• Is Ephebophilia morally wrong when you're a newly titled adult?
    9 replies, posted
Ephebophilia: sexual attraction to adolescents age ranging from 15 - 19 (though for the sake of argument lets keep the range from 15 -17) Having turned 18 a month ago I am now considered in the eyes of the state and its laws, an adult. However when the day came, I felt not much different than my 17 year old self. I still retained my adolescence but now I can buy legal drugs, own a car etc.. With my adolescence follows a sexual attraction for other adolescences. However being deemed as an adult this means that I am engaging in underage sex (though this varies from country to country) Is it morally wrong then if I partake in sex with a minor, when I myself still feel like a minor?
It really depends on how young the minor is.
I don't think it counts as a phelia if you are within the age range, because that's just you being attracted to people your own age.
Being attracted to 16 year olds as an 18 year old is not morally wrong. Becoming an "adult" the moment you turn 18 is an arbitrary thing and has nothing to do with actual morality.
[QUOTE=isnipeu;45727064]I don't think it counts as a phelia if you are within the age range, because that's just you being attracted to people your own age.[/QUOTE] Yes but the difference is not so much in age, but in title and responsibility. I am recognized as an adult while they a minor.
I think there is one of those "unwritten rules" where is when you are like 20+ you shouldn't be with anybody under the age of 18 or else you'd be frowned upon i suppose. Basically anybody further than 3 years difference from each other under the age of 22 is considered iffy.
[QUOTE=Arctic Snow;45727102]Yes but the difference is not so much in age, but in title and responsibility. I am recognized as an adult while they a minor.[/QUOTE] That doesn't make the distinction not arbitrary. And so what? Is the developmental gap between an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old so huge as to make it creepy for the 18-year-old to like the 17-year-old? Even their "one year age gap" is pretty much just an artifact of how we measure age. They could be three months apart in age. But of course when you start getting into an age gap like 19/15 (in my opinion, obviously those ages are up to personal interpretation), the difference in maturity is (generally) obvious, and it does become a bit creepy and exploitative. That said, it's not morally wrong to feel attracted, that's not something I believe you can even control, but it is morally wrong to pursue the attraction.
Lol, well, as far as the "moral" side goes... Basically okay provided your both within couples of years of each other. Exactly how far apart before it gets creepy/and or weird could depend on the individuals levels of maturity as much as the exact age. Mind, I'd be careful of the legal side, especially in the US, remember reading about some 16 year old who ended up with a 10 year jail sentence for having sex with a 15 year old due to some law about aural sex with a minor...
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;45727257]That doesn't make the distinction not arbitrary. And so what? Is the developmental gap between an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old so huge as to make it creepy for the 18-year-old to like the 17-year-old? Even their "one year age gap" is pretty much just an artifact of how we measure age. They could be three months apart in age. But of course when you start getting into an age gap like 19/15 (in my opinion, obviously those ages are up to personal interpretation), the difference in maturity is (generally) obvious, and it does become a bit creepy and exploitative. That said, it's not morally wrong to feel attracted, that's not something I believe you can even control, but it is morally wrong to pursue the attraction.[/QUOTE] That's understandable. So then what is your opinion of someone that has just turned 18 and decides to have sex with someone that ages 30+? Because in accordance to the legal system it is perfectly acceptable, but if we assume the 18 y/o still exhibits adolescent behavior, would you consider that morally incorrect and exploitative?
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