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If your reaction to the Alex Morse reveal is to decide that power dynamics aren't real or that age gaps in relationships are never indicative of unhealthy/abusive behavior, you're not much smarter than the people who believe the inverse.
There are in fact lots of people, mostly men, who prey on young sexual partners because it is easier to control someone who has less resources, fewer community bonds, and is still developing their sense of self.
And, as I wrote before, there are many survivors of abuse who reenact their trauma by seeking out relationships that mirror their abusive ones. Someone who is sexually abused as a child by an adult may seek out older and abusive partners later in life.
So when we're talking about older people dating younger people and the power dynamics at play, that's real. I know therapists who think any relationship between a young person and an older person is twisted. I don't know about that. But it is a thing. Please don't say it's not.
For what it's worth, the Morse thing never appeared to fit this profile, even before the most recent reporting. I wish more people had approached it from the angle of, "this doesn't make sense as abuse" rather than "power dynamics are fake." That's libertarian horseshit.
There are no hard and fast rules that will make it simple to judge the health of a relationship. Please do not allow yourself to buy into the idea that there are. Let's all try to be thoughtful in approaching these issues in the future.
