I was pretty harsh about it, in some cases, the tattoo artist in particular.
I did luck out and they chose wisely. I have good son-in-laws. Mostly.
/johnny
People don’t realize that this was not shocking during the 1960s and 1970s, it was not completely everyday or encouraged, in fact it was discouraged, and statutory rape laws existed (like drunk driving laws of the distant past), but people weren’t totally shocked when a 15 or 16 year old girl and a 19 or 21 year old guy found each other.
Usually that merely drew some scrutiny into what kind of guy he was, I think the left turned this into an absolutely mandatory freak out, involve the law thing.
The problem here is a lot of men aren't looking for wives. They are looking for sex without marriage, and that is both dishonorable and sinful. If they were man and wife, it's a different situation. Of course, a lot of women these days aren't exactly moral either. Many (most) are not only willing to have sex outside of marriage, they actually prefer sex now and marriage maybe later after a series of men.
That said, I definitely think the sex offender laws are too extreme. If this 21 year old man is found guilty, he would probably be classified as a sex offender. Yet, this is clearly not in the same league as pedophilia. I just don't know where I'd draw the line between statutory rape and a consensual relationship.
I will always be grateful to my maternal grandfather for running off all the 'hip' dudes my mother liked so much when she was a teenager. When my dad finally showed up, he got the stamp of approval, and the rest is family history.
My own daughter is 14 now, and I've already told her to expect the same from me. Thankfully, she gets it.