Age, Sex, and The Taking Of Virginities.

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

The 'hormones going insane period' is the perfect period to not act on your immediate instincts because you will almost doubtlessly regret it later (be it have sex with random people, start taking drugs, getting a tattoo, getting married, etc).
Because teenagers think they're King Shit and know everything and woops turns out they don't, thanks for playing

 

[Saith]

Don't say something as deliberately provocative as "homosexuality can be considered harmful" and then not have the balls to back it up. That's just flamebait.

I don't think homosexuality is harmful, or pretty much anything else I said.
My point was that it's impossible to set a rule that governs sex fairly because there are so many different people that the 'line' would instead be a massive ink blot that just goes where ever the fuck and often doubles back on itself.

I wasn't condemning homosexuality, but it can be considered harmful by some people, and so it would go against what Ash said. Preventing gays from shagging could be considered harmful, too, but then you have two opposing views, and so which would be correct? Either one you choose will be denying the other's beliefs.

 

[Tarvos]

I think 18 is a better age of consent.

 

[ultraviolet]

I think 18 is a better age of consent.

why?

 

[Shadow Serenity]

If you're not old/mature enough to handle the possible consequences (ie. having children or an abortion), you probably shouldn't go through the process.

 

[Chopsuey]

In some cultures, you get married off around 13 years old. And, to some extent, I think these cultures have the right idea (in this area). I mean, around 13 is when the average person's hormones start going insane, and they present you with someone who they encourage you to, effectively, experiment on. And I think that allowing, if not encouraging, marriage when your hormones start going insane is a good thing.

Actually, I'm all agreeing with this. Though it might be due to the fact that I just grew six inches and decided I want a girlfriend. :x

Because I was brainwashed from birth to believe that sex outside of marriage is bad, bad bad. Of course, this was a shepherding church. Among other things.

This. I was raised catholic, though I actually don't believe so strongly in god or all of those laws. "Thou shalt not steal." Oops, broke another one.
"Thou shalt not covet." Aaaaand another.

I'm also with all others on maturity. Like, I would consider myself ready (Or at least ready *enough*) for sex, though I'm sure I'd wait. Because I don't even have a girlfriend. Why must god have made me bad around girls? Just why?

 

[Tarvos]

why?

because I think most people at 16 like the process and the physicality of sex but they're not mature enough to understand how relationships work. i know it's a case by case basis but I'd rather people be mature and fully educated.

 

[ultraviolet]

because I think most people at 16 like the process and the physicality of sex but they're not mature enough to understand how relationships work. i know it's a case by case basis but I'd rather people be mature and fully educated.

I thought generally sixteen-year-olds were mature and mostly educated anyway? The only people I know who handled sex and its consequences immaturely had sex much earlier (13-14) but as you said, it's case-by-case.

This is also kind of hard to talk about because attitudes about sex and maturity are so different from country to country (even developed countries), I mean I only know one girl who went through teenage pregnancy, but I know a lot of younger, immature girls. I imagine the case is much more different in say, southern states of america or europe. Sex education also varies so much between countries.

 

[Tarvos]

Sex ed in Netherlands is generally excellent.

 

[see ya]

I think I should add the obligatory "Sex Ed in America ranges from kind of decent to God-awful depending on region" statement here. The rates of teen pregnancy are generally a good litmus test as to which region is which.

Sex ed in my school outside of the "this is how babies are made" part (With, of course, all references to orgasm sanitized out) was pretty much limited to "CONDOMS DON'T WORK AND HAVING PREMARITAL SEX MAEKS GOD CRY so don't do it k?". The Health "teacher" even had a Bible verse about abstinence hanging up on his fucking wall. (Though it was hilarious how I forced the lady they had come in confront the issues of masturbation and same-sex crushes and made her admit both were okay to the whole class. >:D) When high school rolled around, oh hey look, every other girl gets pregnant. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but not much of one. There were at least 20, possibly more, that I knew of throughout my time at high school, and most of them ended up dropping out. Who knows how many more there were that ended up getting abortions. The point is, Sex ed in the Southern US is absolutely ridiculous and impossibly stupid, and it sure as hell isn't preparing anyone to make mature decisions about their sexual health. Most of those poor girls still think the pill is only 60% effective...

As for readiness, that's a very hard thing to judge as it's extremely individual. Some people really are ready to handle it at 15/16, while others (like me) stay terrified of the idea until they're 20. I know a girl who had her first baby at 17 and made a wonderful mom, but also another in the exact situation who's kid almost died from neglect. I do know that attaching some kind of inherent value to virginity or any kind of sexual "innocence" is pretty silly. But so is attaching value to non-virginity. If someone does it, they do it. If they don't, they don't, and in the grand scheme of things, the "first time" is usually kind of awkward and not all that great anyway. Sex gets better with experience.

Also, I'm the kind of person that thinks spiritual marriage is kind of a joke. Come on, more than half end in divorce before they even reach five years. It isn't exactly something magical and SHUPUR SPESHUL, and most of the time it's more of a legal binding anyway.

 

[Tarvos]

teenage pregnancy in the netherlands is absurdly low iirc

edit: the only countries with lower/equal teenage pregnancy rates are Japan, South Korea, China, and Switzerland (and maybe Singapore???)

but our ed just teaches us "always use a condom but if you can use BOTH PILL AND CONDOM"