When I was a kid, in 7th grade science, I overheard a boy asking a girl out. She rejected him, he wasn't her type. He asked what her type was, she mentioned a guy she was seeing, and casually mentioned he was 22. At the time, I was thinking this poor kid was woefully outmatched and would never have a chance. A few years later, it dawned on me just how fucked up that whole situation was.

being a girl is scary cuz the moment you turn 13, creepy men are ogling at you

This is actually a destabilizing piece of society. Younger men become disaffected when older men, who are better partners, pick up much younger women (I am talking only about adults.). Younger women are then competing with older women for more established men, which can destroy families.

Largely, we have fetishized youth so much that this isn't something that will correct itself. I suppose the standards of beauty can change again, as they always do, but for now we are stuck with a real problem.

At college, there were 16 and 17 year old girls with boyfriends in their twenties. Even at the time, I thought that was weird.

At least I never heard about anything younger than that.

When I was 14 I got turned down by a friend who proceeded to date a 27 year old man.

competing with grown men

competing with grown conservatives. the list is almost to 1500 examples.

In school, when I was 13, one of my friends was "dating" a 19 year old. I vividly remember how cool we all thought this was. Reflecting on it makes me feel sick.

One of the dudes in my gay group tonight:

"My momma cleaned hunter's cabins and those hunters were real nice men if you know what I mean."

He was talking about a time when he was early teens.

So it's not just girls who get this treatment! If that makes you feel any more egalitarian.

I was hanging out with this girl my age in high school a lot, we were both 17, I thought it was going well, then some full grown adult said she was pretty at Walmart and I had to move on with my life.

When i was in grade 9 a girl in my class started dating a guy that just graduated. His family was Hella poor but this dude had the nicest of everything cars, clothes etc. He was very obviously a 19 y/o drug dealer dating a 14 y/o tgat couldn't even qualify for a learning permit.

And everyone was just cool with it. This was in tulsa Oklahoma circa 1999/2000

Members of Congress, clergymen, the fucking PRESIDENT. What's a boy to do!?

One thing I HATE about military bases. All the E1 soldiers wandering the local high schools looking for girls. Was really sickening

Yeah but they've got the market cornered on Catholic priests, that's gotta count for something.

Still remember my middle school girlfriend brag about cheating on me and fucking guys that were buying her beer. Would have been nice to get authorities involved if I had anyone to talk to and wasn't being neglected and abused at home. Kind of wild to lose hope in people at the age of 12.

Bad times.

My husband kicked me out once he realized flashing his money at 19 year olds worked. The teenagers didn’t ask him to stop playing FIFA and walk his dogs.

Gross. Accurate. Took me way too long to understand why my friend’s dad was acting the way he was around 13-17. Decades later and it still sickens me.