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http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...x-minors_x.htm
This bothers me for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it..
It might be that it seems to unfairly target the male gender as a whole, as if to sternly remind us all not to succumb to our baser instincts (or "don't go there"), and have sex with minors.
I've seen this a lot in some anti-rape campaigns- the assumption that there is an inherent power imbalance simply based on gender, and we all need to be sternly reminded not to act like beasts
It's also a little cut-and-dry. The law defines the cut-off between a minor and non-minor at a certain age, but biology doesn't. The assumption that these relationships entail a predator preying on "innocent" teens (assuming they are really that innocent) is also bothersome, it's not that black-and-white in most cases
There's also a lot of leeway among states themselves concerning age of consent for marriage and sex, and this clouds the issue even more, IMO.
Anyway, this bugs me and it's offensive.
['Sex with a minor, don't go there'
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Billboards, posters and drink coasters will deliver a state campaign to dissuade older men from having sex with underage girls.
The Department of Health will bring the campaign to northern Virginia, Richmond and Roanoke in June and July. The campaign is modeled on a pilot project in July 2003 in Hampton Roads, which the department deemed a success.
The campaign is aimed at reducing the number of young girls who have had children fathered by older men. In 1999 and 2000, men over 18 were responsible for 219 births involving girls who were 13 and 14, the department said in a release Monday.
The department said men older than 21 are three times more likely than junior high school boys to father children with junior high school girls.
Messages such as "Isn't she a little young?" and "Sex with a minor, don't go there" are intended to reduce statutory rape and what the department calls sexual coercion.
"We encourage adult men to talk to their peers and discourage them from pursuing teenagers. What they are doing is unhealthy and against the law," said Robert Franklin, outreach coordinator for sexual violence prevention at the department.
The campaign's message will be on outdoor billboards, 225,000 postcards and coasters and napkins in approximately 150 bars, restaurants and retail establishments in Richmond, Roanoke, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria.
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Billboards, posters and drink coasters will deliver a state campaign to dissuade older men from having sex with underage girls.
The Department of Health will bring the campaign to northern Virginia, Richmond and Roanoke in June and July. The campaign is modeled on a pilot project in July 2003 in Hampton Roads, which the department deemed a success.
The campaign is aimed at reducing the number of young girls who have had children fathered by older men. In 1999 and 2000, men over 18 were responsible for 219 births involving girls who were 13 and 14, the department said in a release Monday.
The department said men older than 21 are three times more likely than junior high school boys to father children with junior high school girls.
Messages such as "Isn't she a little young?" and "Sex with a minor, don't go there" are intended to reduce statutory rape and what the department calls sexual coercion.
"We encourage adult men to talk to their peers and discourage them from pursuing teenagers. What they are doing is unhealthy and against the law," said Robert Franklin, outreach coordinator for sexual violence prevention at the department.
The campaign's message will be on outdoor billboards, 225,000 postcards and coasters and napkins in approximately 150 bars, restaurants and retail establishments in Richmond, Roanoke, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria.
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It might be that it seems to unfairly target the male gender as a whole, as if to sternly remind us all not to succumb to our baser instincts (or "don't go there"), and have sex with minors.
I've seen this a lot in some anti-rape campaigns- the assumption that there is an inherent power imbalance simply based on gender, and we all need to be sternly reminded not to act like beasts
It's also a little cut-and-dry. The law defines the cut-off between a minor and non-minor at a certain age, but biology doesn't. The assumption that these relationships entail a predator preying on "innocent" teens (assuming they are really that innocent) is also bothersome, it's not that black-and-white in most cases
There's also a lot of leeway among states themselves concerning age of consent for marriage and sex, and this clouds the issue even more, IMO.
Anyway, this bugs me and it's offensive.
.
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