“A 15 year old girl seduced by a 23 year old man is likely hungering for love and attention, and is getting taken advantage of. “
Exactly. And that is why I think it is worse in this case than an older female/younger male scenario. the psychological damage to the girl is likely to be great. In a case where the boy is 15 and the girl is in her early 20s for example, the boy is likely to be bragging to his friends, not ready to slit his wrists.
You bring up another thing to consider and that is that if a girl gets the appropriate love attention and respect from her father she is much less likely to fall for such a ploy from an older man. Maybe this is why I family never had to deal with such problems with my daughter. I would like to think so anyway. (She sure turned out to be a good kid. Well, adult now, I suppose LOL)
So in both your opinions all women who married at the age of 12 in the past were “psychologically damaged?” What is the nature of this damage? Does it have a name? Or will you admit that women in the past married much younger than they did today with no damage to the women?
Is the difference the stability of the domestic situation in the past (which is what I’d tend to believe)? So would that then make the statutory rape of a female ok as long as you stayed together and supported her? Your post-apocalyptic future sounds interesting.
While the boy is “bragging to his friends” (which I don’t disagree with) what is the adult seducer doing? What does she get out of it?
Sex is hardly hard to find for any woman. No matter how ugly the woman is there is a man out there who is uglier and desperate.
So what does the adult woman get out of it? Could it be that she enjoys the power? The control? The ability to demand anything?
What is she getting from the boy that a man can’t give her? When you discover the answer to that you’ll understand why older women seducing boys is immoral and rightfully illegal.
Also interesting is how perceptions vary. For instance, according to this lawyer's 2008 website (http://www.dallascriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2008/05/texas-age-of-consent-law.html), a child is defined as anyone under 17 who is not your spouse. According to another site, you can marry in Texas at 16 if you have written parental consent, or if you have received an order from the Texas district court authorizing your marriage.
So the definition of a "child" is very fluid. At 16 or 17, you're a child unless you're married. They also have a "Romeo & Juliet" clause, so if the woman had been a few years younger, she would not be charged even if he was 15 and she was, at 18, a legal adult.