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non_radical_centrist  8mo ago (astralcodexten.com)   2897 thread views

How Should We Think About Race And "Lived Experience"?

astralcodexten.com

I'm generally a fan of "blurry" definitions where something can qualify as X if it fulfills a few of many criteria. I think trying to create hard rules around blurry areas like race and culture is fool's errand, and Scott does a great job laying out how overly strict definitions can go wrong.

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There is a solution to that called Romeo and Juliet laws. They allow some age difference if both parties are close to the cutoff point.

It doesn't solve the problem, it just shifts the cutoff points:

"An 18.001 year old has a relationship with a 15.999 year old (who claimed to be 16) and is prosecuted for statutory rape."

It solves the problem insofar that an 18 year old having sex with a 17 year old is perfectly reasonable by anyone's standards but an 18 year old having sex with a mid teen is already pretty sus.

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