Re: poll for the males out there

I can't answer this the way you want, because it doesn't make sense. Does it not matter that I wasn't attracted to men? I guess there are kids who do an emotionally detached "service" in exchange for mentoring, but that's not the kind of relationship I like to defend. To me, child love is when all the romantic feeling are mutual. Like many kids, I wasn't interested in adults that way, so I would have resented having to "do favors" in exchange for mentoring by a man. I think that would have been horrible, but only because it wasn't what I wanted. I suppose those who grow up in countries with wrenching poverty might see things in a more practical way.. your belly is rumbling and this rich man will buy you food in exchange. That's still not child love. That's just an alliance for mutual benefit.

And I've never once claimed that all girls need to have a romantic relationship with a mentor. It would indeed be terrible for those who didn't want that. My only claim is that the ones who do seek it and react positively to it ought to have the choice.

For me personally, I think I would have benefited greatly from having more adult mentors in my life growing up, just not any with a sexual relationship. Why? Because adults just never did it for me. We all look back when we get older and are able to see which adults really helped us along, and where we could have used more help in various areas. I definitely wish I'd had more adult mentors who I was close to. It should be no secret that it's partly what drives me in speaking out.

I think ALL kids need adult mentors growing up.. adults who are not their parents, who they can confide in, who won't bug them with the stupid authority BS. Someone they can really trust who understands what they are facing. Whether there is a romantic or physical element to any of them should merely depend on what they seek, and of course if the adult is also mutually interested in that way.

I think it's pretty clear that kids today suffer from the severe lack of close adult relationships of any kind, meaning mentors who are not their own parents.