When talking age gap relationships, I feel like there should be some emphasis on how, for the most part, serious committed relationships aren& #39;t societally supported for folks in the emerging adulthood stage [18-25], even when partners are close in age

Which means it& #39;s way, way, way more likely that there& #39;s an exploitive dynamic, given a vast age-based power differential (& that& #39;s complicated further by race, disability, gender identity, etc.)

The likelihood of "my old committed partner is 1 of the good ones" is puny

Some of the choices emerging adults make might squick out older folks, but that& #39;s not justification to ban intergenerational sexual/romantic ties altogether

AND

Youth is an axis of marginalization & bad faith actors prey on the inexperienced because they& #39;re easier to manipulate

That& #39;s why I& #39;m both against paternalism around emerging adults choosing to do sex work *and* actively distrustful of a huge age gap relationships involving emerging adults *initiated by the older parties*

Those aren& #39;t contradictory stances; they& #39;re about young people& #39;s autonomy

The crappy part of 18 year olds doing sex work? Is the dearth of alternatives available to earn a living wage

Using some variation of "young brains too soft to make decisions" against the idea is ableist, & even if the experience sucks for an individual, discounting choice sucks

So too with dating and choice of sexual partners in private life

Are there push factors like economics & peer maturity that make certain shitty choices look appealing? Yes

Are there emerging adults who find dating/sexing silver foxes hot? Proportionally few, but also yes