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I read so many opinions about the age of consent. Why a 17yo is an adult. Or a 13 yo is a ‘young man’ or an ‘underage woman’, or a ‘youth’ or a ‘mature teenager’, or a ‘girl’.
I’m not sure how many of these people have kids themselves. Kids that age.
I never comment.
/1
I’m not sure how many of these people have kids themselves. Kids that age.
I never comment.
/1
At 13, my son used to talk to his cat in a made up language. His favourite food was 2 minute noodles.
He cried in movies about dogs, ate pizza backwards & found farts funny.
At 17, we had to teach him how to make spaghetti. At 21, he still fucks it up & calls us for advice.
/2
He cried in movies about dogs, ate pizza backwards & found farts funny.
At 17, we had to teach him how to make spaghetti. At 21, he still fucks it up & calls us for advice.
/2
At 19 & 15, my daughters are passionate about fruit shaped cushions. They’ve just started part time jobs & think $80 makes them millionaires.
They vent about Emily’s opinion about Chloe’s new Doc Marten boots which aren’t the ones she said she’d buy.
Rainbow laces are cool.
/3
They vent about Emily’s opinion about Chloe’s new Doc Marten boots which aren’t the ones she said she’d buy.
Rainbow laces are cool.
/3
They thought this ‘portrait of woof’ could be snapped up by an art gallery and become ‘Bone a Lisa’.
At 13, on trains in separate incidents, while wearing their school uniforms & with braces on their teeth, they were asked by middle aged men if they knew what blow jobs were.
/4
At 13, on trains in separate incidents, while wearing their school uniforms & with braces on their teeth, they were asked by middle aged men if they knew what blow jobs were.
/4
They’ve had men in their 60’s follow them onto buses asking if they wanted to sit on their lap.
Mia (19), is physically disabled and uses a walker, was recently asked by a guy in his 30’s, if “she can still kneel”.
That’s their reality.
25 years ago, it was my reality too.
/5
Mia (19), is physically disabled and uses a walker, was recently asked by a guy in his 30’s, if “she can still kneel”.
That’s their reality.
25 years ago, it was my reality too.
/5
Except for me, by 14, it had gone further. My whole experience of men was violent, sadistic & (it turns out), so based in criminal offences that the man who did it is half way through a 9 year prison sentence.
But for anyone, male or female, who wants to argue about consent?
/6
But for anyone, male or female, who wants to argue about consent?
/6
I think that argument itself makes me want to run as far away from you as I can get.
We got my 15 yo school photos back recently. The haircut she thinks is fiercely cool, makes her look like a mop.
Her eyes are filled with self doubt, but you can see the hope in her face.
/7
We got my 15 yo school photos back recently. The haircut she thinks is fiercely cool, makes her look like a mop.
Her eyes are filled with self doubt, but you can see the hope in her face.
/7
She’s awkward, can’t ride a bike, wins science awards & has just been invited to join an accelerated maths stream.
She is a child.
She knows what rape is. She knows what sexual harassment looks like, feels like.
She’s known since she was 10.
/8
She is a child.
She knows what rape is. She knows what sexual harassment looks like, feels like.
She’s known since she was 10.
/8
Her dad & I remember the first time she came home in tears because some disgusting, self entitled creep made her feel frightened.
Told her that her worth is decided by him & the men all around her on the train that quietly scrolled through their phones without looking up.
/9
Told her that her worth is decided by him & the men all around her on the train that quietly scrolled through their phones without looking up.
/9
She asked us why.
We didn’t have an answer.
Her big sister took her out to the Pancake Parlour & they shared ‘Alice in Wonderland’ pancakes.
The ones with chocolate sauce & extra sprinkles.
Her big sister was 15 by then.
We sat away from them.
They looked so little.
/10
We didn’t have an answer.
Her big sister took her out to the Pancake Parlour & they shared ‘Alice in Wonderland’ pancakes.
The ones with chocolate sauce & extra sprinkles.
Her big sister was 15 by then.
We sat away from them.
They looked so little.
/10
Governments can legislate whatever rules it wants about the age of consent, what defines a child from an adult.
Society can debate it on social media and bait rape victims.
But the reality is that I wasn’t a ‘teenager aged 13’, in a newspaper article.
I was a child.
/11
Society can debate it on social media and bait rape victims.
But the reality is that I wasn’t a ‘teenager aged 13’, in a newspaper article.
I was a child.
/11
I had just learned how to do plaits in my hair. My dog was my bestie.
I liked Bubble ‘O Bill ice creams & my bedroom had blue flowers on my walls.
I wasn’t even old enough to get zits.
I liked sprinkles on ice cream just like my daughters.
I was so smart.
/12
I liked Bubble ‘O Bill ice creams & my bedroom had blue flowers on my walls.
I wasn’t even old enough to get zits.
I liked sprinkles on ice cream just like my daughters.
I was so smart.
/12
I’m angry that my daughters are still facing a steep education forced on them by men who know they can get away with it.
It isn’t some theoretical debate.
The children who lived through the reality of this are important.
They’re not talking. This is partly why.
13/13
It isn’t some theoretical debate.
The children who lived through the reality of this are important.
They’re not talking. This is partly why.
13/13
