Search Results: real age

Let me candid that I don’t dislike cats or dogs. I grew up with a family dog. Domesticated animals can bring companionship and love to humans.

But again they ARE animals. A dog is a dog and cat is a cat. Their brain structure is far different than a human. You can build a relationship with an animal but it’s it will never ever be a substitute for a real person. If you are lonely and need a true loyal friend I get it. I’ll say it again a dog is a dog and cat is a cat.

I’ve known that women have always tended to be bigger dog and cat lovers than guys. This is especially true for lonely women who are middle aged or older. But some of them are just ridiculous. They put up a dating app profiles with one pic of themselves and 5 of their dog. If the roles were reversed (but everything the same) and guys were more obsessed about their pets vs women you see countless women putting up takes on how stupid it is.

Just saying.

This question may be controversial, so I want to preface it by making abundantly clear that I do NOT condone or excuse any form of child abuse. This is a thought experiment regarding hard limits to protect the well-being of everyone involved in sexual activity, but social norms would still apply, and they would likely continue to be more effective than any law at regulating this behavior. That said, let's begin.

In the U. S., the age at which a person can consent to sexual activity is typically between 16 and 18 years old, and various nations across the globe stray even further from this range. Assuming there is a "correct" age of consent, this discrepancy must mean at least one of three things:

1. some places set the age too low, leaving naive children vulnerable to abuse;
2. some places set it too high, prosecuting people who are effectively innocent; and/or
3. the same act between the same two people can magically become more or less ethical depending on geographical borders.

Option 3 seems a bit unlikely, meaning that either 1 or 2 is true (if not both), either of which has very real and harmful impacts.

In order to address this issue, many jurisdictions make an exception for minors and adults close in age, known as "Romeo and Juliet law" — such a law allows, for example, a 19yo and a 17yo to have intimate relations without consequences even if the age of consent is 18.

Still, 18 is a pretty arbitrary age to use for defining adulthood or any of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that come with, as is 16, and 21, too (the legal drinking age).

Objectively speaking, it makes more sense to either lower the age to about 13, when most people hit puberty, or raise it to 25, when the brain is fully developed.

Another solution is to measure the ages relative to each other, as in the widely used formula for what's socially acceptable — half your age, plus 7 (14 & 14, 20 & 17, 30 & 22, etc. would be okay).

So, what do you think it should be, and why?