I say 16 and up cause that is the age I am thinking of just my experience. I remember as a freshman (the very first months of fall semester) in college we would go to the local high school to holla at the girls. Few of the dudes I hung with were from the area and would have a girlfriend who was still in high school who they were still dating who was a year or 2 younger than them.
We were all 18 and the consent age back then was like 16 in Mississippi. But we were all scared to mess with someone younger than 16 cause the first thing we thought about was jail.
Even then I didn't want to mess with anyone that was younger than 17 just because their lack of maturity.
Plus the running joke was them young high school girls didn't have pubic hair and you were a busta if you had to holla at high school girls to get play. Even if you were a freshman at 17 or 18 hollering at a 16, 17 or 18 year old high schooler.
Funny you say this, Dave Chappelle brought up the discussion.
Didn't girls get married at 14 years old? Not saying it was right. Most of us 16 year old boys would fukk a prime Halle Berry without a damn regret.
Not sure of the age of consent laws, both a majority are 16 and 17.
Getting with a young teen does feel wrong. I wouldn't even hang around 16 yr old girls. 18 years old is my cut off. I mean shyt 18 you can vote, join the army, sign for student loans, etc.
I think there is something to be said about human nature and that it doesn't just go away when we establish an arbitrary rule such as "age of consent".
I think in most places, in almost every time of human history, it was nothing for 13, 14, and 15 year olds, once they hit puberty, to be given away in marriage to older persons. And it still happening in a lot of places especially in the Middle East. Muhammad, anyone?
Biologically, you hit sexual maturity at puberty and that was enough for some people to be attracted. Again "age of consent" rules are not going to stop what comes naturally.
And it wasn't something that was viewed as negative.
So I don't like to judge every situation with a 21st century, western, millennial frame of reference.
And the black community wasn't immune to this. In fact, I think during slavery days, this was especially prevalent because slave owners benefited from the breeding of slaves.
So once a girl hit puberty, she got started, and most likely was mating with the strongest most ablest of males. Is it correct to call these men pedos?
You also saw this post-slavery especially in the south.
Think of the Color Purple. Celie was given away in marriage to Albert at 14 years old.
And if you remember, Celie's own father died, while having sex with that young girl.
So this is obviously something that in quite systemic, not just in the black community, but across all cultures and societies.
However, we are more enlightened today than we were yesterday. And although puberty signifies sexual maturity, it does not signify the maturity of all mental faculties. And this is where the line is drawn.