Search the Community

How can we determine whether someone is mature enough to consent to sex or contracts in general?

After watching the MILO video, I am very confused. I had never actually thought about how the NAP relates to age of consent. Specifically in the case of milo at age 13 and the priest. I am not disagreeing with stefans interpretation, I fully understand where he is coming from, especially about Milo not reporting the people hosting "parties" with underage boys. My confusion more specifically, is if a 13 year old consents to sex with an older man, how has the older man broken the NAP unless it is a forced event? I am assuming from stefans tone that YES it does, however I can't seem to find his arguments on the subject. In the podcast Stefan refers to what happened to Milo as rape/molestation. If stef invents a time machine, goes back to that moment, and subdues the priest, has Stefan violated the NAP? As such, in calling the priest a rapist while Milo declared it was consensual, is Stefan not implying that force was moral to use against the priest? Is he in the podcast expressing a will to violate the NAP stefs subjective idea that a 13 year old should not be with a 29 year old? Or is there some logic I am missing?

First of all, I apologize for not being well informed on the legal requirements for consent when it comes to circumcision. It is my understanding that only one parent is required to consent to the procedure, typically the mother. That being said, a friend of mine was recently persuaded by her husband to consent to circumcision for their newborn son. After several months of arguing and debating the morality and ethics of the barbaric procedure, she caved into his request. I'm not certain why he was so persistent, however I know that it resulted in a bargaining situation- in exchange for her consent he agreed to quit smoking. In other words, she traded an ounce of her son's flesh for a lifestyle change agreement that would potentially benefit the entire family. She continues to regret the decision, now with the weight of her choice pressing down on her conscious. I believe that she's comforting herself by shoveling the blame of her decision towards her husband, and the "at least" factor of their abhorrent deal making. However, the bottom line is that she is responsible for her decision. She is a well educated woman, who knew both in her gut and in her brain that it was a terrible idea. A couple of the questions this incident has made me consider: What are the consequences of sacrificing one's sense of integrity for another's pleasure? Why would someone do that? Should both parent's be required to consent to circumcision? Should the mother have the ultimate authority over circumcision? What advice can I give her to help her gain something out of this awful experience?

http://thesmokinggun.com/documents/drunk-girl-viral-hoax-video-785463 So there was a video released recently, spurred by the viral video of a woman getting catcalled in NYC, of a drunk girl walking through the streets, and men trying to take advantage of her state. It turns out that it was all staged, and furthermore, the men in the video were lied to, being told that the video was for a student film, and a comedy. I'm pretty disgusted by the underwhelming response. Most sources don't make a big deal out of it, and some even try to pull things like "Sure it was a hoax, but it reveals the true nature of how our culture treats consent." Not sure exactly what that means, or how a fake video gives any truth or information regarding this statement: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/is-the-youtube-video-of-men-trying-to-take-a-drunk-girl-home-fake-does-it-matter-9858512.html I guess this shouldn't surprise me, but it's still pretty upsetting.