The acceptablity of one vs the other is really just about societal stereotypes really. Male sexual activity is generally viewed completely differently than female sexual activity. Which never made a whole hell of a lot of sense to me. Unless one is engaging in activity with the same sex then it still takes two to tango. How can the exact same activity be right for one participant but wrong for the other?
A 16 year old is sexually mature, having gone through puberty, but male or female, definitely not adult. So, to my way of thinking, sexual activity or attraction between a 16 yr old and a 40 yr old speaks more to the immaturity of the older individual. But that's my personal view.
The classification of statutory rape is random, it depends on the jurisdiction. It's more an issue of a technicality. If you substitute the age of the older individual, from 43 to say 19, it completely changes the scenario. But the "crime", at least in Florida, would be the same.
