Not so much shift, as expand. Continually adding appreciation of new groups... types, shapes, special attributes, and of course talents.

My 13 year old was a dead ringer for Annette Funicello, not some skinny waif that happen to reach puberty.

I think moreso as you mature than age. Although normally the two happen concurrently, but not always.

Or are you just adjusting your expectations to reality and availability?

Generally sex involves more than rutting, and as you mature your want to interact with someone you can connect with mentally and emotionally.

But I'm not talking about looking at a person as someone to connect with,
I'm talking about looking at someone, and appreciating their beauty and sexuality.

Bruce, I absolutely agree with you that it is normal to admire the beauty in women of all ages. There is a sea of difference between thinking, "Hey, that teenage star is a real looker" when you come across them on tv or in print and choosing to sit down in front of the tv and watch the disney channel so you can watch the "teenie tasties". Completely different.

But, but, but, love the one you're with. ;)

Turning up the thermostat instead of getting my hat and sweater and socks and blanket....

I wonder if the difference is having kids? When you have kids, you suddenly view them as items to protect rather than lust after?

i know for sure that if i were ten or twenty years older a lot of the girls (and guys) i find attractive would just be, kinda creepy. And conversely, a lot of the men and ladies you old farts are on about are just kinda old for me. I figure, its either environmental (one is mostly surrounded by people close to one's age so that's what one likes), or just a biological predisposition to wanna mate with those of the roughly same age or generation.

that said, i concur, drax is a creep.

The thing is, I totally understand what his deal is. The circumstances of his life have left him in a position of being very immature for his age. He is, for all intents and purposes of mental attraction, the same age as these girls. It actually makes more sense for him to be attracted to them, rather than women his age. But unlike a 15-year-old boy, he has an extra 20-odd years of sexual frustration hanging off him, which is what changes it from American-Pie-funny-because-it's-awkward-desperation into creepy-ass-pedophile-desperation.

I "get" to watch these shows all the time (my son loves them)... I compare it to this generation's version of Happy Days. I wonder what my parents thought when Fonzie had a date with the Brezinsky Triplets?? The girls are cute. The plots are beyond lame. Yawn.

It depends on what you mean by "lust after." (Like Jimmy Carter, I have lusted after women in my heart.) I can think, "wow, she looks really nice." That doesn't mean, "wow, I'd like to hit that." That may seem like a subtle distinction, but it's a distinction nonetheless.

Teenagers will always dress to shock--whatever it takes to "shock" in a particular generation. What I find repulsive is not the fashions on these shows, it's the way those fashions have been co-opted for profit by the mega-corporations that produce and air the TV shows. I'm more concerned about how to deal with the consumeristic impulses of the predominate culture than with the fashions. (Though I'm not a fan of many of the fashions.)

Oh good Lord. Now, I regretting my choice of words there. :D

This is all bullshit, speculating the reasoning behind the choice of the phrase "teenie tasties".
Just why do you think those girls were chosen for the roles they play? Because they would be attractive to their target audience, methinks, because they are "teenie tasties". Does acknowledging that make me a pedophile?

Their target audience is my 7 year old daughter. She doesn't call them teenie tasties.

Damn. I could've used that argument when ya'll were bashin' for posting all 'ose pix.

Be glad she doesn't.