#Especially when those 15-17 year olds come from varying cultural backgrounds with different life experiences

[thefage]

I once had an English teacher who assigned us books that were definitely not all appropriate for class, and I really disliked her because, being a queer trans person, I would read it through that lens, but she always tried to dismiss my analysis of the books through this lens, but I think the worst thing she ever did was assign us Lovestar. She wanted a book originally written by an Icelander in the curriculum because this was in Iceland, but I have no idea why she chose that one. I remember every single detail of what happened in Lovestar, and I really wish I didn't. She also assigned us The God of Small Things, from which I remember most of the plot, but none of the lessons it was meant to teach. These books affected me so much in none of the ways I think they were meant to, and honestly looking back on the combination of books she assigned it also says a lot about her character and personal life that I do not care to know.

[in-defense-of-loki]

Ranting, Feel Free to Ignore

So I’ve read this essay by a Tumblr user on Antis and their use of the term paedophilia, and... I don’t think it tackles the real issue at all. Because the person who wrote it says they’ve found 4 categories that the Antis typically fit in... only none of them do I actually fully agree with. None of the 4, and while I would be considered an Anti by this person (since I post in anti tags and proclaim to be anti-certain-ships), I’m also not special in my thinking. Worse, I see shippers of problematic ships praising the essay, using it to validate themselves and their arguments against antis. So this essay now feels more like an attack on people who are trying to fend off any notion that paedophilia is acceptable rather than solve any actual issue.

The essay itself goes into how antis on Tumblr have blurred the definition of paedophilia by defining it in various ways in accordance with their own views. To the point professionals have a hard time giving the term any identifiers. As someone who studies psychology for a hobby, I feel like there are identifiers. Sure, there is a sense of morality that goes into it, but since I also study upon BDSM culture, I could safely say that the identifiers should be if both parties can accurately, completely, and safely consent AND if there isn’t a power imbalance between the two. There are no doubt other factors that tie into it, but I believe these two are important and must go hand in hand, specifically. Because you can have power imbalance between two adults: I just watched a documentary about how a woman killed her husband, and one of the problems that arose was his use of control over her since he was the heir of a huge company and she came from a poor background. The consent issue can also happen between two adults, sure, a person drunk and passed out on a couch cannot consent. That’s why these two things must go hand in hand in defining what is and isn’t pedophilia. That’s also how you can have two kids who grew up with each other and fall in love NOT be defined pedophilia. Because apparently that was also an issue.

They mentioned these categories encompass a number of different arguments that are incongruent with the clinical definition of the term, which defines “pedophilia” as sexual interest in pre-pubescent children by someone who is post-pubescent. Another problem arises when the essay fully admits that the data was collected over two weeks.....but only collected 21 posts?? Just 21? I’m pretty sure you can get more than that on Tumblr, so that already points out a very shallow study pool, which has debunked studies before... Should I digress?

The four categories were as follows:

Legality: This is straight forward, the term is based on lawful definition. In the state I live in, age of consent is 16. In Japan, age of consent is largely thought of as 13, but in prefectures it is actually 16-18. In Tokyo, for example, the age must be 18. But these are just age of consent, the age of being considered an adult is different. And that is the age most use, like in the States it is 18. But the essay uses this post quote: “a fifteen year old having sex with anyone is pedophilia. That’s not even an argument, it’s the law...” Well yes, I would see a problem with that definition as this carries a purity culture connotation and doesn’t define the partner’s age. What if it was a 15 and another 15 year old? Another is: “It’s p*dophilia. [Character] is 17, a teenager, and [Character] is 18, an adult.” I’ve seen relationships that span 5 years come to the hurdle of one aging into adulthood before the other, and forced to wait the length of time before the other finally turns 18. It sucks, sure, but it is not pedophilia. I cannot count myself in this category as, while I believe the law is important and has purpose, I disagree with both examples.

More than those examples is the third one, which I have a problem with the framing the author uses. The example is: “If you are under 18 and I have followed you, please feel free to ask me to unfollow...” And proceeds to say it was tagged with antimap. This... I don’t see a problem with. The author frames it as the possibility that the quoted user thinks any interaction between an adult and minor is pedophilic and it doesn’t? Unless the user specifically states that, no it doesn’t. The user is trying to make others aware that they respect boundaries, that they do not wish for their actions to make others uncomfortable because they understand there is an issue with pedophilia even if it’s not something they actively engage in. They want underaged users to feel like they can create their own safe space and not feel like it’s being invaded. Setting boundaries is a good thing and does not always implicate a negative narrative. If any implication is to be had, it should be that victims of pedophilia may be sensitive to certain interactions with adults even if there isn’t the threat of actual predatorial behavior and should be allowed to voice their concerns.

Psychological Readiness: This is the power imbalance one, usually characterized by an age gap, with underlying belief that predatory reason are the only explanation for an older partner having romantic/sexual relations with someone much younger. And that’s it. Apparently people believe that if someone is 25 and their partner is 40, it counts as pedo? The power imbalance isn’t actually defined by an age gap, I can’t think of any that would be. A 25 year old and a 14 year old is a power imbalance because of experience, resources, and an ability for manipulation on one side because of the lack of the former mentioned and development on the other. Not because they’re 11 years apart. The years can affect the experience and resources, however. So while, yes, I would use the power imbalance issue, it’s not defined as the author has come to find it is on Tumblr. So this one I cannot categorize myself in, either, because age gap doesn’t bother me. My ex was 5 years older than me. Maturity is an issue between a minor and an adult, but not really between two minors or two adults? Then again, maturity can be subjective because I have found myself in positions where I am more mature than others older than me. A used quote: “behavior preying upon the youth/innocence/inexperience of another person” is more broad than pedophilia and is more classified as “predatorial behavior” which can be found in pedophilia but is not exclusive to. They then say the Psychological Readiness Definition is: a predatory older character and a younger, more inexperienced partner who is perceived as mentally and emotionally vulnerable. Yes, you can apply that to pedophilia, but again, it’s not limited to. It’s about the intent and actions of the older person/character as well.

Perception of Youth: This views pedophilia as an attraction to characters who look or act in an innocent or child-like manner, regardless of their actual age. Underlying belief is that it is an attraction to the traits of youth rather than youth itself. This one is possibly harder to pin down, as there is a problem with predators using it as a gateway or even an excuse to cover up their more sinister intents. I should know, I’m in my late 20s and I look like I’m still in high school. Last year, when I went to visit my oma in the hospital, the nurses didn’t think I was old enough to be there, as apparently 16 was the minimum age requirement. This is not a brag, this has actually negatively impacted my life. I get targeted by creeps in abundance, unfortunately. And it is hereditary, my mother was mistaken to be my older sister when I WAS in high school. Because of my experience, this is harder to use to define pedophilia despite pedophiles using it in nefarious ways. Especially since there is a whole kink surrounding the look/act young thing, they’re called “littles” in a certain community. But it is different, as that community fully focuses on consent being the basest, fundamental rule above else. Lolicon is also used as a gateway into perverse behavior towards inappropriate receivers, even if it did start out as just a fashion. I believe this more points out the blurred lines because of all the varying subjects. Like myself. I don’t act young, but I sure as hell look like jailbait. I can’t even properly explore the aromantic aspect of myself because of my baby-face. But I did read one of my favorite Webtoons called Empress Remarried in which an adult woman DOES act like she’s immature to be cutesy and perceived as innocent. So this... this is harder to use as a basis for pedophilia, and this is also where most of people’s morality comes into question and where opinions of individuals tend to define pedophilia for oneself rather than as an official term. I cannot be categorized into this one.

Canonical Stasis: this one attempts to dictate appropriate and inappropriate ways to interact with canon in fandom by citing the canon materials as the defining material. Okay, don’t really see an issue yet. The Canonical Stasis Definition argues that aging up characters in fandom beyond their canon ages and shipping them is pedophilia. Whoa, that’s...not what I understood your first sentence to be, but okay. Let’s dissect it. Most anti posts I read about how canonical ages are used inappropriately is when the timeline DOESN’T actually age them up properly. Looking at you HnY... I’ve heard plenty of SessRin shippers writing fanfiction in which their ages are adjusted appropriately, and sometimes it’s even an AU where they didn’t meet when she was a child. I was never bothered by them. But Yashahime? Their timeline puts Rin at 14 when pregnant, and 15 when giving birth, despite the original series putting Rin’s age at 7/8 and Sesshomaru at 19 human years. So that makes him 24/25 when he had sexual relations with her. This is not Rin being aged up appropriately, and I’ve seen SessRin shippers actually upset with the Yashahime portrayal. And I don’t blame them. Of course, there are much louder (and much more) SessRin shippers that want to beat down any disagreement with how Yashahime portrayed their OTP, and THAT’S where I have the problem. Because Yashahime created the problem. So I cannot be categorized into this one.

Reading the examples the author uses makes it clear to me that again, this is something that is defined by individual opinion or morality rather than actual pedophilia definition. Because the examples are “if you age up a character just to put them in a sexual position, then you just wanted to depict a nsfw imagery of a minor.” Which, in the case of Yashahime stans, I can definitely see, because Rin IS still a minor depicted to have sexual relations with an adult. But for someone who actually aged up the characters? That’s a little more dubious. And it’s dubious because sure, there could absolutely be predators who do that, and just get away with it by saying “oh, they’re older actually.” But there are people who fell in love with the characters, wanting to see them grow and explore new sides of themselves, sexuality being one of them, and that’s being lumped in with actual problematic behavior. Again, it boils down to intent.

The essay does go on to talk about a fifth undefined definition which talks about what I mentioned before: two people or characters who knew each other as children, growing up together and eventually falling in love, being classified as another form a pedophilia. This construction is predicated of the core belief that, if the characters knew each other ash children, they would never be able to see each other as adults. And I think it’s because there’s so much dubious situations surrounding acts of pedophilia that this is even called into question. Of course I do not believe it to be pedophilia, but pedophilic behavior has made people call it into question because of their own beliefs, morals, and opinions. It really doesn’t have to do with the original, clinical definition of pedophilia. I mean, our words change all the time, gay was originally happy. That’s it. So yes, we are going to see a change in the way certain things are defined, and unfortunately this happens to be one. Is it unfortunate? Yes, because it’s still a real problem and this does mean that personal beliefs are muddying the waters in tackling this real issue. But this essay is also an issue, because it points out extreme beliefs rather than having a well-rounded subject pool on how antis really are. I follow more than several, and I see their posts, and I couldn’t categorize them into any of these 4 by the author’s definition, either. I remember reading about how Rin’s appearance was posed as a problem but only in tandem with Yashahime still portraying her as a minor due to their timeline, so that hardly counts as Perception of Youth or Canonical Stasis...

I wanna say this essay was trying to basically point out that if we are going to go against paedophilia, then we should have a unified front, but it feels like it’s just targeting antis for the perceived wishy-washiness. It doesn’t even provide a resolution, or a suggestion. And the problem is morality DOES go into how people view pedophilila, even with the clinical definition, and there is an obvious difference in morality from person to person. For my own example, let’s use murder. You hear a news story where a man has killed a woman. First thought might be that he was just another predator, she probably didn’t give him something he wanted, or a myriad of reasons why a man might kill a woman, typically the consensus is that she is the victim and he’s the murderer. What if more information is had and he killed her in self defense? The public’s opinion will change, some may still see her the victim, others may use this scenario to signal boost that men can be abused by women, too. In the eyes of the law, he’s still a murderer, and will still get prosecuted despite the truth being that he saved himself. Your morality will shape how you view the situation, whether you still would call him a murderer, or a survivor, or maybe even just a victim. He could be all three, even, and your perception will define that to you.

Now I can agree that some things labeled paedophilia by users in these examples have no substance because it boils down to personal opinion, but also there’s a huge problem that arises from this essay in that shippers of problematic ships are now going to use it in their defense, and the author of this essay is turned in a bad light. So the essay is getting a lot of support.... from the wrong sort of people. And the discussions really feel like an excuse for paedophilia, rather than tackling that as a problem. Sure, there’s odd discourse in antis in this perspective, but instead of going at the antis like this, why wasn’t the essay about paedophilia and how to define it, itself? I want to give the author the benefit of the doubt, but it almost feels like they are shippers of problematic ships and wanted to take an academic standpoint in their own defense.

Because another problem I thought of reading this was that not all anti-shippers are against problematic ships because they’re defined by pedophilia? For example, I’m fully anti Lokius, which is Loki and Mobius pairing. Why? Because Mobius willfully and purposefully tortured Loki. So the ship is basically an abuser and their victim, and since I’ve had a relationship like that, I’m fully against it. But...they’re both adults? This person would still define me as an anti, since I am vehemently against the ship, but there’s nothing pedophilic about it? Just pointing that out.

I’m sorry this post is so long, I had a lot of feelings about reading this essay. I wanted to give it a chance to see if my initial reaction was just defensive of myself. And because of that, I didn’t want to link my own thoughts to the original post and open myself up to more discourse from problematic-ship supporters.

Also, not tagging this post because it’s my ramblings. If anyone reads it, thank you, you didn’t have to. If you want to share it, I’d really just ask you repost instead of reblog, I dunno if I could handle the attention with the IRL stuff going on right now. I just needed to direct my energy elsewhere for a time.  

[curlyblackspaghetti-blog]

Teenage pregnancy

The main causes of teenage pregnancy

1.   Lack of education on safe sex - Unwanted teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases arise from a lack of education. When teenagers are lacking any knowledge on safe sex, they will still be doing it, just in totally the wrong ways. For many parents and adults it can be hard letting go of their children and opening the door into adult knowledge. But its totally necessary for proper development. As well as physical health issues, mentally its very damaging for a child to not be properly educated on sex. We are living in a society in which porn has fast become incredibly accessible. In a situation where a child's knowledge on sex is full of uncertainty, porn should not be the natural filler. In my opinion, porn creates a culture of not only shaming women and objectifying them, but encouraging sexual assault. For a teenager to watch porn following a lack of education on safe sex is mentally, extremely damaging. My main issue with the sex education within schools is how heteronormative it is. It's just assumued that students are heterosexual. You'd think that with the societal progressions we've made, we as teenagers would be taught about sex between same sex couples. However during my sex education lessons, same sex relationships were never even mentioned. Even in cases where sex wasn't being discussed, it was just never brought up as an example of a relationship. I can't even begin to explain how damaging this is to young, impressionable teenagers, especially ones who are struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. They'll have so many unanswered questions and none of them will be answered in these safe spaces that are dedicated to education. Molly Thompson ( Intersectional Feminist, Social Activist, Writer and proud Hufflepuff )

-       Llack of compulsory sex and relationships education has created a ‘ticking sexual health time bomb’, town hall chiefs have warned.The Local Government Association (LGA) said too many youngsters are still being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to poor information in schools.Official figures show there were 78,066 STI diagnoses among 15 to 19-year-olds in England in 2015, and 141,060 among 20 to 24-year-olds. The LGA, which represents local authorities, urged the Education Secretary to make sex education mandatory in all secondary schools to combat the ‘shockingly high’ number of cases.Justine Greening has already indicated she will consider making the subject mandatory, although parents would still retain the right to withdraw their children from classes.Currently, only council-maintained secondaries must teach the subject – although many academies and free schools also so do voluntarily. However, standards vary widely between schools and some very religious ones choose not to teach it at all.The LGA said age-appropriate sex and relationships education should be an essential part of the curriculum for young people.It said local authorities have responsibility for public health, budgeting around £600 million a year for sexual health, and without proper classes, pupils are not being properly prepared for adulthood. Izzi Seccombe, chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board, said: ‘This is a major health protection issue.‘The lack of compulsory sex and relationship education in academies and free schools is storing up problems for later on in life, creating a ticking sexual health time bomb, as we are seeing in those who have recently left school. ‘The shockingly high numbers of STI diagnoses in teenagers and young adults, particularly in the immediate post-school generation, is of huge concern to councils. ‘The evidence suggests that when designed and delivered in the right way, sex and relationships education can have a really positive impact on a pupil’s development. ‘However, we are also conscious that some parents may wish to remove their children from this, which is why we are saying there should also be provision for parents to opt their children out of lessons, if they consider this to be in the best interests of their child.’ It is understood Ms Greening is considering making the subject compulsory to tackle online grooming, sexting and youngsters viewing internet porn. A number of MPs from different parties have come out in support of the measure. Former Cabinet ministers Dominic Grieve, Nicky Morgan, Maria Miller, Dame Caroline Spelman and former Children’s minister Tim Loughton are understood to be backing the change. At least seven Labour MPs - Sarah Champion, Graham Allen and Jon Cruddas - are said to be in support of it, as is a DUP MP Jim Shannon. The change to the National Curriculum - which would be the biggest overhaul of sex education for 17 years - is proposed in an amendment to the Children and Social Work Bill which was published in the House of Commons last week. A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘High-quality education on sex and relationships is a vital part of preparing young people for success in adult life. ‘It is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools and, as the Education Secretary said recently, we are looking at options to ensure all children have access to high-quality teaching in these subjects.

BY: ELEANOR HARDING FOR THE DAILY MAIL

2.    Media, peer, and family influences as risk factors - Media portrayals influence teen sexual behaviours. Glamorous television and magazine shots of ‘famous’ pregnant teens influence teens to engage in sexual activity and become pregnant themselves. Some teens decide to get pregnant so they can drop out of school. Girls who have lived in foster care have double the teen pregnancy rate of peers outside the foster care system. Girls whose fathers are in the home as they grow up are less likely to become teen parents. Ignorance of effective contraceptives leads to teen pregnancy. Some teens get pregnant in order to force a sexual partner into more commitment. Some are defiantly rebelling against what they perceive as overly strict parental rules. Some are engaged in sexual behaviours but lack knowledge about how to obtain contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, while others are pressured by their sexual partners not to use condoms. Thus, many factors are involved in teen pregnancy and many strategies need to be considered in attempts to decrease rates (Honig, 1984Honig, A.S. 1984. Developmental effects on children of pregnant adolescents [research review].  The biggest risk for teen mothers is delaying prenatal care. In the USA, ‘7.2% received no care at all’ (Weiss, 2011Weiss, R.E. (2011, December 22). Teen pregnancy. Retrieved  Some reasons for lack of care are teen denial of the pregnancy and fear of telling parents. Very young teens have a higher chance of pregnancy and birth complications. So do teens who smoke, since birth weights are lower for smoking mothers. In a UK study, mothers who smoked prenatally had children with lower reading scores in the fourth grade; and the more packs smoked during pregnancy, the stronger the difficulties later on. Drug use is another high-risk factor for difficulties in birth outcomes for pregnant women. The Kaiser Permanente Early Start programme in California helps women stop substance abuse during pregnancy and estimates that such prenatal intervention programmes could save $2 billion annually

-       The social causation model, Conger explained, provides a framework for considering the way in which economic disadvantage and social conditions affect family functioning and the ways that children develop. Recent studies have provided evidence that economic factors influence families. Costello and colleagues (2003), for example, found that children whose families were lifted out of poverty when a gambling casino opened on an Indian reservation showed improvement in both psychiatric symptoms and conduct problems. Specifically, this study found that externalizing signs, including such behavior disorders as conduct disorder, improved, but that families’ improved economic circumstances did not affect the rate of internalizing psychiatric problems, such as depression. The researchers concluded that the improvements came about in part because of improved parenting practices. Experimental studies, such as the New Hope study (Huston et al., 2003), have also shown that interventions that increased employment and reduced poverty resulted in similar improvements. Researchers have described three primary models for thinking about how economic factors influence families: the family stress model, the investment model, and the interactionist model. Research on the family stress model goes back to the 1930s, Conger said, and has since been well replicated using many samples from diverse backgrounds. It is based on evidence from both human and animal studies that punishing experiences, such as economic pressure,1exacerbate negative affect, which can take many forms, such as despondency, depression, anger, or aggression (Berkowitz, 1969). These sorts of emotions can disrupt family relationships. The effect of the hardship depends on the way it affects daily life—in other words, the emotional response of the family and the individual are what determines the psychological effect of the event. When parents become depressed, angry, and sullen with one another and have increased conflict, the result is often harsh and inconsistent parenting or withdrawal. For adolescents, that can mean increases in risky behavior and less development of the sorts of competencies that protect them from those risks. Conger observed that other sorts of distress may also affect families in the same way. That is, when stress and challenge are high for parents, they generally have an increase in emotional and behavioral problems, which in turn affect family functioning and increase risks for children. The model, which is consistent with findings from numerous studies (Conger et al., 2010;Conger and Conger, 2008; Conger and Donnellan, 2007), is illustrated in Figure 5-1. Some interventions based on this model have focused on improving families’ economic circumstances. However, although the downward spiral can occur very quickly, such interventions work much more slowly. Thus, in Conger’s view, interventions that reduce the harm during the economic transition are also needed. Promising targets include: The family stress model of economic hardship. SOURCE: Conger and Conger, 2008. Reproduced with permission from Sage Publications. Copyright © 2008 by Sage.

Reducing parental distress,

Reducing parental conflict and relationship     difficulties,

Promoting effective parenting, and

Incorporating the children’s perspectives, that is,     encouraging them to feel that they are part of the solution to the     family’s difficulties.

While these approaches appear to hold promise, Conger identified areas in which further research is needed. For example, not enough is known about potentially lasting effects of hardship experienced by young children and how they might affect adolescent behavior and risk-taking. The role of self-regulatory and personality processes, which can play a protective role, could also be better understood.

3.    Alcohol and teen pregnancy

- Heavy drinking can lead to teen pregnancy. Teachers in a health course for teens need to explain clearly how different the brain is when a teen drinks heavily. Weekend drinking contests are frequent for some teens. The teenage brain seems to be less reactive to alcohol's short-term effects. Yet, for teens, alcohol impairs the memory system in the hippocampus and severely limits the ability of the frontal lobes to carry out thoughtful and logical thinking. ‘Without mature frontal lobes, young people are less able to weigh negatives consequences and inhibit impulsive behavior like binge drinking … Binge drinking can lead to unsafe sex and unwanted pregnancy’

A teen couple came to ask me whether the beer party they had attended a few weeks before where they had more than 12 beers each would affect the embryo of an early pregnancy they now found themselves facing, a few weeks after that party.

- Substance use among adolescents increases the risk of unplanned pregnancies, which then increases the risk of fetal exposure to addictive, teratogenic substances. Specific interventions are necessary to target pregnancy planning and contraception among reproductive age substance users. Screening for substance use using the CRAFFT is recommended in all health care settings treating adolescent patients. Screening for tobacco and nicotine use is also recommended along with provision of smoking cessation interventions. Using motivational interviewing style and strategies is recommended to engage adolescents in discussions related to reducing substance use, risky sexual behavior, and probability of unplanned pregnancy or late-detection pregnancy. Earlier interventions that strengthen autonomy and resourcefulness in recognizing and caring for an unplanned conception is a form of advanced directive that may well reduce fetal exposure to tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and simultaneously empower girls and women in self-care