meep with children: The double standard

The point you are missing is the level of power/control between the parties. Regardless of gender, the student is in a weaker position because the teacher has control of their future ( do this for an A, don't and you fail). The psychological damage comes from being forced in one way or another, even if only in the back of their (the students) mind, not from the fear of being ostrasized for losing their virginity with the hot teacher. Effectively, the psychological result is one more rape victim, regardless of gender.

dragonstaff: The point you are missing is the level of power/control between the parties. Regardless of gender, the student is in a weaker position because the teacher has control of their future ( do this for an A, don't and you fail). The psychological damage comes from being forced in one way or another, even if only in the back of their (the students) mind, not from the fear of being ostrasized for losing their virginity with the hot teacher. Effectively, the psychological result is one more rape victim, regardless of gender.

Good points, to be sure. I fully agree with you on the following: 1. meepual intercourse between a teacher and under age student is wrong, regardless of gender 2. The students are the victims

But does the level of power/control differ between men and women?

My query isn't between whether it's right or wrong, but whether or not one is worse than the other. Does the damage done to female students have a deeper impact? Are boys and girls affected in the same way? Is the amount of damage done measurable at all?

These are the sort of questions that I am most interested in. It seems like something that people think about or maybe verbalize in idiotic terms, but isn't really discussed rationally. I think I would be willing to accept that the reason I see a difference in the two situations is based on socialization and little else, but I want to see how others feel.

dragonstaff: The point you are missing is the level of power/control between the parties. Regardless of gender, the student is in a weaker position because the teacher has control of their future ( do this for an A, don't and you fail).

While I believe this is the case, I think for this effect to be really compelling and hurtful, the student has to really feel powerless. I have a hard time imagining myself feeling powerless in this situation. Same thing being a white male and interviewing for a job where the hiring manager was black and pseudo-jokingly called me 'cracker' or something and then I didn't get the job. While I'd be pissed about it, I'd know that the odds are it was a fluke, and so I wouldn't leave feeling as though my personal set of options had been crushed yet again by the system. With the teacher, there would never be the haunting feeling that maybe something might happen I couldn't defend myself against.

I dunno, I guess I can't envision a good raped feeling without there being ultimately some level of physicality to it, and I can't take seriously the idea of a woman's weak upper body compelling me to have meep with her against my will.

Also, this is more or less uncharted territory -- manrape -- plus the wierdo factor of inter-generational age difference, so it's a pretty meeping grey area.

The real issue here is that these people are having meepual relations out of wedlock.

I think Vas touched(Hah) on the point. What's most psychologically damaging is the feeling of helplessness, of being "cornered" in addition to the emotional trauma and real or implied social stigmatism. You don't usually get that from tapping some of Ms. Souza's sweet, sweet hot meep.

flake: But does the level of power/control differ between men and women? My query isn't between whether it's right or wrong, but whether or not one is worse than the other. Does the damage done to female students have a deeper impact? Are boys and girls affected in the same way? Is the amount of damage done measurable at all? These are the sort of questions that I am most interested in. It seems like something that people think about or maybe verbalize in idiotic terms, but isn't really discussed rationally. I think I would be willing to accept that the reason I see a difference in the two situations is based on socialization and little else, but I want to see how others feel.

I don't think there is any difference between the level of power weilded by a male teacher over a female student and that of a female teacher over a male student (or the meep alternatives). In these cases the power is not physical but psychological, and does an equal amount of damage. (This answers Vas' comment about a females "weak upper body". The mind is where the power is, not the muscles). I agree that your perception of there being a difference in the severity between male teacher/female student and female teacher/male student is purely due to popular thoughts and misconceptions about rape being physical abuse, not principally about power over, and control of, the victim.