Interesting. I've known for years (purely unscientific observation and experience, but powerful none the less) that the smell of a newborn baby's head can inspire women (and often, men) to want to make their own baby.

The scent of a lactating mom's sweat is probably quite different than a non-lactating mom, given all the good stuff she's producing (and that mammary glands are related to sweat glands).

Do I think it's a signal that food is plentiful therefore a good time to breed? I doubt it's that complicated. I think it's plain and simple "I should have one." Mother Nature wants us to be fruitful and multiply, no matter what the Farmer's Almanac is saying.

that the majority of anti-Broadsheet posters have no agends other than to trash Broadsheet.

Young boys (tweens and teens) are not adults, and should not be treated as such, even if they have "hawt sex" with some "smokin" older woman. The adolescent brain (of both genders) is incapable of seeing the larger picture, the long-term consequences and repercussions of actions in the same way a mature brain can. Adolescent brains (of both genders) are wired for impulsive action and risk-taking, for emotional gratification and thrill-seeking. Adolescent personalities are profoundly malleable. And even well-adjusted adolescents are desperate to be liked, to be seen as loveable.

Anyone who takes advantage of that charming but unripened person is an abuser in the truest sense of the word: one who takes their own pleasure without care for the harm they may cause.

Riiiigggghhhhtttt.

Men (and women) who have nothing to offer generally settle for what they can get.

The rest of us find people we wouldn't trade the world for.

"adolescents may not be mature but the inclination that some people are showing here to treat adolescents as brain damaged to the point of not being fully human is going waaaaay to far."

I'm going to guess that comment was directed at me, since I posted about the adolescent brain.

Your response demonstrates the problem exactly. You assume that, because I say adolescents can't (as a group) respond to stimuli the same way a "mature" adult can, I think there is something "wrong" with adolescent brains.

I don't think my 4yo is "brain-damaged" but I recognize that sh doesn't have the maturity, judgement and experience to play outside in the yard by herself. Smart as she is, she could play in the street, wander into the woods, be persuaded to go off with a stranger, try to climb the house and fall off ... lots of things I know are bad ideas.

Perfectly smart adolescents do not have the maturity, judgement and maturity to engage in sexual relationships with authority figures. They often don't see (or don't care about, or assume the are immune to) how they can be hurt, used, or taken advantage of. And they almost certainly don't see how their "relationship" could harm the adult, the school, the community, etc.

That does not mean they are brain-damaged. We don't allow non-adults to engage in combat, fly air planes, get married, or take other positions of ultimate authority.

girls had lots and lots of way to get "fun and exercise" (Thank you Title IX and a good community park and rec department). Here's just what I can remember participating in over the course of my childhood:

ballet, tap, jazz, "theatre dance", gymnastics (including parallel bars even and uneven, and pole vaulting), soccer, softball, volley ball, tennis, swimming, ice skating, dodge ball, kick ball, cheer leading.

Other girls also played: field hockey, lacrosse, basket ball, track and field, golf and ice hockey. And I'm sure there were more.

Really, what void does pole dancing fill, other than sexualizing pre-pubescence?

I never pole-vaulted. I meant using the pommel horse or vault box to do flips, etc.