Call me a pedophile

Really. Go ahead. I have no shame.

Well, perhaps I should elaborate first. Actually, I should first define what I think a "pedophile" is. A pedophile is a person in western culture that is (solely) attracted to people under the age of 18. Okay, based on this definition, I might not be a pedophile, but I might be a flexible-pedophile. (Wow, that sounds really wrong....)

Now, don't get me wrong, I've never done anything with someone under the age of 18 ever (which says a lot about how much of a loser I was back in the day). But every now and then, I can't help but see an underage hottie and think, "Damn!" If you've never been in this situation, I seriously do NOT believe you.

Why do we as a society place so much emphases on the age of 18? "Oh my god! You're only 17 years, 364 days old! I canNOT think you're hot! Oh, look, it's finally midnight on your 18th birthday ... Hey hot stuff!" Maybe I'm not looking at things the right way. Is it because underage people are "innocent" and shouldn't be "corrupted"? Does being 18 make you finally able to give consent? Are 17-year-olds incapable? What about 13-year-olds? (I mention 13-year-olds because there was a photo of a 13-year-old who had pretty eyes in Saturday's paper....)

Of course, age IS totally instituationalized. And then we sometimes throw in ageism with sexism, racism, and other -isms. We can easily argue these other -isms are also instituationalized, but age is so easy to do this with. We have to be 4 or 5 to start school. We have to be 16 (or sometimes 15) to get a job in the U.S. We have to be 16 to get a driver's license. We have to be 18 to vote, join the military, buy cigarettes, buy/do porn, buy lottery tickets, gamble, etc. We have to be 21 to drink. We have to be 25 to rent a car without "underage surcharges." We have to be 25 to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. We have to be 30 to serve in the U.S. Senate. We have to be 35 to be serve as U.S. President. We have to be 65 to retire or get Social Security benefits. The list goes on and on. (*Some of the things I listed may not be 100% accurate, but the general idea still maintains.)

Perhaps the fact that age is so ingrained in our social/political/cultural/economic systems causes us to literally set mental bars or blocks when we interact with people just below one of the crucial age thresholds. Is this right? Is it ethical? More importantly, is it logical?

Anyway, back to my original reasoning for writing this entry: I think it's okay that I might think some people under the age of 18 are hot. I mean, I'm not lusting or pursuing or anything like that. I'm just appreciating beauty. I got called "handsome" or some variation of it while growing up until middle school and then post-middle school (I had an EXTREMELY awkward middle school phase) by relatives and my parents' adult friends. I doubt anyone thought anything pedophiliac of it.

I'm not saying anyone is calling me a pedophile because I usually keep these thoughts to myself, but why do I feel bad for thinking such thoughts? The correct answer (or at least I want it to be the correct answer): I shouldn't.


I swear this music video is unrelated. It's a live performance of Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep":