this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
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[–] falseWhite@lemmy.world 118 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Illegal is not the main point, weed is illegal where I'm at among other things that should be legal.

Sex with kids is just fucking sick, abhorrent and vile.

I bet they wish they could legalize that, but it would still be sick, abhorrent and vile.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 68 points 1 day ago (1 children)

While your point is accurate, Kelly used the term 'barely legal' to describe 15 years olds which is why the meme is referring to legality.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Even porn sites know that “barely legal” means 18+.

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Well, the US has a federal limit of 18+ for porn, so 18 is barely legal for porn. For alcohol, 18 is illegal and 21 is barely legal. For work, it's generally 14 and gradually dropping as more ghouls pass awful laws in an attempt to bring us back to the Gilded Age.

For sex (that isn't filmed), laws vary between the federal minimum of 16 and as high as 18. Google's LLM thinks that Iowa has an age of consent of 14, but I don't see any evidence that that's correct

Interestingly (and despicably), Mississippi took until 1998 to remove its provision that a statutory rape victim must be "of chaste character" for it to be a crime, so technically Trump could have legally abused certain girls there as late as the late '90s.

[–] burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Iowa may be one of the states that has the romeo and juliet clauses, where sex with someone 'technically' underage is okay, if you're within a 'normal' range. I think it's 2-3 years for most places.

[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 15 hours ago

All states have Romeo and Juliet laws, though the parameters in which a R&J defense can apply (against statutory sexual abuse claims) vary from state to state, sometimes from county to county.

Most typically, the younger participant has to be at least 15 years old, and the age difference has to be no more than five years. A fifteen year-old girl and her twenty-year-old boyfriend are probably safe from CSA charges. Probably.

Married couples are a common exception to this rule and are a common way religious groups side-step ages of consent. Some states regulate the ages one can wed, while others don't or have exceptions.

Curiously, for most states, same-sex encounters are not protected by R&J laws, so two fifteen year old besties who get caught fooling around experimentally can both be charged if a DA is determined. Sometimes a DA is that determined to make an example of a teenage couple.

Sexual experimentation between a kid and their peers is developmentally normal, even if it's illegal.

[–] huppakee@piefed.social 6 points 1 day ago

illegal . <> . legal
. . . . . . . . . ^ barely legal (18,01)
. . . . . ^ almost legal (17,99)

15 is not on this scale, you do not have to be a porn site to understand that barely something is not the same as almost something, and that almost something is not the same as definitely not something.

[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 75 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Call cps, Megan has a 14 year old daughter and clearly Megyn has no issue with her being groomed by old, rich men. She’s not safe

[–] madeinthebackseat@lemmy.world 58 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Good ol' "anchoring tactics" to make the discussion about 15 year olds.

The youngest documented age was 14 in criminal filings, and those investigations have been repeatedly criticized.

The youngest alleged victims, in civil court filings, are 11.

So, let's stop talking about 15 year olds. Let's discuss 11 year olds. I'm assuming the Overton window will be shifted by bots to talk about how the world was pre-1800s.

[–] Flickerby@lemmy.zip 29 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

If someone ever finds themselves having to use the phrase "non-adult women" in defense of their actions, preeeeeetty sure you can write them off as the bad guy. They're called children.

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[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 40 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I can’t believe they’re trying to whitewash Epstein’s reputation.

The man was a fucking monster.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 15 points 1 day ago

Gotta defend their friends!

[–] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

Now that I think about it, Megan Kelly does look like that one hot teacher in your school district who eventually gets hauled away for banging a high school student.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 14 points 21 hours ago

It's honestly impressive (but in a gross way) what Donald has gotten his cultists to make excuses for.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 11 points 19 hours ago

Kelly's daughter is 14 btw

'Barely legal'

[–] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social 10 points 1 day ago

You fail to take into account that Megyn Kelly's mental age isn't that of an adult either. How would she know?

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (12 children)

15 is the legal limit in Sweden. Seems to be the median around the world, too (14–16 or so).

Lost my virginity at 16 with a 15 year old. It felt right, it felt beautiful, and it was consensual.

Edit: please note that I wrote this comment not realizing what this picture is referencing. Sorry to anyone offended! I will leave it as-is to make everything below make sense.

Again, apologies.

[–] eestileib@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ok so that's nice for you. What happened to these girls is nothing like that.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

I've understood the context since posting the comment, and I apologize to anyone offended. I wasn't really aware of what was referenced here. Sorry about that.

[–] zd9@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also lost my virginity at 15, TO ANOTHER 15 YEAR OLD.

It's a whole different story when it's 50 year old fucks that rape a 15 year old.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Rape is horrible regardless of age. But a 15 year old having sexual intercourse with a 50-year old doesn't have to be rape, though it's highly suspicious.

[–] Tippy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

In the United States, the country relevant to this topic and the aggressors and victims involved, this is called Statutory Rape. It is a crime.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

I'm aware, I was talking about Sweden.

[–] zd9@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

so you're saying all the sex trafficking and stuff doesn't mean it wasn't consensual? I think by definition, sex trafficking means it's not consensual.

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[–] Tippy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This post is about teenage girls (at the oldest) being raped by adult men and a vile woman spouting propaganda to protect them, and you're in here talking about age of consent and sleeping with someone in your age range.

If I had to guess you aren't actually defending pedophilia, you just might need to take a massive step back and realize what you posted was weird as shit in context. The difference between your situation and that of the epstein victims was violence, exploitation and sexual abuse. Though even lacking that, I don't believe teenagers can truly consent to sex with adults regardless of what the law says. There are power dynamics in play that are unhealthy no matter how its spun.

I'm saying this as someone just scrolling through with no stake in your argument with others in this thread, just thought you should probably get some perspective.

[–] Droechai@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Id love if the criticism would focus on the rape, forced actions and the heinous power situation of being a child or young teen stuck on an island rather than focusing on calling it "pedophiles" since that both draws focus away from justice for victims toward the perpetrators as well as putting focus on a "title" rather than an act.

Raping people are bad. Being a pedophile/hebephile is a horrible mental issue that needs to be handled before any act can happen, and so we should remove the stigma so the sufferers that hasnt commited acts can get help. These two things are not the same.

[–] Tippy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I''m not sure why exactly you chose me to direct this to, but it seems dangerously close to you being upset and defensive that I used the term pedophile negatively.

If something I said offended you, seek help immediately before you harm someone.

[–] Droechai@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (15 children)

I was agreeing with you and your use of the word rape resonated with an irritation I have of people discussing pedophilia (a potentially dangerous paraphilia which isnt illegal by itself) rather than the sexual crimes the victims where put through by the rapists or that the perpetrators are rapists

English is not my first language so might express myself with clumsy wordings

Edit: I believe a person can be a pedophile and a victim due to it, because the persons brain wiring is fucked up. That person deserves compassion, dignity, help and treatment, just as we help other people suffering. The moment a person hurts another sexually, especially a child, (with or without intent) that changes everything, and should be forcefully treated as an immediate and urgent threat to society and the persons around the individual.

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[–] victorz@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

I didn't finish all of your comment because it was very hostile (understandably so), so I just want to tell you that I was not familiar with the context, so I apologize for that. I see how my comment was inappropriate.

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[–] Lileath@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Would you find it okay if a 15 year old had sex with a 25 year old?

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

That relative age gap is a bit concerning. I have a colleague who met her husband when she was 17 and he was 38, and they are a great couple now. She's in her mid thirties now. It's all situational, and parents need to be involved and society also needs to give the youth a sound understanding of what's acceptable and how not to be placed in a position of dependence within a sexual relationship with an older partner.

It's not a black and white topic for me, as you might have gathered. Not many things are, in life.

[–] underreacting@literature.cafe 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Many countries have some sort of Romeo & Juliet-laws where teenagers of a certain age are allowed to have sex with each other/in their age brackets but adults are not allowed to have sex with minors.

Is that the case, or is 40+ and 15 good and legal?

[–] Droechai@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

When I was 16 I had a relationship with a 42 year old, it lasted a few months. People where expressing concern due to the age difference but not much more.

Also in Sweden

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago

In Sweden, there have been a few cases where there's some kind of Romeo and Juliet judgement call when the two parties have been very close in age and it was deemed consensual etc, e.g. one case where one party was 17 and the younger was 14.

But otherwise, 15 is the legal limit for sexual relations of any kind, except in some cases where the age limit is 18, e.g. if you want to get with an aunt or a step dad or something, I think.

Sex with your own child or adoptive child is illegal regardless of the child's age.

Sex between two parties both younger than 15 is not punishable because they would both be below the legal age of sentencing. If that's how you say that. You get it.

Other than that? 40+ and 15, perfectly legal. But yeah, frowned upon, surely.

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[–] ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 5 points 1 day ago

I'll concede that, if nothing else, Kelly has made a strong argument that age doesn't always correlate with mental capacity...

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

Let's... Not look at consent laws in Europe... Or specifically; in the context of certain French politicians...

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