Is long distance and age really a big deal

The interesting thing in the USA is that the age of consent has gone up since the 80s and earlier. When girls used to be far more naive at a given age, the age consent used to be lower. For example 12 in Delaware, 13 in New Mexico, 14 in Georgia and a few other states. It was in the early 90s when the issue of child pornography on the internet became an issue that they raised the age of consent everywhere to 16 or 18 as if that would make a difference, but these days the majority of "child pornography" is produced by the children (most often teens but younger is not uncommon) themselves and not as much by adults taking advantage. Lawmakers have no idea how to handle all that. So now in an age when children know more about sex then ever at an early age and have every type of pornography and fetish available at their fingertips in high definition color video, the age of consent is higher than it's ever been in the history of the world. For thousands of years it was puberty that decided age of consent, "Old enough to bleed, old enough to breed." and even in many ancient cultures like the Greeks, man-boy pedistry (sp?) was considered a form of education.

^ Soooo.....You like kids? I mean, you're just going on a rant about old ideas. I mean, I don't think those who married so young actually had a relationship before being given away. Meh... You always gave off a weird vibe for being an almost forty year old man. Some bleed at eight years of age... Moving on. It's a maturity thing after all the legalities are in order. To OP. This thread has already been done, read a little.

As we are all legal here that isn't an issue. It all depends on the people. Any relationship is work. And if you don't do the work, you won't get the reward. age and distance does put strain on the relationship that is for certain, but only if you let it. I say don't date anyone beyond 10 years from your own age as stuff you know to be true they won't know. For example I am friends with women who are 13 to 20 years older than me. They ask me if I remember the 70s or 60s and I will have to remind them I was born in the 80s so I just remember the 90s clearly. As for distance. You know there are couples out there who are married that only see each other 4 times a year? That some people can make distance work. This goes the same way as age as you want a similar culture in some sense to your own otherwise you will be putting your foot in your mouth an awful lot. Like someone in china dating someone in America would be hard, mainly for the language barrier, other things include food and what is normal in the two areas. Now this is getting less of an issue with the internet, but still a big issue for some. All in all I think a relationship is defined by those in it. Age and distance only have meaning if it has meaning to them.

I don't know about long distance but my husband is 9 years older then me and we get along great. I think it is more about maturity and how compatible you are. Sure people say stuff about it all the time joking and shocked about the age gap. As Long as you're comfortable with it others peoples opinions don't matter.

TL;DR: 16-18 in the US and Western countries since early 20c. Was wondering when someone would bring up the age of consent (AoC) with outdated or wrong information. Yes, many countries, and individual states in the US, set ages between 10-13 as acceptable for sexual consent, until the early 1900's when AoC laws were adjusted due to social reforms and the enactment of laws regarding child prostitution. Details vary from state to state with regards to marriage or if one person is in a "position of trust or authority", and may include age gap between teens. The AoC may have a broader range outside of the Western nations, however in some cases sex outside of marriage is illegal regardless of age while others have additional ordinances that effectively raise the AoC (18 in Japan). /hijack.

@yaasshat I'm just giving an idea of the history of age of consent. What is called a "child" changes over time too. This concept of 18 suddenly being an adult is fairly recent in history. Also, I'm used to being branded a pervert just because I'm so open with my ideas and I'm older. In fact most younger guys are more perverted because they constantly troll for sex with young girls and toss them away when they are done. I've known plenty. I'm only interested in serious long-term relationships and I don't go trolling around for nude pics from girls. But the cultural view is that older guys are automatically assumed to be degenerate pervs if they talk to or date girls much younger then themselves (even if legal). I don't really care about peoples flawed assumptions/perspectives. People can think whatever they want. I'm me, and you either accept me for who I am or you don't. I'm not going to change myself just to avoid peoples flawed cultural assumptions.

Honestly just don't mess or get into a romantic/sexual relationship with someone who's under 18 if you're over 18. I'm sure nobody wants to be in the penal system or be labeled as a sex offender for statutory rape.

As far as age goes, I feel like it depends. Are you both over the legal age? What are your maturity levels? I dated someone a few years back who was 6 1/2 years older than me but functioned with an adolescent's maturity. The relationship ending pretty badly for me, but as I said; it really depends. I think that each couple should decide that for themselves. (Of course, that's assuming you're both above the legal age. Obviously, laws may state otherwise.) As far as an LDR, I'm currently in one. So far, we've been together over 1 1/2 years. It's rough, but it can be worthwhile. I hope this helps.

@cadettealright You should meet one of my friends. She's 16 and dating a 23 year old. It's -legal- in North Carolina. ~T