I disagree that legal minors “cannot” consent to sex. Our society doesn’t allow them to consent due to the possible consequences. It does, however, allow them to consent to some other things due to the potential consequences being (correctly or incorrectly) perceived as acceptable. When we pretend that legal minors are incapable of consent, we infantilize them and open the door to bad-faith arguments like this one. There is no magical moment of “Shazam!” at which teens are mystically imbued with the ability to consent, but there are various arbitrary legal lines at which society recognizes their consent to various things as valid. Some may have been making valid choices for YEARS by the time the State recognizes those choices as valid; some may not ever be capable of making valid choices, even though legally allowed. That is, unfortunately, the only way large societies have yet figured out to recognize rights without somehow testing ever single person for decision-making ability every year from 13 to 30 (a process which would itself be ripe for abuse and political manipulation). The only real solution to all the conflicting ages of responsibility is to stop letting the State micromanage so many different areas of our lives, and to stop letting it criminalize so very many decisions people of any age make over their own lives and bodies.
Archive for June 10th, 2021
Legal Fiction
Posted in Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged adolescence, agency denial, consensual crime, cult of the child, psychology, Shazam!, Still a Child, The Shape of the Spoon, Too Young To Know on June 10, 2021| 5 Comments »
Visit my bookstore
This Month
Old Posts
Call me
Become a Blog Patron
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!Contact Maggie
Maggie on Twitter
My TweetsBoring but necessary legal stuff