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California bans child marriage, a practice still legal in 32 US states

83 points · 136 comments · dabinat

  1. legitster · · focus · HN ↗
    > In the state, there had been no legal age to wed, allowing children to get married as long as their parents consent and a judge signs off on the nuptials.

    > There was also no mechanism for people under 18 to get divorced and many girls say they were trapped in abusive and predatory relationships.

    Call me misguided, but I don't necessarily see 16 year old and 20 year getting married as equally problematic as the provided examples of 30+ year age gaps.

    I think the real issue people are dancing around right now culturally is that these extreme age gap relationships are beginning to make everyone feel very uncomfortable. The difference between a 17 year old and and 18 year old doesn't make them feel less gross and exploitative.

    1. BobbyJo · · focus · HN ↗
      You can drive a car at 15-16 most states, which puts other people's lives in your hands. You can get married between 16 and 18 depending on the state. You can join the army, take on debt, and do pornography at 18, all three of which will completely alter your life long term. You can drink, buy a gun, or enter a casino at 21. These feel someone nonsensically ordered to me. Seems like we should just pick one age for "you can now make and be responsible for your decisions" and stop talking about all of these weird edge cases as if we need the law to deal with all of them.
      1. Aeolun · · focus · HN ↗
        I mean, most of the world has settled on 18 for this.
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