age and the west
There is a 12yr old girl who just gave birth to twin girls. This wouldn't have been all over the media if the twins had not been too weak to survive in a small Andean town's hospital. The mother and the twins were taken to the hospital of the closest city. The girl has not been raped. She was living with a 30yr old man. Her and his parents agreed on the union. He was in love with her. She was in love with him. But Peruvian law does not allow this type of unions. Sex between a minor and an adult, even if agreed by both, is still considered rape. So, the discussion is now if the twins should live with the parents or not and if the father should go to jail along with her parents for consenting this. What some journalist say is that by doing that we are imposing Western rules into a non-Western environment. She is not a girl for the town. She is a woman. Moreover, there are many girls who have been married since they had their first period and are mothers now. To Western feminists this is definitely a rape. She is too young to know what she is doing. But I am unsure of what to think. Especially after listening to the girl. My feminist side gets mad when listening to the father of the twins crying that he did not rape her, my feminist brain thinks, “she is a little girl!!!!” But on the other hand… I don’t know. I just remember that not even a century ago my great-grandmother had my great-aunt when she was 13yo, and by my age she was already a grandmother.
posted by La hija de Hypatia at 9:11 PM
4 Comments:
And my grand mother was already a mother at 14.
I think this is one of that times when the presidential pardon must be used. It must have other uses than to condone a soccer player behaviour or Jack Bauer's mess.
i suppose it all depends on the context. it's not all necessarily "west vs. others"-- local arrangements change for whatever reason so going back to the past (or to a universal logic of some sort) constantly to look for validation is probably not as productive as looking at how things are in a particular instant (like the local circumstances/ context of this girl). and on a related note: those discussions on cultural relativism vs universalism just seem to be so out of touch with reality and basically a waste of time :p
Two comments, one small, one bigger. Small one first: Andean and other Latin American cultures are not necessarily non-Western. Authentic Andean cultures were distorted severally with the arrival of the Spanish.
Second point: Even in Western societies, there is not actual agreement on statutory rape. The laws are there, but they don't always reflect citizens' feelings about it.
So what to do? What to think? Well, I guess I'm as torn as you are. On the one hand, 12 yrs old is too young. At least I was very much a child when I was 12. On the other hand, perhaps she was mature enough to be able to consent...? Not sure....Possible, but....I don't know....
--Yannet
What does say Nature about it? I'm very well, thanks. Why do you look at me this way? Men are stupid,of course.
LAGSA
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