Mindless Self Indulgence is so freaking annoying.

I think I like Insane Clown Posse a hundred times better than i like Mindless Self Indulgence.

She turned out pretty well, given the pedigree. Surely a lot more grounded than the vast majority of 16-year-olds who are wealthier than sin. Based on her blog posts, she seems like a kid I'd have loved to hang out with when I was 16. Not totally self-absorbed, at least not more than every other 16-year-old, concerned with politics and the world, seemingly a good enough head on her shoulders. People seem too willing to judge her as though she was a 30-year-old, as though they weren't total dolts when they were her age. I certainly was. I wish the kid the best.

Seconded.

Plus: Is it wrong that my reaction to this post was "good for her"?

I seriously don't understand why people above 19 date teenagers. I tried dating a 19 year old when I was 23 and the 4-year age gap was already so weird that I called things off pronto. Since then I've taught kids in their late teens and early 20s, and they're great people, but they're mostly just... not adults. I feel protective of them and obviously I want to teach them stuff, but I really don't get why anyone in their 20s (or above. yecch!) feels any kind of desire for someone that age when you're aware of how old they are. They're YOUNG-- which does not seem to me to be something attractive when you're older.

Semantics again: fine. An adolescent is of the class of people determined by age with whom adults should not have sex, should not endorse having sex, and should not encourage others to consider sexually. Already the problems with sexuality endemic to our culture are guaranteed to be acting upon people that age, and they are encouraged to submit themselves the same way they are encouraged not to see themselves as people possessed of 100% of the value adults have. I just think the power dynamics between adults and people who aren't adults are of huge influence and can easily poison a person for life if they're used the wrong way.

Expression of thought is an action, and expressing thoughts in a public forum should always be open to criticism. It's only policing when it's enforced with something more than scorn.

I agree-- there's no set beginning to adulthood, and all kinds of people in their mid-20s are childish. The only proper answer is to teach kids to respect themselves enough not to get into shitty relationships governed by power imbalances, because for every teen who has a healthy and respectful sexual relationship with an adult, there are many more who have unhealthy and screwed up relationships, primarily because so many adults who pursue relationships with non-adults are in it because they want someone they can control, someone they see as being subservient to them.

However, while it's up to kids to make these choices properly, it's also up to adults to recognize that actions which celebrate the sexuality of non-adults as available generally are liable to drive down the barriers that make those sorts of power-imbalanced relationship unacceptable.

Bottom line: I don't think it's cool for a stranger to remark something to the effect of, "I'd like to fuck her" on the picture of a 16-year-old in a public forum, especially if no one else says, "It's really creepy that you're sexualizing a minor." I'm all for kids being taught to respect themselves and sexuality from a young age, and encouraging them to have healthy sexual experiences whenever they're ready, but I don't think that adults should be encouraging that from the perspective that begins with the statement, "I'd fuck her."

you gotta love the parental skills that produce a child that talks about drugs right on the invitation.

it's hard to know what she said, since her grammar was a bit hard to plow through. "shit" and "shoot" are pretty close...who knows what the hell she meant by that sentence.

Jesus H. Cobain, these 16-year-olds look like they'll never get carded.

I am trying really really hard not to post a comment that says "damn she's h--"

No, I can't say it.

Maybe on her 18th birthday.