I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that all the examples in Will Saletan’s article on differential ages of consent in Slate.com revolve around older men obtaining consent from younger women.
To be sure he includes a single “to be sure” (or in this case a “standards apply, in reverse”) but by and large the piece is a nice exegesis on men squeezing girls to see if they’re ripe.
The lowest standard is whether the partner you’re targeting is sexually developed as an object. If her body is childlike, you’re seriously twisted. But if it’s womanly, and you’re too young to think straight, maybe we’ll cut you some slack.
The next standard is whether your target is intellectually developed as a subject. We’re not talking about her body anymore; we’re talking about her mind. When you were younger, we cut you slack for thinking only about boobs. But now we expect you to think about whether she’s old enough to judge the physical and emotional risks of messing around. The same standards apply, in reverse, if you’re a woman.
Personally, while I happen to acknowledge that most cases of consent do revolve around older men and younger women (not least because nearly all relations revolve such age differential.) And I also acknowledge that consent cases involving older women and younger boys, while often sensationalized, are comparatively rare. However it’s also the case that while boy children don’t have anything as distinct as an age of first menstruation, they are nevertheless as susceptible to the perils of sexualization, manipulation, and objectification by adults as girls.
I think, given that one “to be sure,” that he intended the piece to work both ways. If so, though, I think if it were me I might have made the same points minus the loving details.
