Secret Squirrel wrote:
The age of consent is probably one of the most
complicated sexual issues. On the one hand, teens
are physically capable of becoming parents, and
even small children are capable of orgasms.

The problem is, or course, is that the society at
large, led by the Fox-y News Media, doesn't see it as
a complicated issue at all. People who transgress the
line and who give a 13-yo boy a blowjob are simply worse
than murderers. Yeah, as absurd as that sounds, I've
heard quite literally it said that way.

Voltai "When we believe in absurdities, we will
commit actrocities". That pretty much sums up what's
happening today.

People always want simplified issues. People don't
like to think. Wait . . . Worse than murder?

On
the other, there's the question of if teens are
emotionally ready, and they certainly aren't
ready for the stigma of pregnancy. Or the
economic realities of having children. When
you're talking about girls who recently got their
period, they're most likely not physically ready
for pregnancy either.

Of course, part of the reason they might not be
emotionally ready is cultural, and I've met
people who weren't emotionally ready in their 20s
or 30s, whereas I was ready at 14. But that still
leaves the harsh economic realities.

Oh, I agree, I agree with the last part. Raising kids
requires financial resources that 14-year olds won't have in
current society. However, preventing teenagers from having kids,
and preventing STDs, both very legitimate objectives, is not
quite the same as preventing them from having orgasms or having
sex---not anymore than preventing unwanted pregnancies and STDs
among adults requires them to forgo orgasms and sex. Nor are the
ages of the particular participants especially important in
achieving those objectives. I personally would tell any teenaged
girl to get an abortion, and aid her in being able to get one.

Then we get into the ethics of abortion. That's why I
always use condoms, even if there IS still a 3% chance
she'll get pregnant in a typical year. (Which gets
worse because I'm not sure what "typical couple"
means.)