The AoC presumes that physical and emotional maturity suddenly and universally develop at a set age. However, just as someone may not look his age, he may also not act his age. Different individuals mature at different rates. Age is just a number. It is irrelevant to physical or emotional maturity. So, where do we get the concept of "act your age" from?

Today, many people don't mature emotionally and physiologically until they are out of college. However, that does not mean that people that age are immature. People's brains adapt quickly. People the same age, or younger, who are working in an adult environment, surrounded by adults, will tend to behave like adults more than those who are separated from adults. They are almost forced to adapt. Environment is an important factor in maturity. Thus we get the concept "act your age" from the setting we tend to find people that age in, whether elementary school or in "the real world". Just as children on the street are forced to adapt, sheltered children learn to adapt. Still, within each environment and within each age group there are wide ranges of maturity in different individuals. This is often because long before someone can act an age, they must look an age. We can't tell someone's age by looking at them, but we do judge the age they appear to be. This surface judgment does more than shape our feelings toward a person. It also effects how we behave toward him and how we treat him. you see, the younger he looks, the younger he will be treated and, in turn, the younger he will often act. Treat someone like a kid and he will be a kid. Treat someone like an adult and he will be an adult. There are always exceptions--I myself being one. After all, you can treat someone like a genius, but it doesn't make him a genius. It merely makes him think he's a genius. Still, it does tend to adapt behavior.

Something interesting that I've noticed is that child-lovers tend to look younger for their age at a higher percentage than the general population (see my survey). Lovers of boys often look "boyish" and also, not surprisingly, tend to act "boyish" or younger in general. Likewise, many people attracted to teenagers act like teenagers. This, of course, does not apply to everyone, as some people set themselves apart from their attractions (see Don't Help Me With A Knife). Still, it is very common, especially among those attracted to prepubescent boys. You see, attractions often influence behavior and emotional maturity. For example, someone attracted to youth tends to be more emotionally sensitive than the average macho guy. So, what is it that makes that macho guy so mature?

The concept of maturity is closely linked with being unemotional and level headed. In essence, it is dependent on hormonal levels. A surge of testosterone alters the structure of the brain--an effect which remains long after testosterone levels decline. That is why older men are the most commonly used examples of maturity. Too high of testosterone leads to aggressiveness and a high sex drive. That is why Asians, which have low and very balanced hormone levels are often considered more mature for their age. You see, an important factor in the concept of maturity is emotional control. High estrogen levels typically lead to an overly emotional state. That is why maturity is so closely associated with malehood. Girls and women are very similar in their level of emotional maturity. There is not the drastic change we see in males. Part of the problem with setting a specific age at which women can give consent is the concept that a seventeen year old is being taken advantage of and yet an eighteen year old is capable of making her own decision. Many women barely emotionally mature in their lifetime, let along spontaneously at eighteen. This is why many Feminists hate men. They feel taken advantage of and used, even as adult women.

The concept that older people manipulate younger people undermines the fact that young people prey upon each other in the same way adults prey on each other. Most men find an AoC of eighteen ridiculous, but men don't understand women any more than women understand them. Men go after "barely legal" women. If the minimum age for pornography were sixteen, that would be the most sought after age to photograph instead of eighteen. Just as men want young, fertile women, women want older, more mature men. Just look at how often even elementary school girls are mooning over adult men, often more than twice their age. It's biology, but the reason that this biology is fought is because of emotional immaturity in this country. Teenagers are the most potent and biologically ready to marry and start a family. However, the school system prevents this. More than educating young adults until they are of a legal age, it creates a very immature environment. Were teenagers constantly working with adults, hormonal control would be more of a realistic endeavor. However, as it is, asking teenagers to abstain from sex is not realistic in their current environment. So, emotional maturity, as far as sex is concerned, is very slow to develop in this country. Once they are adults and are encouraged to have sex, they often do so recklessly. you see, you deem someone incapable of making a rational decision about sex (you treat them like a "kid") and they will make immature decisions (act like a "kid"). You're basically giving them a privilege at eighteen that you never prepared them for. You simply made them anticipate it while treating them as incapable of handling it.

Emotional maturity should be part of sexual maturity. Physical maturity is a power and with that power comes the responsibility to make level headed and mature decisions. One major problem is that parents in this country are literally paranoid with "the talk" or of their child asking "the question". Adults don't want children to know about sex because they fear they will go out and have sex (and that would be the worst thing in the world--sex is for adult). They see children and are even beginning to see teenagers as asexual. First that must change. Teenagers are in fact far more sexual than adults. However, that doesn't mean that teenager are less mature. A set age for emotional maturity undermines more than those who are more mature than their piers. It also underscores the differences between male and females. When we see a woman having sex with a  teenage male, most men could never conceive this as manipulation or the teenager being taken advantage of. Only overly emotional women who think of teenagers as little children can perceive the teenager as a victim. For those not infatuated with the idolizing of boys, we see women as the weaker sex, regardless of age. We would have a hard time seeing a women as a rapist. Yet, women wanted the power of men. Unfortunately, with power comes responsibility.