New Moon double standard

I went to the midnight showing of New Moon last night and as I was watching the film, and gauging the response of the audience, I thought of some interesting points to write about. Much of the hoopla surrounding the film has to do with Taylor Lautner who plays the character of Jacob Black in the series. Every teenage girl is swooning over him and his new body (Lautner had to gain thirty pounds and chisel a six pack in order to keep his role as the teen wolf). What I have also been noticing, however, is that adult women are just as infatuated with him. The majority of the audience last night was made up of college-aged women or older. Whistles and cheers ensued every time Lautner appeared shirtless in the film. But the creepy part is Lautner is just 17 years old. Many of my friends continued to remind me that it's "legal in Canada" but I still find it disturbing that so many older women are expressing their obsession with a boy who would be a senior in high school. It seems to be a double standard in many ways, since the public is outraged when young female celebrities are objectified. When Miley Cyrus (who is the same age as Lautner) or Vanessa Hudgens (who is 22) is caught in some scandalous photo the media has a field day judging the young stars. Nonetheless, I think it is safe to say most people would be unnerved if they knew of twenty-something year old men staring at Miley Cyrus. Yet, somehow it is acceptable for women of the same age group to gawk at Taylor Lautner. Why is it that young female celebrities are supposed to hold on to some naive innocence while young male stars aren’t held to that same standard? I think it has a lot to do with the hegemonic expectations of men and women. Women are supposed to be reserved and well behaved; men are supposed to be strong and rugged. In effect, men are allowed to get away with much more in the media’s eyes. But why is the audience allowed to sexualize the image of young male stars, but not young female stars? Cyrus and Lautner are both 17, yet there is no one protecting Lautner from the gaze of all of these adult female fans.