Hi Susan!  I meant to respond to your questions about age-difference in sexual encounters, and more specifically,  regarding the Marolyn Rawat and Mary-Kaye Letourneau comparison.  I honestly don't know enough about the two women here to say much, but in general I would say that any sexual encounter between a person of age and one who is underage is going to give rise to an unequal relationship, and therefore has the strong tendency to be abusive by taking advantage of the lesser one.  This is what the law is supposed to protect against.  Of course this situation is magnified a thousand-fold if the older of the two is in a position of power as well--as would be the case with a teacher and a student, a boss and an employee, or a priest and a member of the church, etc.  The greatest abuse of trust of all of them, in my opinion, is the abuse of a devotee in the name of devotion! Here I see Rawat being the perpetrator and Marolyn the victim, however that whole thing got started with them.

 I agree with you that it doesn't (and shouldn't) matter what the gender of the older person is, although you are right--our cultural conditioning still favors a double standard here that may be reflected in the law as well.

Its interesting to read some of the literature about cults in this regard, because it was quite eye-opening for me to learn that even two people in a relationship of unequal power can be said to be in a cult.  As long as one person is acquiescing to the demands of the other, for whatever "reasons", its a cultic relationship.

I'm writing this as I process my own thoughts about it, of course, and don't claim to have any special expertise or insight other than what I am learning for myself and applying to my own life.

Take care,

Shelagh