What do u think the age of consent should be?

[KonfuzeDNuKlear]

There seems to be a common theme among RKelly Drake JayZ and the like apologists. ..

"17 is the age of consent"
"She was 18...ThAts gRoWN.."
"She was being "fast" at 16"

This is for Grown Folks Im talking 25 and over crowd please lets be honest and real with ourselves as women.
We know full well understand its been "a mans world" made up by their war filled (18 to go to the military but not old enough to drink) sex filled (states where the age of consent can be as low as 15/16 for women)
Where respected preachers and pastors have been found to groom young boys as young as 12.

Should men have been allowed/be allowed to decide the age of consent for women???

Ladies How old in your opinion is old enough for a "girl/woman" to be psychologically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually well equipped to consent to an adult sexual mental emotional relationship.

I hear so many of my friends and peers in our 30+ year old age group realizing that either we had boyfriends too young, sexual encounters too young, etc..
We often joke about not allowing our daughters to date until after 25 and up.

MEN JOKE ABOUT THIS SAME THING WITH NOT ALLOWING THEIR DAUGHTERS TO DATE UNTIL MUCH MUCH OLDER.

That we werent protected or would have been better off if we took the time to know ourselves and love ourselves FIRST before engaging with men on a sexual and emotional level.
At 17 I had no business being sexual as I know understand I had no idea what element of womanhood I was taking on. Real women will understand this point.

So lets discuss..immature versus mature answers will tell on themselves Im sure.

If we are talking LEGAL CONSENT what would be YOUR age of consent for a woman??

Re: We are not taking into account here how this would affect men on some "well what would happen if legal consent was 20 and she cried rape and now a a grown man would have sexual predator case blah blah blah"

 

[Dale Rick Nor]

In today's climate, you might one to include boys and girls.

But to answer your question, it should be at the very least, eighteen years old.

 

[wonderchild]

21. According to statistics, a lot of younger Gen Y and Gen Z are holding off on having sex anyway. Most are not having sex at all until much older ages. It used to be 17 was the age you lost your virginity, but that number is rising for both boys and girls. Hell, there was a thread about that article on LSA and so many younger girls were saying that they didn't lose their virginities until they were in their twenties. Apparently, when you're involved in sports and academics, sex isn't even on your mind. The kids who lose their virginities early, had no supervision, weren't involved in school (or skipped school), or were molested by family members. If you're a really focused person, 21 seems like the right age to me.

 

[Naslif]

21+ imo.

Our brains are fully developed in the periods between 21-25 so that above or in that period

 

[sugahoneyicetee]

At the very least 18 y.o., but more like 21 or above..

 

[Metaphysique]

18. It's 18 in CA and a felony if the age difference is greater than three years.

 

[Marijae]

In most European countries the age of consent is 15.. and you can drink alcohol at 18. I’d see a 30 with a 15 as creepy, though.

 

[MarscoponeNChil]

18

 

[FortunaPlus]

There should be a national age of consent, rather than statewide, and it should be staggered.

21+ can consent to any one 21+.

18-20 can give consent to someone no more than 5 years older.

15-17 can consent to someone no more than 3 years older.

14 and younger cannot give consent.

We follow up with this by bringing comprehensive sex education back to school that not only teaches about healthy sexual habits, but abstinence, and consent/boundaries at the age appropriate level from 6th grade onward.

 

[AmusedByIdiocy]

21 and over. Before that...sigh.

 

[SexyRaccune]

Seeing as Nature starts preparing humans for sexuality in their early teens... and seeing as how women are sexual creatures and have a right to explore their own sexuality without government trying to oppress them, I think 17 is a good age of consent.

A person at this age should have had time to get their training wheels in dating, emotion, and asserting will and agency. At 17, young adults should have the opportunity to start exploring all kinds of life experiences.

It's not a perfect age but delaying will cause even more immaturity and ineptitude about how to handle life.

Anyone is free to wait until marriage or 30 or age 50, but to forbid someone by law from being able to consent to sex until they are 21 or older is too restrictive. Let people have the right to use and explore their bodies as they wish.

You can't just think from a man's point of view. Women like sex too and want to explore their sexuality when their bodies have matured and their emotions and mindsets are maturing.

If you are worried about predators, teach young girls techniques for navigating the world of sex. Empower them. Why restrict the *girl's rights* and agency because of a predator?

 

[SoAmbitious]

I know 21 seems like a sensible age of consent but realistically it is not happening. Religious people try it with abstinence and gender segregation and it still doesn't work. I agree with the font who said there should be a sliding scale. Young people are going to explore their sexuality and fuck unless they replace it with toys and porn which isn't healthy in a long term. We get socially awkward people who can't have healthy sex or form emotional bonds.
Sex ed and teaching emotional itelligence will be more effective than raising the age of consent imo

 

[afroboho]

why are we thinking about just women? For boys and girls, I would say 18. That would eliminate the blurry statuatory rape laws amongst teens also.

Many boys have been raped by grown women and it goes under the radar.

To answer your question, men should not decide age of consent...women and girls should.

 

[ildergreier]

If we are talking LEGAL CONSENT what would be YOUR age of consent for a woman??

The same year we reach legal adulthood (here where I am, it is 18 year old).

 

[DevilsPie]

Seeing as Nature starts preparing humans for sexuality in their early teens... and seeing as how women are sexual creatures and have a right to explore their own sexuality without government trying to oppress them, I think 17 is a good age of consent.

A person at this age should have had time to get their training wheels in dating, emotion, and asserting will and agency. At 17, young adults should have the opportunity to start exploring all kinds of life experiences.

It's not a perfect age but delaying will cause even more immaturity and ineptitude about how to handle life.

Anyone is free to wait until marriage or 30 or age 50, but to forbid someone by law from being able to consent to sex until they are 21 or older is too restrictive. Let people have the right to use and explore their bodies as they wish.

You can't just think from a man's point of view. Women like sex too and want to explore their sexuality when their bodies have matured and their emotions and mindsets are maturing.

If you are worried about predators, teach young girls techniques for navigating the world of sex. Empower them. Why restrict the *girl's rights* and agency because of a predator?

You have articulated this better than I could at the moment.

My Life, My Body, My Fucking Right.

 

[IceBreakers]

the age of consent should be raised to 20 years old, in my opinion.

we come out of the womb as sexual creatures. there are male babies that masturbate while breastfeeding. our personalities are fully formed by age six - a time when we are absorbing and learning so much from the environment around us, including sensuality and sexuality. kissing someone your are crushing on on the cheek, even the crush itself, is an example of us exploring ourselves in a sexual manner.

however, a child pre-exposed to sex, especially due to sexual abuse, will experience damage to their brains because neurons and hormones like cortisol release will disturb and disrupt the circuits and connections in their brains. it will manifest itself in a lack of discerning unhealthy relationships both with themselves and others and an unhealthy relationship to sex itself.

simply put: trauma damages children whose brains are not developed enough to handle the exposure and stress of certain sexual experiences and that damage will last into adulthood if not properly controlled and healed.

what is disturbing to me is the adultification of children, particularly those who are teenagers, and that includes 17, 18, and 19 year olds. teenagers are still children; they are still developing and lack the mental, physical, and emotional maturity present in adults.

the stage of life between 17 and 22 is an important time for one to a) learn who they are, b) transition from child to young man or woman to adult, and c) allow their brains to fully develop and form. yes, teenagers should learn about themselves sensually and sexually, but those areas can be taught in the absence of a relationship or another person. they do not need to experience sex so young to learn about themselves.

we need to do a better job teaching children boundaries - how to structure them, how to enforce them, and how to hold themselves and other accountable for their boundaries and for respecting other's boundaries. and we need to see older children, teenagers, as children and not "almost there" or "almost legal" adults. so, the age of consent to be raised wouldn't be a form of oppression, it is instead protection for the neurobiological, emotional, psychological, and physical maturation of children as they transition into adults.

 

[SexyRaccune]

the age of consent should be raised to 20 years old, in my opinion.

we come out of the womb as sexual creatures. there are male babies that masturbate while breastfeeding.

Wrong. Breastfeeding is not about sex and neither is a baby touching his genitals. SMH.

The body begins sexually developing in puberty. And no we are not "fully formed" at age six as you say. There are various stages of child development.

 

[KonfuzeDNuKlear]

the age of consent should be raised to 20 years old, in my opinion.

we come out of the womb as sexual creatures. there are male babies that masturbate while breastfeeding. our personalities are fully formed by age six - a time when we are absorbing and learning so much from the environment around us, including sensuality and sexuality. kissing someone your are crushing on on the cheek, even the crush itself, is an example of us exploring ourselves in a sexual manner.

however, a child pre-exposed to sex, especially due to sexual abuse, will experience damage to their brains because neurons and hormones like cortisol release will disturb and disrupt the circuits and connections in their brains. it will manifest itself in a lack of discerning unhealthy relationships both with themselves and others and an unhealthy relationship to sex itself.

simply put: trauma damages children whose brains are not developed enough to handle the exposure and stress of certain sexual experiences and that damage will last into adulthood if not properly controlled and healed.

what is disturbing to me is the adultification of children, particularly those who are teenagers, and that includes 17, 18, and 19 year olds. teenagers are still children; they are still developing and lack the mental, physical, and emotional maturity present in adults.

the stage of life between 17 and 22 is an important time for one to a) learn who they are, b) transition from child to young man or woman to adult, and c) allow their brains to fully develop and form. yes, teenagers should learn about themselves sensually and sexually, but those areas can be taught in the absence of a relationship or another person. they do not need to experience sex so young to learn about themselves.

we need to do a better job teaching children boundaries - how to structure them, how to enforce them, and how to hold themselves and other accountable for their boundaries and for respecting other's boundaries. and we need to see older children, teenagers, as children and not "almost there" or "almost legal" adults. so, the age of consent to be raised wouldn't be a form of oppression, it is instead protection for the neurobiological, emotional, psychological, and physical maturation of children as they transition into adults.

THIS!

I love how so many of you have well rounded answers including science in this.

"Teen"agers are STILL children in a sense. They have no fully developed.

The my body my right lady...a child is not predisposed biologically to "want" sex. It is "taught/learned" environmentally.
Yes children explore their genitals but the INTENT is not sexualized which is the point of this discussion.

I understand many of you wanted me to include "boys".
This was a discussion for women but we can make it "children" in general since a great point was made about teenagers period not being developmentally ready.

Thank you all for your thoughtful answers.
I hope this discussion continues

Tag a font you feel would bring something to the discussion

 

[IceBreakers]

Wrong. Breastfeeding is not about sex and neither is a baby touching his genitals. SMH.

The body begins sexually developing in puberty. And no we are not "fully formed" at age six as you say. There are various stages of child development.

wrong.

breastfeeding is a SENSUAL act, not a sexual act. the baby masturbating is them exploring themselves and experiencing SENSUAL pleasure, and, in this case, also sexual.

and yes, our PERSONALITIES are fully formed at age six, some say as early as three years old. our full profile continues developing past then, but the foundation is set by the time we're in 1st grade.

all you had to do was google my points, but okay.

 

[SexyRaccune]

wrong.

breastfeeding is a SENSUAL act, not a sexual act. the baby masturbating is them exploring themselves and experiencing SENSUAL pleasure, and, in this case, also sexual.

and yes, our PERSONALITIES are fully formed at age six, some say as early as three years old. our full profile continues developing past then, but the foundation is set by the time we're in 1st grade.

all you had to do was google my points, but okay.

Girl STFU you said it sexual and you said nothing about personalities. Shut up. Look up sexual development and the development of the human body. *Ignored.

 

[IceBreakers]

Girl STFU you said it sexual and you said nothing about personalities. Shut up. Look up sexual development and the development of the human body. *Ignored.

yikes. someone's madT about the #truth, lol

the baby masturbating is an example of both sexual and sensual exploration of a child at a young age.

and unfortunately, you can't read, either:

our personalities are fully formed by age six - a time when we are absorbing and learning so much from the environment around us, including sensuality and sexuality.

so, take your own advice and also look up the neurobiological development of humans, which is directly tied into sexual development...

dumb, loud, and wrong. what a way to live smh.

 

[PhreeDMind]

25 for both sexes. That’s when the prefrontal cortex is fully developed and folks typically have more sense.

Very unlikely though because 13-24 is a minefield of hormones on both sides. Yikes!

 

[sosie]

It’s a lot to do with how our society is shaped. 18 is age when you are legally an adult so that should be age of consent.

 

[NativelyCosmic]

I strongly believe 21 should be the age of consent. Especially considering the current sexual climate in the US. STDs are at an all time high (CDC, 2018). Instances of sexual assault towards both minors and adults are going down however the frequency of these assaults are still high in some regions of the US.

Practicing safe sex is already difficult enough for some adults but for teenagers it's a whole mess. I remember my teens and how STDs were being passed around like hot cakes because people weren't using protection. Teenage boys wanted to seem like bad boys by going raw (or lacked proper education on safe sex practices) while teenage girls were too complacent to require that these boys wear protection.

Being 21 doesn't guarantee wisdom in regards to sex or relationships nor does it guarantee safer sex practices but at this age people are likely more adept at making informed choices because they've acquired much more life experience and biologically they are more fully developed.

 

[PlushNBoujie]

Some countries the age of consent is 16 others 14 and others 12, some 21. It's all a matter of opinion. The second-highest age of consent is 20 in South Korea, while the majority of other countries have an Age of Consent between 16 and 18. The lowest Age of Consent in the world is 11, in Nigeria. The age of consent is 12 in the Philippines and Angola, and 13 in Burkina Faso, Comoros, Niger, and Japan.

Aside from JAPAN I notice low IQ underdeveloped countries age of consent is lower than developed high IQ countries.

 

[Pluck]

21

 

[pettysilksheets]

21

This. And I believe the age for drinking should be 25.

 

[lilham]

20

 

[Bouboulina]

18 , since it is the age you are legally an adult.
16 only in case of less than 3 years age difference.

 

[CKtoPA]

20. I dont understand why 18 is legally an adult bc that's still a teenager.