philosophical question I suppose

[straha86]

Is it the mind or the body that matters when having sex with a person underage. It has come up in a story I'm writing that a boy of 15 enters into a collective consciousness millions of years old. Part of the boy is still there, but also a mind older then dirt.

what do you guys think? Would that be underage sex?

[DemonGoddess]

So what you're saying is, his physical self is only 15, yet his hive mind/collective conscience is extremely old?

Well, I suppose it would be underage for the physical part, but nothing else, don't you think?

I mean, think of the Borg, or the Q Continuum for example. They have young members, yet the collective minds are ancient. Hugh the Borg, for example, was considered young based on his body, yet he belonged to the hive mind of the Borg, which is ancient. The perception of age being something that the humans had of him, moreso than what he had of himself.

[Voidmancer]

I don't think it's either one or the other. Both are factors that come into play. I believe being mentally ready is more important than being physically so though. I always thought that the mind could influence the body more than the other way around.

Besides, 15 is hardly very young. :| In the olden times, people were getting married at 13 and so... and the kids of today, well...

[Guest Naga-Lord]

Since the body is still just 15, yes, i think it would be.

[BoredStraight]

I think the mind is all that matters. I mean look at child or teenage vampires, their bodies may appear physically young but their minds are thousands of years old. Thats just my opinion though

[Shadowknight12]

Leaving the supernatural aside, what matters when consent is called into question is mental maturity as defined by the law. Modernly, biological maturity occurs far earlier than the legal age of consent (in most areas) and this is why we have teenage pregnancy cases. Each society regulates at which age they consider this maturing to happen, and that's what its citizens are supposed to abide by. Some make exceptions/modifications later on, as mores and customs change. The problem is that mental maturity is not a process that occurs in all persons equally, and so you have cases of very young people outgrowing their peers and jumping into sexual situations. It doesn't matter the reason this mental maturity occurs, if it's natural or because of external forces. What matters at this point is no longer the boy's mental state (which is, to put it academically, pretty fucked up), but what the law will think if he starts sleeping around. If I were you, I'd clarify in an Author's Note the boy's age and whether or not this is a problem in the story's universe. That way you cover the two possible 'views' of underage sex: The story's and the reader's.

[Guest Snowfall]

Legally, in most places it is underaged. Posting and reading the story from countries with strict policies on child pornography, such as Australia, could get a citizen of that country into serious trouble. Most websites consider 15 to be underaged. Outside of the legal context, it would be up to the reader and author to decide whether or not the character is mature enough to ignore legal guidelines.

Is it the mind or the body that matters when having sex with a person underage. It has come up in a story I'm writing that a boy of 15 enters into a collective consciousness millions of years old. Part of the boy is still there, but also a mind older then dirt.

what do you guys think? Would that be underage sex?

[archon]

I always go by physical age.  A vampire who looks 14 but is 114 is not the same as a 14 year old boy.