30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

It's hard to ask this question w/o the societal taboo of people thinking you're some version of a pedophile.

It's also hard to answer this question because other than womens suffrage and the onset of industrialism and the changes in culture it brought, there's no distinct period of time where this stopped.

In the grand scheme of things, 150 years is nothing. And, 150 years ago it was common for a man as old as 30 yrs. to wed a woman (girl) as young as 13, sometimes 12, depending on their personal level of maturity.

I'm sure others will elaborate thoroughly, but I find this peculiar.

But, is it peculiar that a man would be thrown in jail (save for the sporadic morman/polygamist comunity in the middle of nowhere) for being with a girl that much younger than him in our day and age, or was it peculiar that this was such a common thing as little as 150 years ago?


It really is a drastic change in the way society views such a thing.


Discuss.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

150 years ago, slavery was still legal

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

Was it really normal back then for him to be 30 yrs old? Wouldnt he have to be like 16-18 or something. I understand that they got married young back then, and that divorces werent as common.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

yes, it was common.

granted, not as common as say, a 25 yr. old man w/ a 15 yr. old woman, but it still happened.


marriages were often arranged, and in a lot of families when a girl was able to get pregnant/menstruate, she was considered able to marry.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

Just give it up Tx, no marrying a 12 year old for you.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

As I understand, in many muslim countries, 30+13 is not out of the ordinary to this day.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

not so peculiar to me..I see nothing inherently wrong with a 30 yo man marrying (having a sexual relationship) with a 17 yo girl...16? 15? 14? 13? younger???

I see nothing wrong with any of them..

I see something wrong with the girl being put in that situation against her will..

I also see a problem with the girl being allowed to put herself in that situation when she is not be mature enough to make what we would consider that to be a rational decision..this, however, is very tricky..something that a hard age line could not prefectly regulate...

but I think that a hard age line IS the best option for a current society..I would probably put it lower than 18

general views in the US have changed dramatically in the past couple centuries..maybe for the better

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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marriages were often arranged, and in a lot of families when a girl was able to get pregnant/menstruate, she was considered able to marry.

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This is the key point. The purpose of age of consent laws is to protect minors who aren't old enough to make decisions. If the parents are the ones making the decisions anyway, why wait?

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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But, is it peculiar that a man would be thrown in jail (save for the sporadic morman/polygamist comunity in the middle of nowhere)

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You need to get out more.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

People just didn't live as long as in our days.
A lot more women died while birthing babies.
So they should be married very young for having the chance to give birth as many times as possible.
You can see this now still in several 3rd world countries.
They just don't have the time to get married late.
When the average age of death is app. 40 you marry at the time you're able getting pregnant.
Several centuries ago women were considered mature when they reached puberty.
Another important point is dowry.
Today, nearly nonexistent in the industrial countries, it was the most common thing just a century ago.
It were always the brides parents who had to pay.

The whole view on this has changed.
The older people got, the bigger the difference in age would be.
You can see it somewhat differently still today.
There are a lot older men marrying young women.
Like 50 year olds getting married to 25 year olds.
But in earlier centuries 50 was considered old as the hills.
So you just substract some years from both genders and there you have the underaged marrying a 30 year old man.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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Just give it up Tx, no marrying a 12 year old for you.

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Blasted!

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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yes, it was common.

granted, not as common as say, a 25 yr. old man w/ a 15 yr. old woman, but it still happened.


marriages were often arranged, and in a lot of families when a girl was able to get pregnant/menstruate, she was considered able to marry.

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I don't know what you mean by "common." I am sure that the overwhelming majority of marriages did not involve such age differences.

Of course, it's true that such marriages would have been considered more acceptable then.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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When the average age of death is app. 40 you marry at the time you're able getting pregnant.

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You know the bible gives a man's alloted years as 3 score and 10. Actually don't remember if this is the New or Old Testament. Point is, people lived a lot longer than is widely believed.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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When the average age of death is app. 40 you marry at the time you're able getting pregnant.

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You know the bible gives a man's alloted years as 3 score and 10. Actually don't remember if this is the New or Old Testament. Point is, people lived a lot longer than is widely believed.

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High rates of infant mortality will also skew these mean life expectancies downwards.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

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When the average age of death is app. 40 you marry at the time you're able getting pregnant.

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You know the bible gives a man's alloted years as 3 score and 10. Actually don't remember if this is the New or Old Testament. Point is, people lived a lot longer than is widely believed.

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[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

The Bible says people lived for multiple hundreds of years. Also I know this is true deep inside of my heart.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

Society was more agricultural then. Large families were common because of the free farm labor children provided.

Girls were married off young to get them out of the house, as they couldn't provide heavy farm labor.

Re: Muslim: The Prophet Mohammed married a 6 year-old girl. I guess he waited until she was 9 to do the deed though. Nice guy.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

it's called progress.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

[ QUOTE ]
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When the average age of death is app. 40 you marry at the time you're able getting pregnant.

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You know the bible gives a man's alloted years as 3 score and 10. Actually don't remember if this is the New or Old Testament. Point is, people lived a lot longer than is widely believed.

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This has been analysed very deep and it seems as if they were counting in moonyears.
Which means that 1 year in this part of the OT should be counted as app. 4 weeks.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

ty cobbs father married his mother when she was 11 or 12. He was a senator and in his 30s or 40s. He had to wait a year to concimate the marriage as she had not reached puberty yet. This was the rule rather than the exaception at the time.

Re: 30 yr old man marries a 13 yr old girl- then and now
 

150 years ago, Al Gore hadn't even invented teh innanet yet.