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Age Of Consent .........

cryptogrindPosted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago4 min read

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Age Of Consent . .....

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  • Okay so this is a tricky one even for me but we necessarily must go there because it is a space of concern and it exists in the time and space that we presently live in, so, lets go there

  • Age of consent is a topic which by its being, indeed by its mere mention, would necessarily jar the senses of some people ......scratch that ..... jar the senses of a lot of people, but necessarily we must go there, so lets go there.

  • Age of consent, age of reason, age of reasoning, adulthood, pretty much all sides of the same coin.

  • What these terms speak to is that stage of life at which a person is sufficiently rounded as to be able to make an informed decision, make their own decisions etc. It is that age and stage of life when society is confident that that person has reached that stage / age where they are able to function without supervision.

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  • Now, there are certain parameters for determining that that age and stage has been reached, often a number is ascribed to that age and stage and typically it ranges from 16-18 depending on the country / society , some of the other determinants considered include; the individual’s stage of development as a person, this could be what stage they are in their education, what maturity they show in how they carry themselves, how their body has evolved etc. any of the above, all of the above.
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  • So important is age of consent to most societies that it nearly always has legal backing, in fact, I cannot think of a country that does not have a legal age of consent (but im sure some smart Alec will come up with some obscure countries and gleefully list them in the comments section ).

  • But really I am not talking about the legality of age of consent, I am talking about the morality of age ..... and age difference ..... I am talking about what age means and what it should mean to us as a species of being, as the human race.
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  • As the human race we pretty much agree that there should be an age of consent, I think it stands to reason, it stands to morality, it stands to civility, indeed it stands to humanity, really, it just stands!, so, we can pretty much agree on that.

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  • Now, having agreed that it stands, lets now look to its nuance, its parameters , its morality ... let me just give you a quick example just so you see where I am headed with this.

  • Assume age of consent has been attained in these two instances - how offended would you be seeing a 16 girl year old dating a 20 year old chap as opposed to a 23 year old woman dating a 50 something year old man, in both instances we are assuming age of consent has been reached by all parties, which if any of those two examples would you find immoral and or offensive ..... and why.

  • Where are the margins is the question that I am asking, in some cultures cousins marry each other, in fact, this used to be quite common amongst the European royals, yes, age of consent would have been attained in these instances but what about the morality of it, the narrowing of the gene pool, the borderline incest, or is there a moral maze there to be navigated? Or is there.

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  • I guess the question that I am asking is, taking age of consent as a given, and taking that it has been attained, but using age as the yard of measure, where does uncomfortable start.

  • Going back to my earlier example, for me, I would feel uncomfortable seeing a fifty something year old man dating a 23 year old girl simply because they are at completely different stages of life in every conceivable way, fair enough if they were just having a physical relationship for a moment, but as long term partners?? ..... if I saw that I would definitely look twice before I looked away.

  • For me, the only thing that would not concern me is what a 27 year old and above woman chooses to do with her body and her life.

Cryptogrind.... [ The Beast No 5]

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