[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Maru

Sex/consent is legalized at younger ages in different countries because a childs maturity does vary significantly by culture. So getting married younger than we are accustomed to does happen outside of doctrinal/traditional confines... I dont agree with kids marrying early in our culture, for obvious reasond, but there are some parts of the US in recent times that ppl may have married early for different reasons... my grandmother decided to get married at the age of 14. Not forced or anything, it was just happened in the culture she grew up. She and my grandfather used to live in the Hill Country high up in the mountains... you wouldn't know it talking to her, that she married so young. She is also quite mature... she taught herself how to drive, did a lot of firsts on her own and was fairly independent... it's just a different mindset, a different culture, post-Depression era thinking where the family looked after each other, and she and her sisters were tight-knit and looked after each other despite moving away and living at different ends of the US later on in life... my grandfather too, was a succesful mechanic running his own shop despite the fact he never learned to read..

Sorry I don't buy that at all, in this country children matured quicker as they were expected to work and/or run the home, we legislated against that a century ago.

Just because some cultures still exploit young people does not make it right, physically bodies can be unable to take the outcome of marriage at a young age, not to be too graphic it leads to severe complications and injury.

My heart goes out to your grandmother who sounds a wonderful woman, however I can't condone what you suggest was her decision yes she lived a good life however that was in spite of the start she had, not because of it.

I should like to ask her and other child brides if they had the choice then to wait as we do now would they?