It’s not illegal, but it’s still weird, creepy and potentially harmful and no amount of lambasting about “the problematic age gap discourse” will make it not true.

    • LiberalSocialist [any,they/them]@hexbear.netOP
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      2 years ago

      Kim is wrong about this on art. Art for its own sake is important and is one of the reasons for the revolution, to free art from the constrains of capitalism and needing to make money.

      • 420stalin69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 years ago

        Art for it’s own sake is pure idealism, anti-materialist, and bourgeoisie self-indulgence.

        Art cannot exist for its own sake because all art exists in a historical context. The idea that art is or even can be some pure self-expression, some kind of raw creative exercise, is quite literally the height of idealism.

        All art is in fact an act of communication rooted in shared experience, history, and biology. Denying this is engaging in bourgeoisie idealism. It’s a pretense that meaning exists or can exist in the abstract divorced from the material. It’s a pretense that the value of a thing exists or can exist in the thing rather than it’s function for a human or for humanity. This is why art “for its own sake” is idealism, because art cannot be for its own sake and engaging in the myth that it can be for its own sake is anti-material anti-scientific anti-dialectic idealism.

        All art is an act of communication and denying the communicative function of a specific work of art is denying that something is being communicated. A denial of responsibility for the communication. Recognizing that all art has a communicative function places a burden upon the artist to be conscious of what they are communicating.

        • BatCountryMusicFan [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          2 years ago

          Art for it’s own sake is pure idealism, anti-materialist, and bourgeoisie self-indulgence.

          The idea that art is or even can be some pure self-expression, some kind of raw creative exercise, is quite literally the height of idealism.

          Brb gonna go tell my neice the finger painting she made this weekend is bourgeoise self-indulgence

  • CA0311 [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    someday we will study what drives people to constantly start conversations with random strangers about who should and should not be having sex, imagining all the details that make them angry and constantly proposing new rules about it

  • ElGosso [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    Every time I see something like this get posted the age gap gets narrower and narrower, and I’m excited to see where it ends up

    • Flinch [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 years ago

      :volcel-vanguard: ! ! ATTENTION CITIZEN !! :volcel-vanguard:

      the Volcel Vanguard has found you guilty of “making whoopie” with an individual 6 months your junior. Please report to the nearest :gulag: for immediate summary execution. Thank you! :volcel-judge:

  • KurtVonnegut [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    I find it preposterous that you’re talking about “power dynamics” when the 25 year old in this situation, at the time, was a poor intern at The Young Turks (making $25,000 / year in Los Angeles) who has lifelong body dysmorphia from being overweight as a teenager. While on the other hand, the 19 year old in this situation was literally

    spoiler

    Michael Jackson’s daughter.

    I mean, if anything, the 19 year old had more power in that relationship. She literally had 1,000,000 x more money than he did, at the time. He was literally a broke-ass boy toy to her. Do you not get that? Does six years of age make up for millions of dollars? And a nineteen year old who grew up in that environment is going to be very, very mature for their age.

    tl;dr: LET STRAIGHT WOMEN HAVE BOY TOYS.

    She consents. He consents. They were both adults. They were both mature. They are literally still friends with each other, on good terms. Please don’t fall into the negative side of being parasocial. This is not even something worth talking about.

    • LiberalSocialist [any,they/them]@hexbear.netOP
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      2 years ago

      This post was inspired by Hasan but is not about him, nor his specific situation. I’m not going to address your other points because they’re irrelevant to this discussion which is about a topic much broader than that.

  • amber2 [she/her,they/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    My roommates met at around those ages (apparently they met in college and didn’t realize the age gap until it was too late) and honestly I thought it was messed up for awhile but now they’re 23 and 30, making a life for themselves, supporting the other at their lowest and loving each other

    I’d still agree with you generally, I have no plans to recreate their relationship, but it is possible for it to work out

    • artificialset [she/her, fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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      2 years ago

      I’ve seen similar situations as well. Context is always important, so weird absolutist takes like OP’s miss that completely. Some situations would be fine, some would be inappropriate, but it’s not all or nothing.

  • FoolishFool [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    As long as everyone’s of-age and consenting, I don’t really care who fucks who tbh.

    Not aimed at OP specifically, but this line of thought just seems like “Puritanism, but woke this time” to me.

  • TreadOnMe [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    OP, what’s it like being clinically allergic to context? Every other question you pose basically boils down to historically particular context, this one especially.

  • wackywayneridesagain [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    :shrug-outta-hecks:

    I could believe a lot of such relationships aren’t for the best, but I was dating 17 years my senior @ 18 and 31 years my senior @ 28. With that background, I’m fine with it personally.

  • maya [she/her, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    There isn’t a defined line for when an age gap is bad because it’s only one factor and while there is obviously a power dynamic between differently aged people that doesn’t necessarily make the relationship harmful. As others have pointed out, there are power dynamics in every relationship. What’s important is whether it’s being utilized or not.

    I think it’s ultimately problem of alienation under capitalism. Ideally, under communism, you could rely more on the community to prevent predatory or abusive relationships without having super strict rules. I think 19-26 is in a grey area, it could easily be predatory but it’s possible for it not to be. I’d rather err on the side of bodily autonomy.

    • SadStruggle92 [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      2 years ago

      while there is obviously a power dynamic between differently aged people

      IDK, I feel like that’s an incomplete proposition, to some extent at least.

      The things that typically make for an “power-dynamic” in a relationship, like accumulated personal wealth, social experience, social networks & ones overall position in society are all to some extent or another correlated with age to some extent. But y’know, none of those are necessarily guarantees; at least not within the specific age-range specified in the post at any rate.

  • booty [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 years ago

    I am 23. Whenever I accidentally come across nude pictures of an 18 year old (sometimes unavoidable on the internet, even when not searching for it) my immediate reaction is “ew, that is a child, I don’t want to see that”

    I cannot imagine what kind of disgusting freak you have to be to pursue these children into your 30s and 40s. :gulag: