In 1889. And 10, 11, or 12 in half the states. I thought that was a *medieval* thing. What can you conceivably consent to at 7yo, besides like agreeing to put on a warmer coat? Also, in 2001 three-quarters of American schoolgirls agreed that "everyone needed to be married." Eighty-eight percent of Japanese schoolgirls disagreed with the same statement. All that and more in a short Pop Quiz on Marriage in the NYT this a.m., as New York gets ready to vote on whether to be the last state to approve no-fault divorce.
Maybe that Japan figure isn't so surprising given the whole weird enjo kosai thing, although apparently the quiz-makers were glad to toss that in as "just another modern society" with a misleadingly phrased question. Is it American and Japanese "women" or "schoolgirls"? (By the way, if you can't remember a Japanese phrase like, say, enjo kosai, don't expect Google searches for "Japanese schoolgirl" to help you any.)
Huh. I always thought those weird ages of consent were about marriage, not necessarily about doing the sex. (Because, of course, marriage is about an exchange of property and not sex, blah blah blah.)
And a note about that NYTimes bit: Way to continue that "respectable women just picked up STDs from their husbands" thing. Because women never, ever slept around and lied about it until the 1970s. And they totally get pregnant without ever having the sex, too.
Posted by: boom | Monday, February 20, 2006 at 05:01 PM
In 1889 and much later. "The age of consent varies widely from state to state, ranging from 7 in Delaware to 18 in [list]." Playboy, August 1964, pg 37. Googled it incredulously but found ony this page.
Posted by: Noname | Wednesday, February 03, 2010 at 10:17 PM
Actually, Noname, that's an error. Playboy used an old source probably. Delaware changed it sometime between 1895 and 1920, probably closer to the 1900s. I haven't been able to pinpoint an exact date but I know this range is correct.
Posted by: Noname2 | Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 06:01 AM
I'd also like to point out that "age of consent" didn't really mean the age at which it's "ok" to have sex, it was the age at which an older person having sex with the child in question would qualify as statutory rape. Having sex with a 7 year old girl was certainly frowned upon.
Posted by: Noname2 | Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 06:03 AM