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

[TxRedMan]

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.