Why does the age of consent tend to increase in more modern societies and vice versa?
In: Culture
The more “modern” societies tend to decide that a person is sufficiently capable of consenting to a sexual relationship knowing the ramification of such a relation at a later age.
The age of consent is 15 in sweden and 18 in Somalia.
It is too simple to think of it as just being a factor of how modern a country is.
Views on sex in general, the rights of young people, the role of marriage in society, the influence of religion can all play a part, but the topic is pretty complex.
The key part is modern. Like it or not, it really requires around 12 years of basic education (generally speaking, there are many exceptions) to become a somewhat productive member of society. Many people aspire to 16 years of education for a basic college degree. Most modern societies have average lifespans into the 70s meaning at least 40 years of active economic participation.
There is a lot of value to society and to the individuals to foster a system that reduces early pregnancy/family.
A hundred and fifty years ago, average lifespans was probably in the late 40s. And education beyond basic literacy was not useful for most of the needed occupations (farming mostly) Also, children were considered mostly free labor. So starting families early and larger families benefited society and the individuals more.
It’s my opinion that modern advanced cultures are also much more complex and so it takes longer for a young person to become a functional adult. So the age of consent also gets older.
Women receive more education to be considered as actual people rather than property or brood cows and have fewer, better educated children.
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The age of consent is a social middle ground due to differing rates of development of the human body vs mind. The female human body is capable of reproduction as first menstrual cycle. Doesn’t mean the individual’s mind is formed enough to function in the society and raise a child though. IIRC the average age the mind is fully developed is in 23-25 year old area. So you got about a almost 15 year gap between physically able to and sound minded enough to.
Jobs in more developed societies typically require more advanced skills that take longer to acquire. This has let to an extension of adolescence, where taking on the responsibilities of adulthood is delayed to prolong education, and with it, the privileges of adulthood.
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