I think it was that people weren’t seen as victims. They weren’t seen as helpless
Comment on Was Elvis Presley a pedo?
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 2 months agoUh… no. Baby raping has always been frowned upon as far as I’m concerned. 14 year old consensual (to the extent a 14 year old can be) groupies were a thing, in the not too distant past, but social mores have changed since then. Which is good. There’s an enormous difference between the two though.
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Absolutely. The optics of the past don’t match-up with the optics of the present.
sailingbythelee@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I think you may be wrong. Wikipedia tells me that:
“In 1880, the ages of consent were set at 10 or 12 in most states, with the exception of Delaware where it was 7.”
…wikipedia.org/…/Ages_of_consent_in_the_United_St…
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Delaware is whack, but historically age 12-15 was a reasonable (for the time) age for girls to marry. Most biblical scholars say that Mary (JC’s mother) was about 15/16 when she popped him out (assuming there is some historical fact in the story) so those ages in your country weren’t completely crazy outliers. People grew up quicker back then because people died sooner back then. Just getting to the age of 12 was an accomplishment in its self. The past was a different place. If humanity makes it a few more generations then some of the things we accept and do now will be seen as unacceptable. We are all products, to a greater or lesser degree, of the time we live in and that shapes how we see the world as it is and as it has been.