The Age Old Question

In the beginning, when cavemen roamed the earth, nobody complained when a Man Caveman conked a Female Cavewoman on the noggin and drug her home to be his wife.

In the Autobiography "Coal Miner's Daughter" it was said that Miss Loretta Lynn Married at age thirteen, and had four children by age eighteen.

In Jane Austen's novels, girls in their early teens were out and about trying to snag husbands, and it was common for young girls to marry their first cousins!  A standard that I think today, we would all crinkle our noses and say "ewwwwwwwwwwwwww gross!!"

The thing is, society's views may change in regards to such things, but it doesn't change the fact that our history once found it completely normal for Older Men to marry young girls, sometimes appallingly young.

American Indians, Vikings, Aborigines....do you think any of them make their men wait to marry or have relations with girls until they are eighteen years of age?  And what makes that magic number 18 all that different from 17 1/2?

Right now, there's a big controversy over James Franco propositioning a seventeen year old girl for a "hook up"....he's 35, born in 1978, the same year as I in fact.

Here's the buzz:

 In doing a Google search for this Lucy Teenager, this is one of the pictures I found of her.  (she's the blonde):

She's a very pretty girl....by looking at her, can you tell she's 18, or 17, or 16?  She told him she was here in the US celebrating her 18th birthday...

We've all seen the "To Catch A Predator" Dateline specials....EVERY SINGLE TIME....men show up to meet young teenager girls for sex.  Seemingly GOOD and DECENT men....Loretta Lynn's husband would be a sex offender by today's standards.  My point being...."I" personally would not date a boy under eight teen years of age....I'm thirty-six.  But I wouldn't date a 19 year old boy either!  That's just not something I'm into.  But men on the other hand, tend to vary a bit when it comes to such things.  Sure they would be ridiculed by their friends, and their mom's would object, but if a guy truly was smitten with a girl/woman, I don't think age really is that big of a factor in their decision making.

Need I say more?

Personally....When I was a teenager, I'm going to be really honest, I could of put quite a few boys/MEN in prison for the things they tried or proposed back then.  And to be really honest most of my boyfriends from when I was 16 and up were all at least 4 years older than I was.  My point being, I wouldn't want some 35 year old guy cruising my 17 year old daughter if I had one, but even if one did, is it really criminal?  You cannot tell me that the difference between a 17 year old and an 18 year old is so different in maturity levels that it truly would make a difference.  Can you?

So I'm sorry to say this, but James Franco flirting with a teenager, be it true, be it an April Fools Day Joke he conjured up to promote his new movie...who really cares?  I don't fault the guy.  She's beautiful, he's single, and I think I speak for myself and every single one of my friends when we were 17, we would have JUMPED at the chance to spend intimate time with a famous Actor.  Damned the consequences.  And we would of made the same choice at 16, at 19, at 22, 28...etc. etc.

Our maturity levels don't necessarily always develop with age.  They develop through life and the experiences we have.  Every jerk we meet, helps us grow and know not to date jerks.  Every broken heart, teaches us to protect it a little more the next time.  This girl told James No, maybe when I'm 18, and he said, text me when you are.  If you ask me, leave the poor guy alone.  He saw a beautiful girl, he went after her.

It's an age old open and shut case.  OR, he promoted his new movie about dating teenagers...either way...there are starving children in the world, war, famine, things like that....perhaps we should focus on those things as opposed to who said what to whom in a text message or Instagram.

Life's short....and in the famous words of Nike:  "just do it"

*winks*

~HeatherLynn~