Youth Exoticized

Best talk of the week: while commenter "Sonali" took the most disgusting name as a commenter, he (she?) did make one hell of a point:

As a culture, we exoticize youth in our marketing and deify the likes of Britney Spears, clad in a private school girl's uniform and urging us to Hit Her, Baby, One More Time...but then we'll villify those who cross the line with their 16 year old neighbor's daughter.

Might there be a connection? Like Lester Burnham in American Beauty, our country sexualizes youth at the same time that it cherishes its sanctity. Isn't that hypocritical on some profound level? The proliferation of the "multi-billion dollar" kiddie porn industry runs side by side with porn sites that depict "barely legal" eighteen year olds - as if a couple pages on a calendar defined one's readiness to partake in consentual sex. Is that not TRULY preposterous?