Reminder: if a 50-year-old man uses his power to pressure a reluctant 18-year-old woman into sex, the numbers 50 and 18 have literally... nothing... to... do... with why this is morally (or legally) wrong. Mrs. Grundy's salacious tut-tut about the woman's youth insults the woman.
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It's true. There's no sharp cutoffs in reality. Some 16-year-olds are wise enough to make up their own minds, some 21-year-olds aren't. But it is *problematic* to try to pick and choose. Society drew a line and I think that may have been wise.
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Looking away from the nonconsent to tut-tut about the age difference implies you somehow know she couldn't have been some 50-year-old's equal and competent to start such a relationship on her own if she'd so chosen. That's trivializing her choices, and not at a good time.
End of conversation
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They're not orthogonal though. IFF there was no pressure, or if the 18 year old was the pursuer, then definitely. But pressure is exacerbated by age differential. Younger people lack practice saying "no" in no uncertain terms. Older people know how to coerce better!
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An acquaintance was coerced by her parents into marrying her first cousin at 19, in the UK. (She was married for a month and got a divorce.) Would they have been able to coerce her at 50 or even 30? Doubtful.
End of conversation
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