Time and again, we see that adult man taking a sexual interest in teenagers are not lovelorn and star-crossed, but predators and abusers looking for women who are easy to manipulate and throw away.

Maybe it's time to wipe that trope out of our vision of masculinity, no?

I truly don't care about age differences for anyone as long as both are actual adults -- not technical adults, as at 18 or 19, but actual, fully formed adults.

A big part of this is that we also deny both sex education and power education to young women. Sex isn't just about the mechanics. Its most harmful manifestations are about Armie Hammer and Marilyn Manson -- abuse of power. We should be telling young women to watch for that.

Concept: Along with the birds and the bees, a talk about narcissism, trauma bonding, coercion and manipulation.

If any girls of 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, are reading this: That older man of 25 or 30 or 35 or 40 is not, whatever he says, looking to be in your life long-term. He wants someone who is weaker and will not challenge him. He should know better, and please get out.

22 and 30? Great. 25 and 45? Totally valid. 30 and 50? Go for it. But there are grown men who go for women under 20 specifically because they like power and control, and it's almost always predatory. Usually friends and family will say something. Please listen.

Also, obviously, please remember to teach your sons not to rape people, and to allow them to express emotions at home without shame, so they don't become abusers and sociopaths.

Also, since someone brought this up in the replies: This also goes for grown women, usually in fandoms, who look at 17-year-old boys (Twilight cough cough) and call them "hunks." If you're an adult, don't sexualize people who aren't adults. That's a different playing field.