The times they are a changing. Having lived through that great era, the pill, the rock scene, free love et al in London was amazing.
Many of our younger sisters followed bands around and went on to after gig parties. None of us boys or girls cared about the law on the age of consent.
The age of consent in England still is 16 and most of us were having sex from our early teens, 14 was not uncommon.
My cousin was pregnant at 15 and married her boyfriend who was 17 or the authorities were going to arrest him. They stayed together for 20 more years and had another child. There were many like that.
At 20 my friends and I were at a holiday park in Cornwall, we looked the part then, long hair, cars, and booze, we picked up 2 girls from a disco in town and found out they were staying at the same caravan park, so they came back with us. A knock on the door from one of the girl's brothers told us they were 13. How were we to know as they should not even have been drinking in the club under 18.
I used an example of a 16 year old girl blowing a 23 year old guy in my novel "Face and Justice" and my USA editor would not allow it in, saying she was under age. I explained that it was not under age in the UK but he still would not allow it. I changed the wording to "just out of the age of consent." It was written from a personal experience.
Why is the literary world becoming so judgemental, things seem to be going backward. Lolita would never have been published today going by that editor. Censorious politicians in panic now bothering libraries about content over trans and LGBTQ+ issues are taking us all backwards.
Where non-consensual acts occur the law should intervene. The likes of Rolf Harris and Gary Glitter have been jailed, but Mandy Smith and Bill Wyman were interviewed by police and Mandy's mother took a lot of stick from the press for sanctioning the affair but they were never arrested.
For consensual sex, freedom, learning by rebellious teens, the law is an ass and should stay out except in cases of coercion. Some mature early and others late and it should be their decision.
