Relationships
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17 and 30

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Re: 17 and 30

  • GilliCGilliC member
    Ancient Membership 5000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    kkitkat79 said:
    If she is old enough to be tried as an adult she is old enough to date and marry a 30 year old.
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  • OtterJOtterJ member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    My husband is 11 years older than I am, so the age difference certainly doesn't bother me. 

    I think 17 does seem a bit young for marriage, but I know many couples who did marry when one of them was that young (and some have a several year age difference), and decades later they are still in healthy, and happy relationships.  So, obviously what wouldn't work for some, might work for others.

    Quite frankly, if I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self to seek out my husband, and marry him immediately.  More happy years for us, without all the wasted time of dating losers. 

    I think something that's much more important than your age, is just finding the right person for you.  When we're younger, you don't often have the experience to know who would or wouldn't be a good match for us, which is why we often look back at our younger years, and wonder why we dated such losers.  But who knows....maybe she struck gold early on, and no amount of dating or waiting would have changed her mind. 

    If the parents are okay with it, it may be because they know the couple and the whole situation a lot better than we do.  If it's not illegal, then there isn't any reason for them to be judged.  I'm sure at one time or another, we all do something that makes us happy, but that someone else would call odd.  It doesn't mean we give a rat's behind about their self righteous judgement, so why should anyone care about ours?  I wish them all the best!

  • GilliCGilliC member
    Ancient Membership 5000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    OtterJ said:
    Quite frankly, if I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self to seek out my husband, and marry him immediately.  More happy years for us, without all the wasted time of dating losers. 
    I don't understand this. I understand going back and dating your guy instead of the losers, but why marry him immediately? Why do people think there's this "marry or nothing" ultimatum? I do not think anyone should get married at 17. Sure, you find the right guy and that's great, but why not wait a few years before getting married? Is there some law that I don't know about that says "A man and woman must split up if they date more than X years without getting married?"

    I think people should take a little time and learn more about themselves as adults. No one encourages divorcees to get married as soon as they're legally eligible to, so why do people encourage teenagers to get married as soon as they're legally eligible? Apparently the concept of self-awareness does not apply to young brides. I wonder why that is.
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  • OtterJOtterJ member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited June 2014
    @GilliC:  Why would you be critical of a silly, imaginary situation using an obvious hyperbole? 

    At this point, you're just picking stupid fights to defend your self righteous excuse to judge others.
  • GilliCGilliC member
    Ancient Membership 5000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    edited June 2014
    @OtterJ No, I actually don't understand why people are in such a hurry to get married. Unless there are religious, insurance, child custody, or immigration issues at play, there's technically no difference between being married and simply being committed to your partner on your own terms.

    Having lived in a place where most people buy homes and have children together years before they actually get married has made me look at the whole concept in a very different way. I like the idea of focusing on the relationship more than the label.

    ETA - It's not about judging young brides; I worry about them. I was one once.
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  • OtterJOtterJ member
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    @GilliC You don't need to be able to understand the motivations for other people to get married.  Not only do you not need to be able to understand them....but you don't even need to KNOW them because unless they want to share it, it's none of our business. 

    We have very different views of what is/isn't appropriate before marriage, and that's fine. 

    The original poster was asking if the 17/30 ages were appropriate for marriage, but the problem with this whole thread from the start is that the couple she's mentioning is already married.  This isn't a thread trying to encourage youngsters to get hitched, or encourage them to wait until they're old and wrinkly.  From the start, this thread was about looking at someone's marriage, and asking for people to judge it when we have no clue about the two people, other than their age.  You may think that you're not judging young brides, but your gif and statements say otherwise.  I'm sorry that you didn't have a good experience as a young bride, but what doesn't work for some, might work for others. 

    If you're not going to support someone in their marriage when they're ALREADY HAPPILY MARRIED, then you need to mind your own business. 
  • GilliCGilliC member
    Ancient Membership 5000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    @OtterJ said:
    @GilliC You don't need to be able to understand the motivations for other people to get married.  Not only do you not need to be able to understand them....but you don't even need to KNOW them because unless they want to share it, it's none of our business. 

    We have very different views of what is/isn't appropriate before marriage, and that's fine. 

    The original poster was asking if the 17/30 ages were appropriate for marriage, but the problem with this whole thread from the start is that the couple she's mentioning is already married.  This isn't a thread trying to encourage youngsters to get hitched, or encourage them to wait until they're old and wrinkly.  From the start, this thread was about looking at someone's marriage, and asking for people to judge it when we have no clue about the two people, other than their age.  You may think that you're not judging young brides, but your gif and statements say otherwise.  I'm sorry that you didn't have a good experience as a young bride, but what doesn't work for some, might work for others. 

    If you're not going to support someone in their marriage when they're ALREADY HAPPILY MARRIED, then you need to mind your own business. 
    Oh, I definitely judge poor arguments! ;) I have no idea if that comment was made by a young bride or not. That's irrelevant.
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  • I don't think a 17 year old girl should be married period let alone to a man that much older than her.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • It might be fun in the beginning, but in the end its impossible that they are able to share the same values 
  • There's almost a 12 year age difference between my FI and me. He's actually the younger one. He's 33 though not 17.
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