them.
4. The hysteria around these relationships are heavily influenced by the advent of feminism. The early feminist movement set out to raise the age of consent laws and demonize men who dated younger women, raising the SMV of used-up and embittered hags who were very jealous of their younger counterparts attracting most of the men available. Raising the age of consent reduces men's options and increases those of women. Adolescent girls not being able to marry responsible adults means they have more time available to be corrupted by adolescent boys who certaintly don't have their best interests in mind.
5. Acknowledging that adolescent girls are more fertile is not the same as saying they should get pregnant at that age. We say that from a reproductive perspective 16-year-olds are more fertile not because they should have babies at that exact age, but because their reproductive window has more time before closing. In other words, if you get engaged with a 16-year-old girl today and have a child with her 5 years from now, she will be a perfectly healthy 21-year-old mother, whereas if you got engaged with a 27-year-old woman and had a child 5 years from now, she would be 32 already, which increases the likelihood of having an unhealthy, disordered child.
6. Most people who are in favor of age gap relationships involving adult men and adolescent girls view it as something to be done in the context of marriages and families, not casual sex. Not that sex with no strings attached is such a big deal, but almost nobody defends the idea of adults pumping and dumping young girls left and right for no reason. They should become housewives and mothers from an early age. Their youth and fertility are too precious to be wasted in the dick carousel, either of guys their age or older.
7. Everyone has a couple like this in their not so distant families and life did just fine for the most part. A lot of your ancestors married this way. Life did just fine for the most part. Adolescent girls married their adult husbands, moved to a nice home, had some kids, and matured together with mutual respect.
8. If adolescent girls are going to have sex no matter what, it's better if they do it with responsible men who can take care of them. When they have sex with adolescent boys, it's pretty common for them to have their nudity exposed, get pregnant, be abandoned, and have awful experiences in general. An older guy can handle sex better and could provide her with enough resources to sustain a child if an accident happened.
9. There is not much of a biological basis to justify the amount of hysteria that exists around this topic. It's mostly cultural and thus can be changed within a few generations. Less than a century ago, no one was "cancelled" or persecuted for having such a relationship, and now it's apparently the worst thing you can do, a huge sin. It goes to show that it's not really in our nature to be this way. The "Catch a Predator" types are just a product of their time. They wouldn't have acted like this in a more sane period.
10. The power imbalance is real but not inherently bad. Women go for men that are taller, physically stronger, wealthier, and have more power, influence and status. Isn't this also a power imbalance? Of course, but women like it because they tend to date up (hypergamy). So is the case of an age gap. How many girls do you know wanted to or actually dated guys older simply because in their eyes these guys were more attractive? I thought feminism was all about liberating women's sexuality, so why can't these girls date the guys they're interested in? Ironic.
2. Adolescents are not children in a literal sense. The classic definition of a child is someone who either has not entered puberty or whose puberty has not caused a dramatic effect yet (this has to be mentioned because some people start puberty at the age of 9 and no one would argue that person is already an adolescent). Adolescents can impregnate, get impregnated, ejaculate, menstruate, drive, go out with their friends, travel, and hold many of the responsibilities that adults do. They are closer to being adults than children.
3. "The brain doesn't fully mature until the age of 25" is not a strong argument to oppose the age gap relationships. Even though adolescents have a lot to mature in that sense, what never gets mentioned is their peak fluid cognitive skills at that age, the most biologically based type of intelligence. They reason better and quicker than most adults because of their higher fluid IQ, which is only possible due to a brain that has not fully matured yet. It's why young people learn languages more easily. Adults have more practical knowledge and wisdom, but this should not prevent them from wanting to date adolescents; it should be used to instruct and guide them.
4. The hysteria around these relationships are heavily influenced by the advent of feminism. The early feminist movement set out to raise the age of consent laws and demonize men who dated younger women, raising the SMV of used-up and embittered hags who were very jealous of their younger counterparts attracting most of the men available. Raising the age of consent reduces men's options and increases those of women. Adolescent girls not being able to marry responsible adults means they have more time available to be corrupted by adolescent boys who certaintly don't have their best interests in mind.
5. Acknowledging that adolescent girls are more fertile is not the same as saying they should get pregnant at that age. We say that from a reproductive perspective 16-year-olds are more fertile not because they should have babies at that exact age, but because their reproductive window has more time before closing. In other words, if you get engaged with a 16-year-old girl today and have a child with her 5 years from now, she will be a perfectly healthy 21-year-old mother, whereas if you got engaged with a 27-year-old woman and had a child 5 years from now, she would be 32 already, which increases the likelihood of having an unhealthy, disordered child.
6. Most people who are in favor of age gap relationships involving adult men and adolescent girls view it as something to be done in the context of marriages and families, not casual sex. Not that sex with no strings attached is such a big deal, but almost nobody defends the idea of adults pumping and dumping young girls left and right for no reason. They should become housewives and mothers from an early age. Their youth and fertility are too precious to be wasted in the dick carousel, either of guys their age or older.
7. Everyone has a couple like this in their not so distant families and life did just fine for the most part. A lot of your ancestors married this way. Life did just fine for the most part. Adolescent girls married their adult husbands, moved to a nice home, had some kids, and matured together with mutual respect.
8. If adolescent girls are going to have sex no matter what, it's better if they do it with responsible men who can take care of them. When they have sex with adolescent boys, it's pretty common for them to have their nudity exposed, get pregnant, be abandoned, and have awful experiences in general. An older guy can handle sex better and could provide her with enough resources to sustain a child if an accident happened.
9. There is not much of a biological basis to justify the amount of hysteria that exists around this topic. It's mostly cultural and thus can be changed within a few generations. Less than a century ago, no one was "cancelled" or persecuted for having such a relationship, and now it's apparently the worst thing you can do, a huge sin. It goes to show that it's not really in our nature to be this way. The "Catch a Predator" types are just a product of their time. They wouldn't have acted like this in a more sane period.
10. The power imbalance is real but not inherently bad. Women go for men that are taller, physically stronger, wealthier, and have more power, influence and status. Isn't this also a power imbalance? Of course, but women like it because they tend to date up (hypergamy). So is the case of an age gap. How many girls do you know wanted to or actually dated guys older simply because in their eyes these guys were more attractive? I thought feminism was all about liberating women's sexuality, so why can't these girls date the guys they're interested in? Ironic.
