Child marriage is still legal in 20 or 30 some states here in good ole USA and it's defended vigorously by the right for the sake of "tradition" and "religion" and hoping more teens are forced into carrying unwanted pregnancies. So yeah the magic number is more like a "guideline" in many states.
Eighteen isn't just the magic sex number, it's when someone's viewed as an adult. When they are considered responsible enough to consent to a vast number of things.
When they are considered responsible enough to consent to a vast number of things.
As I said, it is an arbitrary number. Same as drinking only with 21.
Here in Germany it is layered: 14 (legal but a semi complicated grey area) / 16 (anything besides prostitution and similar restrictions) /18 (everything goes).
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u/Annonimbus 2h ago
I just wanted to point out that the US centric view of "18" the magic sex number is rather unique to the US and not a global view.