I have also said something along those lines about Ali Rapp due to the abuse she suffered
She's much worse however because Milo is talking about 15 year olds while she's straight up talking about children.
Both of them discussing the sexualization of young people at the age they were themselves abused.
Did you even bother reading my post? I didn't defend what he said, I said I disagreed with his position, and he's not talking about abusive relationships with children, he's talking about 15 year olds having consensual relationships with older partners.
That is not in any way similar to defending pedophilia or advocating for abusive relationships even though I completely disagree with him and think he's wrong.
Calm down. This is not a personal attack on you. I read your post, yes. I also never anywhere said you agree with him, because you clearly don't. I said that he does not gain immunity from criticism because he is a victim of CSA. Being a victim of CSA does not give anyone a free pass from being criticised for their expressed views on child sexuality. The right to free speech does not include the right to be agreed with.
As for the rest of your post, a 15 year old having a sexual relationship with an adult involves a gross disparity not simply in terms of maturity, but in terms of relative power in the relationship. That power can be social, economic or even a relationship involving a position of trust.
Relationships with huge power imbalances are incredibly difficult to navigate. They have enormous potential for abuse by the more powerful partner. This is true regardless of the ages, genders and sexualities of the individuals involved. Children
massively lack emotional and psychological maturity to do that navigating. Which is why western societies impose a blanket prohibition on them. There may be the rare Mandy Smith who feels they can negotiate such a relationship successfully, but the majority of children can't without being significantly harmed in the process.
15 year olds do a lot of dumb shit. Most western societies have laws preventing them volunteering to do the most dangerous of dumb shit precisely because they are understood to lack the insight and understanding of the consequences involved in that dumb shit. Fucking adults is included along with driving, drinking, and military service in that class of Shit That Could Really Blow Up In Your Face Kid.
But this is a sideshow, because the issue here is
not whether or not Milo's opinion is justified, or supported by evidence, or even popular. The First Amendment applies to speech regardless of the quality of the argument being presented. The issue here is that he has a perfect right to his opinion, and no right to not be criticised for it, and no right to be shielded from any poor consequences - career or image wise - that may flow from it.
This is a lolcow site. We're here precisely because people fuck up and say foolish things and don't get to forget about them. Sometimes they say shit for attention, and they get the wrong sort of attention, and we consider that to be a natural consequence of saying shit for attention. If he did not want his remarks on his relationship as an adult with another, older, adult to be conflated with his remarks on child sexual exploitation, he should have been much more fucking careful with his context. This is
Milo. This is not some twelve year who is not good with computer and doesn't understand how he got here. This is a professional provocateur. He knows how the game is played.
Milo is
absolutely entitled to his opinion and to express it as freely as he wants. Everyone else is entitled to disagree with him. He does not know something about being sexually exploited that other former sexually exploited children don't. He does not have special status here.
You're trying to play the victim card for Milo here, and you know better.
