age of consent-varg's post

So having sex with a girl at 13 was just as wrong in the Stone Age when her life expectancy was probably about 30 and getting pregnant at 13 was the norm?

CheekyChappie

That's not really the case though. More recently girls seem to be reaching puberty at a younger age, when I was young the majority of girls where in their early teens before they started to menstruate.

That's what I'm saying, early teens. Most girls are fertile by the age of 13 I believe. Some people might ask why is it so wrong for a 13 year old girl to have sex if nature has made her ready for it? Indeed, throughout most of human history women would have bore children as soon as they were ready. Lifespan was much shorter, so 13 would effectively have been considered adult, the women old enough to breed, the men old enough to go out hunting or working.

The reason we see 13 as too young now is that in our modern society we have the luxury of shifting everything later. We now define 13 as an age at which you should still be being nurtured and educated. Babies aren't conducive to this so an arbitrary threshold has been set at 16 at which society doesn't want you running the risk of pregnancy (finish your compulsory education first!). It's not because it's inherently wrong, it's for practical reasons, for the good of society.

Good post.
Biological facts seem to me to be a more reliable benchmark than an arbitralily chosen date, but we have all been brought up in a society which sees 16 as being normal so it is difficult to change how we think.

CheekyChappie


So having sex with a girl at 13 was just as wrong in the Stone Age when her life expectancy was probably about 30 and getting pregnant at 13 was the norm?

 
Its hard to compare a time millions of years ago that has no recorded history of law or social policy with a modern civilised society of the modern era.
 
If we are to do that then we must class rape and murder as being along the same lines as Im sure they were viewed as being normal in everyday life millions of years ago.
 
"I can do no wrong because I do not know what 'wrong' is".

Rape and murder are clearly things which are harmful to the individual and so would never be desirable in any society. What is harmful about a 13 year old having a baby and raising it if that is the norm in her society?

CheekyChappie


Rape and murder are clearly things which are harmful to the individual and so would never be desirable in any society. What is harmful about a 13 year old having a baby and raising it if that is the norm in her society?

I would guess that in her society lots of 8 year old girls died due to having sex and sex with babies was probably common in a lawless land of crude 'survival'.
 
As I say (IMO) if we are to compare any issue of the modern era with the days of the caveman then its a total pointless issue.

im with trident on this, what our ancestors did is no relevance.  as said already murder and rape would have most likely been common place.  we dont have to look that far back to find tribal wars in our own history, where there was no law.  murder would have been part of life.  hardly a good model for setting todays standards by.

john_cappa



I suppose i would like to know that the individual understands all the risks/rewards involved in having a sexual relationship and that the individual will be able to deal with the potential consequences of their actions i.e. if they get pregnant/get some one pregnant they will be able to offer the child a decent start of living and act as a responsible role model etc.

so do i get the job or what??? send all your sisters/daughters/friends around for evaluation!!!!

You can have the job. I not be sending anyone just yet though!

The most important thing is that it's in a relatively loving, consensual relationship.

A girl I know....her parents are something like 11 yrs apart. Her mum met her dad at 17, and he was 28. They've been married for 30yrs now, happily, and seem like a nice couple.

Sex is bad when it's abusive and takes advantage - if it doesn't, no harm, no foul.

I don't know what the age of consent should be but...to be honest....I would have happily had sex at 14, in fact I wanted to lose my virginity then haha! I don't think losing their virginity early has impacted any of the girls / lads I know who did.

Varg

Good post.
Biological facts seem to me to be a more reliable benchmark than an arbitralily chosen date, but we have all been brought up in a society which sees 16 as being normal so it is difficult to change how we think.

Agree with this tbh.

Sex has turned into a moral debate now. Whilst I don't think any sensible person recommends 13yr olds go shagging about.....it's stupid to think people don't think about sex and want to have it at that age. Personally, I thought about girls all the time back then. If it's natural, then is it wrong?

We can bring in to the debate age difference...and it's a bit weird if say, a 30yr old hooked up with a 16yr old....but.....if it were my sister....I'd prefer her to be with a decent 30yr old than one of the typical chavvy scumbags most teenage girls go for.

ThaiFighter
 



Sex has turned into a moral debate now. Whilst I don't think any sensible person recommends 13yr olds go shagging about..

I think its gone to moral as well. society have put a lot emphasis on age and if I was a postion of power and tried to change it. I would not want to read the Sun headline about me the following morning.
Its a very emotive subject, while sex is often emotive. It can not devoid of emotion as well.