to clarify for any creep that tries to spin a 15 year old child as an "underage girl" or "barely legal" or whatever way they try to minimize the damage, let me very clear about how young 15 years really is:
in many states, you cannot get a full driver's license. you are considered to be too young.
for many banks, you cannot open a singular stand-alone bank account without parental permission. you are considered to be too young.
you cannot donate blood. your body is still developing, and you are considered too young.
you cannot get a passport by yourself, you must apply in person with your parent/guardian also present. you are considered to be too young.*
*(please note that the above-linked government website uses the category "children under 16".)
you cannot work a full-time job, and, depending on the state you are in, the hours you work may be very restricted. you are considered to be too young.
in some states, you cannot consent to your own medical or behavior health treatments, and need parental permission. you are considered to be too young.
in many states, you cannot seek emancipation (legal freedom from your parents), or, if you do seek emancipation, you will likely be denied. you are considered to be too young.
in many states, you cannot be tried as an adult in a legal court. you also cannot be put on parole. you are considered to be too young.
you are not legally allowed to drop out of school. you are considered to be too young.
you cannot sign any legal contract without parental support. you are considered to be too young.
while the risks are not major, it is actually still the suggestion of most manufacturers to skip hair dye. at 15, you are too young to dye your own hair.
on a personal note: at 15 i was still seeing a pediatrician, and most of my friends were as well. despite having many medical issues, my doctor warned against oral birth control until later in life, as i was still too young. at 15 i hadn't chosen which college i'd attend, i hadn't taken a single calc class, and i was still learning how to write a cohesive essay.
many of us hadn't reached our full height. many of us still relied on our guardians for transport/funds/pretty much everything. many of us weren't even allowed to use the internet without parental supervision. many of us were - correctly - treated like children.
for the love of christ. the tradition of a "sweet sixteen" is because even before we had a right to vote or be seen as people - even in the fucking 1500s - we knew a 15-year-old is a child.
for a long time, the effort of traditional conservatives is to make girlchildren seem somehow more "mature". they use the excuse of earlier puberty, of the "general temperament" (socialization) of girls, of the ability to get pregnant. in large part, this is so they can escape the legal claim of statutory rape. a reminder that the majority of teen pregnancies are due to the grooming efforts of fully adult men.
this is genuinely one of the efforts of the patriarchy: to make their crimes seem less heinous, they imply consent on behalf of the minor. they make the minor out to be lewd, lascivious, tempting. having been a minor girlchild, i can confirm that i was sexualized very early in my life. most girlchildren will confirm they were catcalled or blatantly sexualized very early in life. minors cannot consent. end of story.
they are already spinning the narrative. do not let them. that is a child. and it is a horrible, horrible truth. nothing will make it less horrible, or make the pain less present for the victims. there is just reality, the way it actually exists.
and it is our duty to the survivors to fucking name it.
