It truly boggles my mind that people think raising the age of consent will protect young adults.
“I just want young people to be less vulnerable to abuse” – and you think making sex illegal will accomplish that? There are a shitton of real life statistics proving otherwise.
This is literally conservative republican pro-lifer propaganda masquerading as logic.
“I just want teenagers to stop getting pregnant” – and you think abstinence-only education will accomplish that? There are a shitton of real life statistics proving otherwise.
“I just think sex work is dangerous” – and you think making sex work illegal will remove the danger? There are a shitton of real life statistics proving otherwise.
We all want bad things to stop happening.
There are effective ways to stop bad things from happening:
education - give people all the information they need to make informed decisions
empowerment - give people the legal authority to speak in their own defense and act on their own behalf
resources - give people tools that will minimize risks
infrastructure - give people a support system they can reach out to, and a social safety net
I see more and more so-called progressives arguing that the only way to protect young people is to keep them:
You’re not protecting anyone with that.
You’re literally dismantling the protections feminists and queer activists spent decades trying to implement.
People are asking - when is a person ready for sex?
This is the wrong question.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that when I was eighteen, I was not ready for sex.
When I was eighteen, I’d never had to earn money. I didn’t know how to drive, in a town where the only way to get anywhere was by driving, so I’d never even gone shopping by myself. When I was eighteen, I’d never taken care of a pet, or even a plant. I’d hardly spent any time at all unsupervised. I’d never gone on a date. I’d never kissed anyone.
So of course, I wasn’t ready for sex. Not because I was 18, but because I was sheltered.
I understood that my experiences were not universal, that not everyone my age was at the same maturity level as me, because not everyone my age was as sheltered as me.
Here’s the thing. I didn’t need anybody to tell me I was sheltered. I had the mental capacity to figure that out myself. I didn’t need anybody to tell me I wasn’t ready for sex. I had the mental capacity to figure that out for myself.
That’s the actual issue here.
Not whether or not an 18 year old is ready to have sex, but whether an 18 year old is capable of determining their own readiness.
An 18 year old has the mental capacity to perform a job, and take home a paycheck, and pay bills. An 18 year old has the mental capacity to choose a career path, and take care of a pet, and do their own shopping. An 18 year old has the mental capacity to vote for political leaders and for legislation.
Nobody seriously questions whether or not an 18 year old is capable of these things.
Nobody questions whether an 18 year old is mature enough to work a register at starbucks. Nobody questions whether an 18 year old is mature enough to have a bank account or do taxes. Nobody questions whether an 18 year old is mature enough to drive a car or make dental appointments or vote.
But people still try to argue that an 18 year old isn’t old enough to have bodily autonomy.
Y’all need to stop drinking the purity koolaid.
