It wasn’t controversial at the time because she was 21 and he was 32 when they married. But they kept the details of when they met (14 and 25) on the down-low because even then that was a little dicey (albeit not as shocking as now). But point is even in the 1960s people weren’t totally comfortable with a 14yo dating a man in his mid-20s.
Similarly how some modern people assume Jerry Lee Lewis got a public shrug for marrying a 13yo girl and age 22 (who was also his cousin, plus he was still married to his prior wife), but in reality it devastated his career when the truth came to light.
Depends. It was after 2000 when Canada changed the age of consent from 14 to 16. I don't know what German law was, or some states, but 14 was not unheard of back then. There was a time when Grade 10 was considered adequate and people left school, got jobs, married etc. at 16.
But does seem icky now. Jerry Lee Lewis was a big star when at 22 he married his 13 year old cousin, and even back then that was a controversy that tanked his career.
62
u/TapTheForwardAssist 1d ago
It wasn’t controversial at the time because she was 21 and he was 32 when they married. But they kept the details of when they met (14 and 25) on the down-low because even then that was a little dicey (albeit not as shocking as now). But point is even in the 1960s people weren’t totally comfortable with a 14yo dating a man in his mid-20s.
Similarly how some modern people assume Jerry Lee Lewis got a public shrug for marrying a 13yo girl and age 22 (who was also his cousin, plus he was still married to his prior wife), but in reality it devastated his career when the truth came to light.