In the UK, anyone under 18 is legally an infant.
n/m
When males are attracted to women twice their age do they have psychological issues?
When we are talking about 15 yo of both genders messing around with 37 yo, then I would say the probability of some sort of psychological issue is strong.
Legally, they are minors. “Children” is not AFAIK a legal term.
After writing that, it occurred to me to verify this, and I stand corrected. According to this free online legal dictionary, “child” has the following legal definition:
So there. 
Going back through the thread, this came up in response to “fucking a 15 year old” being characterised as “adults fucking children”, so it would appear I was on solid ground (though indeed right on the border) to question that framing.
What makes you say that? I’m pretty sure that is just the effects of puberty.
I realize that this is a “dead,” or inactive thread, but I just wanted to make my point here.
My personal opinion on age of consent laws are that, simply, they should not exist, or the age be “heavily (to some)” reduced.
Emotional maturity varies from person to person. IQ, experience, and environment are put into play here. There are a number, not many, but a number of individuals aged 12-15 who are much more mature and rational compared to their 18-21 year old counterparts. Of course, 18 is an understandable age, but just because it is understandable doesn’t make it fair nor reasonable, but that’s how I find this country to be: unfair and unreasonable, at least in regard to criminal law and justice.
In an ideal world, or America for this matter, minors (let’s say 13+, most have already hit puberty by then [the average onset of puberty for American girls is ~12 years old, but girls, including myself, can experience the onset of puberty as early as 8, or even 7 years old, and boys experiencing the onset of puberty from ages 9-13]) can apply for the right to consent, and the way this would be done would be that they would take an emotional maturity test. If they score under the age of 16-21 (states can decide how much maturity is enough to have sex to be the equivalent of the “standard,” “general” 18 year-old), their right to consent will be denied, and that they can try again, if they wish, after 6-12 months have passed. Age of consent laws can remain at 16-18 (in the United States.) If emotionally mature and stable enough, and have a full understanding of sex and its possible consequences, and will take full responsibility for themselves, they should be allowed to have sex legally!
But some, or even most will say that this testing process is a lengthy process, or too much work for something “so small,” but this has become a serious issue. Examples include this recent case between a 19-year-old male and a 14-year-old female. Teenager’s Jailing Brings a Call to Fix Sex Offender Registries - The New York Times
Too many people are being prosecuted and charged for things like this, many lives being destroyed. We have enough people behind bars, the United States ranking #2 for global incarceration rates, with 2.2 million adult in federal, state, and county jails, accounting for about 0.91% of the adult population, or 1 out of 110 people (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics [JBS], 2013.)
Over 50% of teens (15-18) have engaged in sexual acts, which proves that not “everyone is doing it,” but it’s certainly a majority.
If we want to be simple with age of consent laws, the age of consent should be lowered to 13-15 in the U.S.
If a 13 year-old wants to have sex, let him/her. They obviously have already hit puberty, which makes them (mostly) physically mature, thus technically making anyone who has sex with them a pedophile. If you want to argue this, it should be considered pedophilia that a 70 year-old has sex with an 18 year-old. A number of men are attracted to women who have the appearance of someone aged as young as 12-15; there’s even porn specifically made and targeted towards this audience, and a number of porn videos in this nature have tens of millions of views.
There is a reason why there are other criminal laws in place for rape, molestation, etc, so I don’t see why age should be a problem.
There is too much of a societal and social stigma on age-gaps and what age is “appropriate” to have sex, and it is eating at, destroying the lives of the people living under such circumstances.
There certainly is not a large market of men who are generally, or only attracted to this age group, but this will certainly improve the quality of life for a number of people and prevent them from being criminalized and social outcasts for the rest of their lives.
Just my two-cents.
A sept join date. And a NAMBLAlike message. No thank you.
Sounded pretty hetero to me.