JAILBAIT
                          When is Love Love?

	The other night, against my better judgement, I was watching 
MTV when a show called "Jailbait" came on.  Well, I must admit that MTV
knows how to come up with an eye-catching title, so I started watching
it (once again, against my better judgement).  What I saw infuriated me
and caused the flames of wrath to kindle within the Anarkist's black
heart.  Here was a 15-year-old girl being forced to raise her child by 
herself while the baby's father was forced to serve 20 years in prison 
alongside REAL rapists and murderers for the crime of falling in love 
with someone younger than him.  Had the two been, say, 22 and 25, no 
one would have raised an eyebrow.  But even though the girl was more
than willing, the law (which, I should point out, more often than not 
has its head rammed up its ass) forced them apart.  
	Yes, I realise this was a fictional movie.  Yes, I also realise 
that parts of it, at least, were meant to be funny.  But I also realise
that, at this very moment, some poor soul is either locked in a tiny 
cell with a hairy serial rapist named Bubba or bleeding their life out
on a dirty prison floor for the simple crime of falling in love with 
someone who was younger than they are.  At the same time, murderers are
walking the streets free because the investigation of their crime was
slightly wrong.
	Making love to a girl that is mentally old enough to decide 
what to do with her own body, or blowing the back of someone's head off
with a .30-.06.  Care to make a decision as to which is worse?
	Now, I'm not desputing the need for a statutory rape law.  A
9-year-old girl might well be willing to play the new game that her big
brother wants to try, but the grasp of what she's doing isn't there.  
But kids are learning about sex much faster than ever before, and it
doesn't really matter if it's right or wrong.  Because what it is is 
real, and there's no way to escape it.  I've known girls having sex as 
young as in 7th grade, who not only did it willingly but initiated the
contact.  There are some 15-year-olds that know as much or more about 
sex than someone who's 50.  Of course, there are also 15-year-olds that
are as naive as someone who's 5.  
	That's why I believe statutory rape is too broad a subject to
have laws as specific as the current ones are.  Just because someone is
15 doesn't mean they're not responsible enough to choose what they want
to do with their bodies, no more than being 18 means they ARE.  Or 21
or 30, for that matter.  It's too subjective a matter to force objective 
laws upon it and expect to come out with even a grain of justice.  Not
that justice has much to do with the laws OR the courts these days, but
I digress.
	What I'm proposing isn't an end to age limits on sex; hardly.  
What I want is a reevaluation about what's responsible and what isn't.
Below a certain age, there should be no doubt about the fact that they
aren't old enough to decide.  But after a girl has had time to figure 
out what those things on her chest is and exactly what effect they have
on men, it should be another story.  If someone makes a claim of 
statutory rape, the event itself should be scrutinized, as well as the
persona of the girl herself.  If it is found that the girl was willing
to participate in sex and is sufficiently aware of herself, then there
should be no case whatsoever.  If such is not the case, then go right
ahead, but at least consider the events fully first.  Even the ancient 
civilizations had cause and effect in their laws, and their idea of 
Viagra was sacrificing a goat to Baal.
	Stay Hungry.

---The Anarkist