Age of consent

This is an arbitrary thing, putting dates on when people are officially mature enough to toss each other a bone and/or salad. I said 16 because of the speedier maturation that people seem to experience these days. Lower than that seems way too young, and I think people need to think long and hard at those ages about the respective age differences. (A 26 year old and a 16 year old, for example. Big differences mentally and experience wise there.)

 

In Virginia (my state), the age of consent is 18, but there is a closeness-in-age exception making it legal for 15, 16, and 17 year-olds to have sex with each other, as long as they are under 18. I think that is the right way to go about it personally.

 

I don't know what to make of the age of consent in the UK being 16. I'm undecided over whether it should be 16 or 18.

One thing is, many people I know believe (I agree to some elements of it) that due to the many changes a young man/woman experiences between the ages of 16 and 18, it's "tricky" for a 16 year old to get with an 19/20+ year old because they have more experience in this subject and been taught more "life skills"? Trying to explain this the same way I heard it but struggling!

I think the sum of the point that was being made is that although legally correct, it isn't morally.

If this is the case - shouldn't the age consent be 18? Or should it be for the person(s) involved to decide if they're ready? Plus I imagine some would argue although someone in their very late teens/early twenties isn't correct, a 16 year old with another 16 or 17 year old is OK as they're both at the some stage?

I'm not sure really. This was probably a post I was best just reading and not posting on! :eusa_doh:
What I do know is the rule book can only put down a solid firm line. Too many "it's not ok unless.." would probably be too shady and open to exploitation. But the fact is, there's probably some 15 year olds more ready than other 16 year olds!

 

I choose 17. Here in Arkansas it is just 16 and I feel that is a bit low. 18 sounds a bit better but some people are out of school and start college just before their 18th birthday. I think if you are old enough for college then you are old enough to decide to have sex or not. I'd like to see it actually say something like 18 or after graduating high school. But then you would have that advanced 16yo fall through the cracks.

Let's face it, putting an arbitrary line on it is impractical. The unfortunate thing is that the arbitrary line on it is necessary. I mean you have to draw the line somewhere, but where? That's the fuzzy part.

I saw the post above saying that there is a huge difference between 16 and 18 and I agree, but I have to ask, where you draw the line? Ok let's assume that the age of consent is 21. I'm 33 and there is a massive difference between 21 and 33. Is it okay for me to have casual sex with a 21yo? How about me and someone in their 50s? See if both partners are consenting it's hard to say what is right for individuals. I fully agree 16 is too young. Most 16yo haven't really figured out who they are yet. But by that same thought neither have a lot of 24yo.

 

It's fine the way it is here. 16 seems old enough, not many teen pregnancies here and people do use protection.

 

4 because they said yes (AND HAS SCIENCE DETERMINED IF THEY DONT MEAN IT? HMMM?!!!?!) And are old enogh to dress themselves.....



no fuck no i voted 19, 18 is fine tho because of ~legal adultness~ and etc... romeo and juliet laws are cool but huge age gaps are always trouble when one party is under 18 and i will judge the older party harshly. we all thought we we mature old souls that our peers misunderstood at 12 but the brain isnt there yet.

 

16 seems fine to me, if they decide they're ready by then, they should be allowed to give consent

 

I agree with the idea of 16 to 18. However, I am learning more towards 18.

 

It should be 18 in all 50 states, but it's not.

 

I refuse to answer the poll for a number of reasons.

1) I feel that, in the queer community, since we've often been attacked as people who are pedophiles, we have a reaction formation which causes us to be unyielding in support for age of consent laws. Its patently obvious if we didn't have to constantly defend ourselves against hateful allegations that we're purveyors of sexual deviance and impropriety, we might actually have healthier views of youth sexuality. However, many of us perceive this as politically inconvenient.

2) I have not delved into the scientific research on when capacity for competent consent develops.

3) In any case, I feel that fixing a median age for that capacity is still unjust in that it's unfair to people who develop a capacity for competent consent prior to that age or who fail to develop that capacity until after that age.

Do I think there should be some kind of an age of consent law? Yes. However, I think that such a law should be more nuanced. For example, I think there's clearly an age where sexual activity is inappropriate to the point that the presumption of abuse is strong. However, I think there are instances where very young people might be having sex (like 13) and we should be okay with this, provided that in a therapist's or psychoanalyst's professional opinion, that person understand what she wants to do. I do believe there is value in age of consent laws, as they capture a very important ethical intuition we all have, which is to prevent child sexual abuse.

In practice though, I am very worried about age of consent laws as they exist, even if the ages are equalized for same-sex activity.

In the well-publicized case of Katie Hunt and her girlfriend, that is an example of the homophobic abuse of law. In that case, Katie and her girlfriend had been seeing one another and engaging sexually when they were both under 18 and therefore protected by Romeo and Juliet provisions. However, when Katie turned 18, her girlfriend's homophobic parents took the opportunity to abuse the legal system and have her charged with statutory rape.

And furthermore, as I recall, some of you were very unsympathetic to Ms. Hunt, and I find that frankly detestable, horrifying, and exemplary of the spectacular callousness of uncritically accepting age of consent law as it currently stands.

 

16 seems reasonable to me. However, I don't think this should be heavily enforced. It ought to be there to protect children from adult predators. It isn't really a big deal if two younger teens have sex, or if people have sex within a couple of years of that age, say 15 and 16 or something.

 

Its hard to put an age on maturity. But as for the laws, nothing older than 18, here anyway (US). IMO, if you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for anything else.

I do think every state should be the same. 50 different laws regarding the age of consent is too confusing.

 

For me 18 seems about right. I've always felt like most people at 18 aren't really ready to be adults, but some are, and they shouldn't have to wait any longer than that. I'm really shocked someone said 13, that seems pretty creepy to me.

 

16 is a good guideline, and also include things like Romeo and Juliet laws and more

 

16 is fine.

FWIW, here is a map of the age of consent around the world:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

Most countries in Europe have an age of consent below 16. Spain is at 13. Ireland is highest at 17. Also notice Yemen has an age of consent of 9!

Funny how countries such as Sweden have an age of consent of 15, but they don't have the teenage pregnancy problems we do. Maybe teenagers in Sweden are not stupid. Seems to me that educating young people about sex is more important than trying to prevent them from having it.

 

I'd say 18, but if we must legislate this, I'd suggest going by age gap.
5 year age gaps are already pushing it IMO. 17 and 18 year old? Fine. 18 year old and 40 year old? No.

 

The age of consent here in Michigan is 16. If you're mature enough to legally operate a 3,000 pound machine at speeds exceeding 80 mph that could get you and others killed, you should be mature enough to have sex.

 

I say it should be 19 everywhere, most young people are not mature

 

The state says 18 but federal law says twelve so a 12-18 is ok but over that and it's illegal