Vincent Gallo; Age of consent
First, the story which promted this post:
In any case, all they'd have to do is go over the state line to Nevada, and they could get it on all they wanted (again, assuming they actually want to get it on) with perfect legality, because the age of consent in Nevada is 16. They would have difficulty with "transporting minors over state lines" laws, though.
This brings to mind an interesting topic: The age of consent in most of the world actually ranges from 14 to 16--it's only in parts of America, and a few other countries where you find higher ages. I found an interesting map of this on Wikipedia: Age of Consent World Map. Notice the prevalance of medium blue (14) and green (16). Notice as well the comparative dearth of yellow (18), and other higher-age colors outside of the United States. The high-age-of-consent countries (17 and up) are so few in number, that it is actually possible to look at this larger map and create a list of them all: Mexico, Egypt, Uganda, Turkey, Vietnam, Iraq (currently under US control), Madagascar, Tunisia, Eritrea, UAE, Philippines, Indonesia, Haiti, Dominican Republic, one state in Australia, and portions of the United States. It's conceivable that this list could be memorized without too much trouble, even.
Other interesting things that I noticed include the fact that the higher-age areas in the U.S. are concentrated towards the west. I wonder why that is. I was also surprised to see that all the other major English-speaking countries are lower than the U.S.--Canada is 14, the U.K. is 16, and most of Australia is 16.
My view is that a sensible age of consent is in the 14-16 range. 18 is on the high side. Young people should be free to experiment, and that includes having the freedom to choose their partners without government interference. As for concerns about coercion, we have ordinary rape laws that could easily cover situations like that. This is not to say that all 14-16 year olds are ready for sex (I sure as hell was not), but, to be truthful, there are those who definitely are. Is it fair to them to force them to wait until their less precocious peers catch up?
[Note: I attempted to verify data from the Wikipedia map with data on the Age of Consent website, but that server doesn't seem to be responding today. Wikipedia lists it as a source, though, so I think I'm probably safe.]
Vincent Gallo Laughs Off Underage LoveVincent Gallo--my favorite weirdo. I figure he's probably being truthful, though, based on stuff on Cory Kennedy's weblog. She's now calling herself "Cory Kennedy Gallo" on her myspace page. Teasing the gossip mongers, perhaps?
By WENN; Wednesday, October 25, 2006
HOLLYWOOD - Actor/director Vincent Gallo has laughed off reports he's dating an underage girl insisting it's his "humanitarian duty" to befriend the sexy teen. The Brown Bunny star, 45, has been romantically linked to Los Angeles socialite Cory Kennedy, with the 16-year-old boasting of their close relationship on her Internet blog. In it she hails Gallo as a “keeper" and posts photos of the pair together.
However, the actor insists their relationship isn't sexual and jokes he's merely following new mum Madonna's example by looking after the teen.
He tells PageSix.com, "With the psychotic, middle-aged Madonna out there on the loose buying up all the stolen Negro babies in Africa, I felt it my social and humanitarian duty to take in any young, beautiful and sexy orphaned Jew teens running wild in Beverly Hills.
"Cory's a great kid, and I'm proud to be her daddy."
In any case, all they'd have to do is go over the state line to Nevada, and they could get it on all they wanted (again, assuming they actually want to get it on) with perfect legality, because the age of consent in Nevada is 16. They would have difficulty with "transporting minors over state lines" laws, though.
This brings to mind an interesting topic: The age of consent in most of the world actually ranges from 14 to 16--it's only in parts of America, and a few other countries where you find higher ages. I found an interesting map of this on Wikipedia: Age of Consent World Map. Notice the prevalance of medium blue (14) and green (16). Notice as well the comparative dearth of yellow (18), and other higher-age colors outside of the United States. The high-age-of-consent countries (17 and up) are so few in number, that it is actually possible to look at this larger map and create a list of them all: Mexico, Egypt, Uganda, Turkey, Vietnam, Iraq (currently under US control), Madagascar, Tunisia, Eritrea, UAE, Philippines, Indonesia, Haiti, Dominican Republic, one state in Australia, and portions of the United States. It's conceivable that this list could be memorized without too much trouble, even.
Other interesting things that I noticed include the fact that the higher-age areas in the U.S. are concentrated towards the west. I wonder why that is. I was also surprised to see that all the other major English-speaking countries are lower than the U.S.--Canada is 14, the U.K. is 16, and most of Australia is 16.
My view is that a sensible age of consent is in the 14-16 range. 18 is on the high side. Young people should be free to experiment, and that includes having the freedom to choose their partners without government interference. As for concerns about coercion, we have ordinary rape laws that could easily cover situations like that. This is not to say that all 14-16 year olds are ready for sex (I sure as hell was not), but, to be truthful, there are those who definitely are. Is it fair to them to force them to wait until their less precocious peers catch up?
[Note: I attempted to verify data from the Wikipedia map with data on the Age of Consent website, but that server doesn't seem to be responding today. Wikipedia lists it as a source, though, so I think I'm probably safe.]
posted by cke at 3:38 PM
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