A Slightly Controversial Point About "Lolita"

I'm sitting on my couch, watching T.V. and drinking a pint. I'm desperate to avoid studying for my sociology test until the last possible minute so I'm going to publish a post that I've been meaning to post.
I aggree with Lucas that the subject matter of "Lolita" is really quite disgusting. Old men, young girls, it reminds me of that new Dateline series called, "To catch a predator." I'm working on trying to post a video clip from it.

I know that Dr. Sexson's point with regards to the work is that it should be evaulated as a work of fiction and beauty and not the literal truth of, "wow, this guy's a pervert." I would like to make my own point which my uncle, Ned brought up so it's really his point. Is the issue an issue of one man's sexual delinquancy or an issue of cultural perception, just culture. This is mentioned in the beginning of the novel but I'm going to examine a few more cases just for the sake of argument.

1. Aisha, one of the wives of Muhammed. The age of her marriage is disputed however several hadiths, writing collections, that it is said she wrote say that she was married at 6 and then the marriage was consummated at 9, but apparently she was post-pubescent when the consummation.

2. Athenian women usually married at the age of fourteen or fifteen. Typically the male was about thirty.

3. The custom of betrothal states that a woman can be married before she is even born. Although this has no clear reprecussions with regards to marriage consummation.

4. More than a quarter of young British teens self-report to have lost their virginity when they were 15.

Don't get me wrong; I think it's horrific and I will let you know my aesthetic opinion when I've read more of the novel but I would just like to make one more point.

Is it worse than ordering a bride online, like a piece of used Ebay merchandise?

Is it worse than living in a country where a woman is doused with acid, burned, killed or raped because her male relatives have dishonered the family?

I don't want to continue with grotesque stories as a justification for the narrator's actions in "Lolita." I simply feel that too much emphasis is being placed on the subject of the novel and perhaps not on the novel itself. I do not advocate the seduction of 12 year old girls but I feel as though the issue is being blown into one of a massive proportion. It is just one man and not a whole society, culture acting unjustly.

As a final, closing statement I would like to make one movie recommendation and I really hope that Dr. Sexson recommends my movie in class or at least he rents it.

"The Woodsman." with Kevin Bacon. It's about a pedophile trying to readjust to normal life. I think everyone in our class would feel a bit more enlightened if they saw this movie. Don't worry it's not too gross.