What Should The Age of Consent Be?

[courts]

I'm not really comfortable with having blanket ages for things because individuals are so different in their competency and teenagers are way more capable than typically assumed now (or at least, when treated with respect they are). Although if I had to set an age limit, I'd probably change it to something like 13 or 16 with age based exceptions so teens could have sex without one or both of them having to worry about being on a public sex offender list the rest of their life.

[courts]

I'm not really comfortable with having blanket ages for things because individuals are so different in their competency and teenagers are way more capable than typically assumed now (or at least, when treated with respect they are). Although if I had to set an age limit, I'd probably change it to something like 13 or 16 with age based exceptions so teens could have sex without one or both of them having to worry about being on a public sex offender list the rest of their life.

That's actually how I feel.  I think that, ideally, things like this should be considered on a case-by-case basis.  There are plenty of youngins who are quite like what we'd consider "mature" and "grown up," and then there are people my age who aren't that much more "mature" than a sixteen year old.

Yeah, although obviously that's problematic. Enforcing the varying ages we have now is already a headache especially with the amount of people that lie or have fake IDs. Just imagine having to guess who was ruled competent without even having a generalization like age to fall back on.

[courts]

Agreed. In any event, calling teenagers 'children' who can't make their own decisions is ridiculous and has no basis in human nature or how societies have functioned (up until maybe 20th century) at all. Worse still, almost everyone knows it given how it's expected people will lose their virginity sometime before their 20s and all those people who make comments about 'wishing they had a teacher like that' when Letourneau-type cases happen. It's just another example of how hypocritical and authoritarian American society really is now (and to some extent always was).

[courts]

18, unless both involved are within two years of age. But it should really only apply to men, MILFs can f**k all the underage boys (or girls if they are lesbian) they want, even if they are that kid's teacher.

Also no marriage should be recognized if the man's age is greater than double the woman's/other man's age minus seven years. Older women can still marry young guys though, and lesbians can marry whatever. But no one under 18 can be married under absolutely any circumstances whatsoever.

But then you couldn't get any, because as this post clearly indicates there's no way you're older than 14.

[courts]

I'm a male and over the age of 22.  When I was 22 I was a college graduate wearing a suit and tie to work at a very demanding job.  There is NO WAY I would be able to have any kind of intelligent conversation with a 16 year old girl.  I really don't know where people get these ideas from.  Actually I wouldn't have even known where to meet 16 year old girls.  Let me be clear.  A 22 year old dating or having sex with a 16 year old in modern society is weird and unacceptable.

It may not be the most socially acceptable thing, but it's certainly not unheard of or even illegal in my state or a bunch of other ones. And obviously a lot of men couldn't care less about having an 'intelligent conversation' regardless of what their partner's age is. But let's put all that aside for a moment and acknowledge the facts: By the time you're 16 you're legally able to legally drive, work to varying extents, choose whether you want to continue your education and do a bunch of other very adult things. What makes deciding to have sex any more dangerous than that? Personally I'd be way more concerned about some dumb 16-17 year old girl mowing me over because she was texting in her hyundai on the highway than her giving a blow job to her 25 year old boyfriend.

[courts]

The problem is people's expectations of government (i.e. role of government) not people's lifestyle choices in this case. You're not going to fix that by trying to impose age restrictions that really don't have much historical precedent and are widely ignored by people even in the states they do apply. And what about all the 20 somethings that are responsible and have younger partners? One of my sisters met her husband when she was 16 and he was enlisted, and they're doing fine.

[courts]

He was about 7 years older, so 23 or so. And they're living fairly comfortably off his paycheck while she searches for a job and goes to university far away from here. Of course that could change fast with this sort of economy, but she's substantially better off than 90% of the 20 year olds around here (except maybe the ones in a trade) I can tell you that much. And when I say historical precedent, I'm speaking more broadly because obviously human beings living nearly this long is a total aberration so Ephebophilia was the norm most of our history and is still hardwired in a lot of us. Really thinking of a 16 year old as a 'child' is something people would have laughed at less than 100 years ago.