Why Some Societies Are Obsessed With Child Marriage?

[Barbarella]

I've seen in certain societies, like Wahabi ones or in Africa or even parts of India, this big obsession with old guys wanting to marry small little girls who's ages are likely to be in single digits. Should age of consent laws be brought up or the proposal to raise it a few years, these guys howl and shriek that they are being "deprived" of their "right" to marry girls they KNOW are way too young for them! It's like the younger the better, if it were up to these guys, they would probably bang infants. These guys are sick & obsessed!

Why is there this obsession?! What does a child offer that an older, post-pubescent girl doesn't? Are these guys pedophiles who want a legal excuse to be pigs? Why so many of these guys?

I don't want to generalize a religion, country or culture, I'm just looking at societies that have degraded into religious zealotry, ignorance & poverty. This even applies to some Puritans (Christian Fundies/Frummers/Zealots) in the USA. WHAT'S THIS OBSESSION WITH SUPER-YOUNG GIRLS?! You have guys in Wahabi-poisoned countries who prefer...no...DEMAND & BEG FOR...small girls a few years shy of ten, and WOE to anyone who wishes to raise the age to something slightly less extreme.

Granted, girls marrying at a young age has always been a historical thing and perhaps understandable if the gal's a teenager in a time where everyone lived a shorter lifespan. But I'm talking about present-day guys obsessed with girls who haven't hit puberty yet!

[The last bit was removed because it was royally stupid]

[Ghoti]

I see it as the "logical" endpoint of the cultural and religious obsession with female purity. The older a girl grows, the more likely it becomes that she will lose her precious virginity to someone other than her husband (whether she chooses to or not). A very young age is a strong indicator of the type of "purity" that's oftentimes more important than the girl or her thoughts on what happens to her.

(Side note: I know you're upset, Spunki, and that you tend to post in an expressive, somewhat overblown manner, but the last few sentences of your post is begging for a flamewar.)

[Ironchew]

WHAT'S THIS OBSESSION WITH SUPER-YOUNG GIRLS?!

It's an exchange of property rights between families.

Are these guys pedophiles who want a legal excuse to be pigs?

There aren't that many pedophiles out there to support a cultural institution like this. Most of the child molesters involved are heterosexual.

Granted, girls marrying at a young age has always been a historical thing and perhaps understandable if the gal's a teenager in a time where everyone lived a shorter lifespan.

Answered your own question right there. Most of the marriage laws here in the United States descend from the mode of thinking that women are property and monogamy was the best guarantee of fatherhood available before DNA testing.

[TheUnknown]

Another problem I've heard is that in places like Afghanistan, where poverty and low education are high, families are being forced to marry girls younger and younger as a way to wipe away debts or to get the resources they need.

[Barbarella]

I see it as the "logical" endpoint of the cultural and religious obsession with female purity. The older a girl grows, the more likely it becomes that she will lose her precious virginity to someone other than her husband (whether she chooses to or not). A very young age is a strong indicator of the type of "purity" that's oftentimes more important than the girl or her thoughts on what happens to her.

(Side note: I know you're upset, Spunki, and that you tend to post in an expressive, somewhat overblown manner, but the last few sentences of your post is begging for a flamewar.)

I'll remove them.

[Barbarella]

I see it as the "logical" endpoint of the cultural and religious obsession with female purity. The older a girl grows, the more likely it becomes that she will lose her precious virginity to someone other than her husband (whether she chooses to or not). A very young age is a strong indicator of the type of "purity" that's oftentimes more important than the girl or her thoughts on what happens to her.

(Side note: I know you're upset, Spunki, and that you tend to post in an expressive, somewhat overblown manner, but the last few sentences of your post is begging for a flamewar.)

So I guess these guy's reasoning is "We'll marry this child because a child would certainly not be into sex, we'll keep her around a few years then consummate when she's 'of age'".

[Random Gal]

I don't even get the obsession with virginity, particularly in more developed countries where religion isn't as much of an issue. What's so great about having sex with someone who's likely scared half to death and has no idea what to do?

[Sigmaleph]

I've seen in certain societies, like Wahabi ones or in Africa or even parts of India, this big obsession with old guys wanting to marry small little girls who's ages are likely to be in single digits.

Actually, most child marriages tend to take place when the girl is past puberty (i.e. not single digit age). Not that it excuses it.

I know that sounds like I'm nitpicking*, but it's relevant to the point. A desire for a young mate is partly evolutionarily driven** because older women have less years of fertility in their future (also they get less fertile after a point, but I doubt that's right after puberty). It's kind of the same thing you see in western society with the old wealthy guy and the twenty-year-old woman, only dialed up to eleven and not moderated by age of consent laws. Anyway, if the point is getting as many babies in her as possible, there's really no point in starting before puberty.

I'd guess the whole virginity thing plays a part (get them as soon as possible and nobody else has a a chance to "defile" them). Plus poor societies where you want to get rid of an extra mouth to feed as soon as possible, etc. Obviously there are going to be plenty of societal factors involved.

*Admittedly, I do like nitpicking.

**Not actually an evolutionary biologist, feel free to call me on my bullshit if I'm wrong here.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

**Not actually an evolutionary biologist, feel free to call me on my bullshit if I'm wrong here.

It's a reasonable conclusion for anyone who has knowledge of the subject, evolutionary biologist or not. Women's voices remain higher pitched, our faces tend to retain certain child-like traits (small jaws, larger eyes, etc.), and so on, which indicates that youthfulness has played a major role in sexual selection.

[Ultimate Paragon]

It's a combination of a number of different factors.

[Sylvana]

It is quite a complex issue.
For starters though, you need to realize that this really only happens in societies where women are still treated as property with no rights or will of their own. They belong to their fathers as merely a possession until sold off into marriage. The men these girls often get sold to are not normally some random person from the streets, but it would be a friend or business associate of the father. From the fathers point of view it would be profitable to sell his daughter to this business associate because it will encourage goodwill between him and this person.

As for why this older man would want a pre-pubecent child wife, there are a number of reasons. Surprisingly pedophilia is not really one of them. For starters, child marriage is normally acceptable in countries that also allow for male centered polygamy. Now in these kind of cultures women are really just seen as cum recepticals and the men feel the need to buy a new one every now and again when they get bored of the old one. Purchasing a pre-pubecent girl is seen as an investment. They would be cheaper as the father wouldn't know how well she will develop and be at a weaker bargaining position. Additionally, getting a girl young allows the men to break them into a kind of Stockholm syndrome kind of relationship. Something that would be easier before they become teenagers. Then of course there is the extra years available to use them to give birth to male heirs, and the much higher likelihood of the girl being chaste. Throw in some religion and cultural history and there you have it.

[Askold]

It is a combination of using marriage as a tool in politics/business, the woman/girl being property of their father/brothers and the desire to make certain that the children are the children of the husband.

[Barbarella]

I get the impression that guys in these cultures see Male as "default" & "normal" with Female as being some freak aberration of Male (Male being 'human') that exists solely for reproduction & housekeeping.

These guys are pathetic. They literally don't see women & girls as human beings.

Well, there only one reaction to this insanity:

TO MISOGYNIST FRUM-GUYS:

....and kitteh has been getting into the rotten tuna! BREATHE DEEPLY!