Ephebophilia in Popular Culture

As discussed in my previous post, heterosexual men of all ages generally find the nubile female body to be the most sexually appealing.  Many post-nubile women who return to the mating market  attempt to do their best to put on a the most convincing pseudo-nubile appearance that they can, in order to compete for cocks against younger ladies who still possess natural nubility.  Notable male Feminist Hugo Schwyzer, who made a name for himself by openly condemning older men for lusting after nubile hot young blossoms, turned out also to be the world's most notable hypocrite on this issue.  Still, I'm sure that most Feminists will agree with his assertions, even if he participated in acts for which he typically reviled other men of his age.  A heterosexual man who claims that he doesn't lust after nubile women is most likely a liar.

 Ephebophilia refers to adult sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19.  Women do remain nubile for a few years beyond that, but in this post I am focusing on ephebophilia in popular culture.

Ronnie McDowell had one song that remains popular with the older ladies.

Here is a portion of his lyrics:

Everybody seems to love those younger women

From eighteen on up to twenty-five

Well I love 'em too, but I'm tellin' you

Learnin' how to really love, takes a little time.

 

Older women, are beautiful lovers
Older women, they understand
I've been around some, and I have discovered
That older women know just how to please a man.

He admits that men of all ages love women from 18-25, but, for him, he prefers the older women's experience at pleasing men.

Which sounds similar to Benjamin Franklin's Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress

My Dear Friend,

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

1. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!

Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend.

All of which seems very reasonable.  Still, if you want a breeder, then get yourself a nubile wife.  Otherwise, make some old bird happy.

 In many jurisdictions in the United States, girls become freshly available for legal consensual coitus and for marriage at the age of 16 (as do boys).  Just don't take any pictures, or you'll be spending a huge chunk of your life in our overcrowded prisons.  You have been warned.

Here is one of Neil Sedaka's little ditties, Happy Birthday Sweet 16, that is loaded with sexual symbolism and innuendo.

Note the suggestive formation of the dancers, and the singer's penetration of the formation when he says "Let's do it now" at 1:52. Oh, this choreographer knew exactly what he was up to.

Sixteen-year-old girls do appear to be a special interest for pervy-looking pop singers in long beards,

as well as for clean-cut guys in suits,

perhaps because, as 16-year-old girls are freshly available for legal consensual coitus, deflowering one may be something of a dream in the collective male unconscious.  Ringo Starr also liked 16-year-old girls.

The Beatles seemed to appreciate 17-year-old girls,

as did the legendary Georges Moustaki.

The Limeliters had a clever song (Have some Madeira M'Dear) concerning a vile old man's seduction of a pure, sweet 17-year-old.

The musical South Pacific featured a romance between a soldier and a girl who was "younger than spring time" and "softer than star light."

When France Gall sang this song by Serge Gainsbourg, she was too young-in-mind to understand the double-entendres, which contributed a certain charm to her performance.

Here are Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg, with a tribute to a much more forbidden form of love between the old and young.

For the ephebophiles, it is certainly no accident that a lot of the manufactured talent in the music industry does consist of teenaged girls.  Here is the very popular pop star Alizée, who gave us some very refreshing imagery,

and who didn't fully comprehend what her song was about until a few years later, when she finally got around to reading Vladimir Nabokov's book.  Little misunderstandings like that might not go over so well in the United States.

Here are Disney creations Zendaya Coleman

and Selena Gomez.

And, modern Western culture isn't the only culture that is or ever was obsessed with youth. 

Song of Solomon 7:

What a magnificent young woman you are!
How beautiful are your feet in sandals.
The curve of your thighs
is like the work of an artist.

A bowl is there,
that never runs out of spiced wine.
A sheaf of wheat is there,
surrounded by lilies.

Your breasts are like twin deer,
like two gazelles.

Your neck is like a tower of ivory.
Your eyes are like the pools in the city of Heshbon,
near the gate of that great city.
Your nose is as lovely as the tower of Lebanon
that stands guard at Damascus.

Your head is held high like Mount Carmel.
Your braided hair shines like the finest satin;
its beauty could hold a king captive.

How pretty you are, how beautiful;
how complete the delights of your love.

You are as graceful as a palm tree,
and your breasts are clusters of dates.

I will climb the palm tree
and pick its fruit.
To me your breasts are like bunches of grapes,
your breath like the fragrance of apples,
and your mouth like the finest wine.

 

Song of Solomon 8:

The Woman's Brothers:
We have a young sister,
and her breasts are still small.
What will we do for her
when a young man comes courting?

If she is a wall,
we will build her a silver tower.
But if she is a gate,
we will protect her with panels of cedar.

The Woman:
I am a wall,
and my breasts are its towers.
My lover knows that with him
I find contentment and peace.

The Man:
Solomon has a vineyard
in a place called Baal Hamon.
There are farmers who rent it from him;
each one pays a thousand silver coins.

Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins,
and the farmers to two hundred as their share;
I have a vineyard of my own!

Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love;
my companions are waiting to hear you speak.

The Woman:
Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle,
like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.

The Bible contains some ancient evidence of the sexual objectification of nubile lasses. According to Frank Marlowe's Nubility Hypothesis, hominid females evolved protruding breasts because the size and shape of the breasts function as an honest signal of residual reproductive value.  Back in Bible times, it was probably a lot less common for women to use implants, push-up bras, or other means to exaggerate the size and shape of their bosoms.  If a woman had breasts that resembled twin dear, gazelles, or clusters of dates, then she was probably honestly nubile.  Note in the eighth chapter of the Song of Solomon that the girl's breasts were still small, which suggests that she may have been what modern scholars call "jail bait."

When Abraham was a very old man, and after Sarah had died, he married Keturah, who gave him a whole slew of children. (Genesis 25).

And, of course, from 1 Kings 1, there is the story of David and Abishag

King David was now a very old man, and although his servants covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm. So his officials said to him, “Your Majesty, let us find a young woman to stay with you and take care of you. She will lie close to you and keep you warm.”  A search was made all over Israel for a beautiful young woman, and in Shunem they found such a woman named Abishag, and brought her to the king. She was very beautiful, and waited on the king and took care of him, but he did not have intercourse with her.

King David already had several wives and concubines (including Bathsheba), who must all have been quite post-nubile.  Abishag was young, beautiful and nubile, but she still couldn't get his pecker to respond.  What a pity.

Dean Barrett, the Bangkok Poet, describes the modern miracle (which he attributes to the existence of God) that now fortunately permits old men to bang hot young blossoms.

Men who have a great deal of wealth can use the internet to find nubile "sugar babies" with whom to share their wealth.

For guys of more modest means, there are places like the Philippines

or Cambodia.

 

That documentary from Cambodia is a bit dated.  Since 2011, foreign men who are more than 50 years old have been barred from marrying in Cambodia, supposedly as a means of "combatting human trafficking."  Which seems an odd solution, particularly given that Cambodia is seeking to market itself as a retirement destination.  And, for the guys who can't afford to leave the country (remember the slogan: "No Money, No Honey"), teen porn is reportedly the most popular form of pornography in the United States.  Or, follow the advice of the Great Hypocrite, and get yourself an "age-appropriate" hag.  Taking Mr. Franklin's recommendations literally, and covering her head and torso with a basket, probably wouldn't be very nice.  Scientific evidence demonstrates that a man who has a wife who is a lot younger than he is usually enjoys a longer life.  Men who opt for older wives usually die early.

In conclusion, I'll leave you to contemplate the words of Mr. Sixto Rodriguez.