1902: Arbitrary

[Electric Squirrel]

First, Myq used "arbitrary" correctly and, personally, I agree with his assessment.
Second, how the hell is anyone on this teachers side? She is a teacher! Age is not the issue here. We could debate how sketchy it is that a woman in her mid 30's was pursuing a 18 year old, but the truth is that it doesn't matter. She is a teacher. If she were 40* and her student were 42*, it would still be wrong!


*arbitrary ages

[Lanfear]

The ages are pretty arbitrary - how else would the age of consent be so widely different? And I am not even talking about different countries (because Keith doesn't respect anything outside the USA anyway) just look at the differences in the US. Nobody did a study testing at what age starting to have sex fucks you up most/least.
It's 16 (hey driving age) or 18 (hey you are probably out of school now) or 17 (hey let's meet in the middle).
How is that not the definition of arbitrary???

[flerchin]

Chemda seems to be saying that the line is not drawn at random, there is some reasoning behind it. Myq seems to want the words to be right, and not really hear what Chemda is saying. The age of consent is arbitrary, but not drawn at random or for no reason.

Also, Myq may have his Master's, but Chemda has feelings.

[starscream]

Maybe if Danny hadn't diluted the meaning of 'copyright Myq Kaplan' all these years, Myq might have some legal recourse here.

[thirteen]

Really like the debate about the teacher. Keith is totally right.

[BrianAlt]

I give a fuck.

[lizsquiz]

Originally Posted by Phaenix

For the record, neither I nor my son are circumcised. No woman has ever had a problem with the appearance of my penis. Your mileage is not likely to vary, but might.

By the time a woman finds out if a guy is circumcised or not, she's kind of chip-committed. Also, having an opinion on if you're circumcised or not is totally useless: you're either not able or not willing to switch by then. Not able to reattach it and not willing to cut it off as an adult.

[myq]

Originally Posted by Phaenix

Trust his nerdy brain!

Also, circumcision is mutilation. It might be steeped in your people's history or some such nonsense, but I sure hope you're not wearing mixed materials or eating shellfish.

There are some things that are steeped in history that are not nonsense though, are there not?
And there are some bodily adjustments that are done for health reasons (taking out tonsils, wisdom teeth, that sort of thing) that don't qualify as "mutilation," yes? Sometimes preventatively? It is my understanding that circumcising actually decreases risk of future STI transmission, HIV, etc., so that it's not JUST past nonsense, but also current science.

Trust my nerdy brain! (Or look these things up! I recommend that for everyone! Self included.)

Originally Posted by Electric Squirrel

First, Myq used "arbitrary" correctly and, personally, I agree with his assessment.

Thank you! I assess with your agreement!

Originally Posted by Lord of the Cock Rings

I forget, when was it that Chemda earned her master's degree in linguistics?


OH RIGHT, that was Myq.

end of debate.

I appreciate the support, but I don't necessarily know all the meanings of all the words. Debate can continue! (Or if you say it can't, the debate continues!)

Originally Posted by flerchin

Chemda seems to be saying that the line is not drawn at random, there is some reasoning behind it. Myq seems to want the words to be right, and not really hear what Chemda is saying. The age of consent is arbitrary, but not drawn at random or for no reason.

Also, Myq may have his Master's, but Chemda has feelings.

I also have feelings! And I care about Chemda's, and I DO think that we agreed about most of the actual issues, but I also was interested in the discrepancies between our personal interpretations of "arbitrary."

Originally Posted by starscream

Maybe if Danny hadn't diluted the meaning of 'copyright Myq Kaplan' all these years, Myq might have some legal recourse here.

First, I sue Danny. Then, the world!

[DaveNJ]

The teacher should absolutely be stripped of licensing and jailed.

People seem to forget that schools are places where kids (even 18 year old kids) are mandated to attend by government and society. Teachers are given tremendous power over their lives, and because of this, they are subject to different standards of conduct than, say, a creepy guy loitering at McDonald's. Myq and Chemda both noticed the power imbalance, but only Keith is the one recognizing that this was a gross abuse of power.

Regardless of the ages involved, this teacher took advantage of a student in a sexual manner. That should be grounds for both termination and trial. We can dispute whether or not the 18 year old was technically an adult, but it doesn't really matter. The license that a high school teacher has over the life of a student means that no relationship between the two parties can be truly consensual, which is the same logical grounding for our rules regarding statutory rape.

Even if this guy thought he could consent, he was wrong. She was a 31 year-old adult and licensed professional who should have known better.

This is coming from a guy who taught 18 year olds when I was substantially younger than 31, and I would never, ever consider such a relationship with a student to be anything other than abhorrent. It's a breach on both a professional and a moral level, and she should be in jail.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by myq

It is my understanding that circumcising actually decreases risk of future STI transmission, HIV, etc., so that it's not JUST past nonsense, but also current science.

i've heard this a lot and always without explanation. what's the science behind it?