An interesting cultural phenomenon

[farjean2]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/17/pe ... udent.html

It seems like hardly a month goes by nowadays without reading a story about a female teacher having sex with a male student.

When I was in high school, the big scandal was two male teachers being caught in the act with the same female student.

So I have to ask the question when I see these headlines did all male teachers suddenly get religion and this never happens any more? I suspect not, but you never hear about it, so I don't know. Why is it that it only gets splashed all over the news only when it is a woman?

[Maddy]

You know the answer to that question: There's a certain acceptance of the situation in the case of a male teacher and a female student. It fits right into the culturally resonant idea that an older guy who's able to snag a young woman earns virility points. And the fact that today's 16-year-olds behave like 25-year-old hookers (yeah, I said it) lends some firepower to the idea that it's the man, burdened as he is with his natural impulses, that's the victim.

I'll say one more politically incorrect thing: I'd hazard a guess that in most cases, it's the 16-year-old boy who's more victimized, and probably more damaged, by such a relationship. At that age, boys are so much less sophisticated than girls and have far less power.

[farjean2]

You know the answer to that question: There's a certain acceptance of the situation in the case of a male teacher and a female student. It fits right into the culturally resonant idea that an older guy who's able to snag a young woman earns virility points. And the fact that today's 16-year-olds behave like 25-year-old hookers (yeah, I said it) lends some firepower to the idea that it's the man, burdened as he is with his natural impulses, that's the victim.

I'll say one more politically incorrect thing: I'd hazard a guess that in most cases, it's the 16-year-old boy who's more victimized, and probably more damaged, by such a relationship. At that age, boys are so much less sophisticated than girls and have far less power.

I don't remember there being any hot female teachers in high school that I would have even wanted to be "victimized" by, but I seriously doubt if I would have been damaged by it, if it happened. I could be wrong but I suspect most 16 year old boys would have thought that was WAY cool and would like all the damage they could get.

But you are right about the double standard which was my point too. Everybody thinks it's just natural for an older man to be attracted to a nubile teenage girl but an older woman being attracted to a teenage boy? That's just unthinkable and she needs to be subjected to the worse kind of public shaming. Seems to me like it's almost the same kind of double standard you find in Muslim countries.

(And while I'm thinking about double standards - what about that girl I talked about in high school who had sex with two male teachers? Was she victimized? Well, of course, she was. I'm sure the poor girl has been carrying around the scars of F**ing two male schoolteachers for the rest of her life and has never gotten over it like 16 year old teenage boys would).

[farjean2]

Why is it that it only gets splashed all over the news only when it is a woman?

Sadly, ratings.

FWIW, I just searched cnn.com and msnbc.com for "melissa bonkoski". No hits. A search on foxnews.com had a single hit: the article you referenced.

Earlier this week, there was a story in my local newspaper (upper east TN) about a male high school substitute teacher and music instructor being arrested for statutory rape of a 16 y/o female student. No hits when I searched that perpetrators name on any of the national news sites.

Fox News was a breath of fresh air when it came on the scene offering a conservative perspective on things not to be found elsewhere.

But over the years I have noticed that they use sex to sell their product more than any other news network I've ever seen by a long shot. I mean just tune in and check out all the attractive ladies and see if any other network even comes close. Not that I mind this but it goes right along with the theme of this thread as an interesting cultural phenomenon.