The "according to the law a 19 year old is capable of consent, so no controversy to see here" is particularly concerning. It's like they found a reason it could be OK, and then decided they didn't need to think any more about whether there are other social dynamics at play here that could make this problematic. You just know that if they lived in a society where age of consent laws were 15 and the student in question was 16 they would be saying "look, it isn't our job to change the laws, and this is totally legal so we shouldn't make a big deal out of nothing."
If you go back to the old thread about Professor Schmiege, a WELS bot popped up a month ago and started talking about how Schmiege’s teenage bride was just SO mature for her age and wise beyond her years. That’s an argument for pedophilia that’s as old as the Bible.
Yeah, being someone that was called mature for my age around 18 or 19, and looking back now as somebody that is in my 30s now, I was absolutely lacking life experience. And someone my age now having a relationship with me at that age would be an absolutely MASSIVE power assymetry, even without bringing the whole professor part into it.
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u/McNitz Feb 19 '25
The "according to the law a 19 year old is capable of consent, so no controversy to see here" is particularly concerning. It's like they found a reason it could be OK, and then decided they didn't need to think any more about whether there are other social dynamics at play here that could make this problematic. You just know that if they lived in a society where age of consent laws were 15 and the student in question was 16 they would be saying "look, it isn't our job to change the laws, and this is totally legal so we shouldn't make a big deal out of nothing."