Why does a woman get it so early?

[Solstjerne76]

I feel a bit silly to ask but it has been on my mind for a while. Why does women get their period so early when it has noe purpose before earliest at the age of perhaps 18 and married?

Why has God made the woman body like that?

[livy111us]

Our culture today would agree with you, however, up until a century ago or so it was not uncommon for a 13 year old to be married off. There is some evidence that Mary the mother of Jesus was extremely young. So for as long as man has been around, this made perfect sense, but in our current society it does not.

[mrmarklin]

One must remember that for most of history life spans have been relatively a lot shorter than they are today. So women married much younger. This 18 YO thing is relatively recent........

[John11111]

Yep way back in day as soon as a girl had her period she was ready to be wed off and start having kids basically its when they became a woman. Society has changed a lot since then though so here we are.

[pam]

Yep way back in day as soon as a girl had her period she was ready to be wed off and start having kids basically its when they became a woman. Society has changed a lot since then though so here we are.

And thank goodness it has.

[Bini]

Pam, agreed!

I'm 27 years old and had my first baby back in September. It's unimaginable how these young girls (some preteens) managed motherhood at such tender ages, and since birth control was likely not used as it is today, continued to bare children at God's will. I have two nieces that are 13 years of age, both bright young ladies, and while they carry themselves well -- they are immature. At a recent family reunion, I watched them play "boys catch girls", and the idea that in another lifetime they might have been wed off and with child, is just mind blowing. Then again, in our mainstream society, a 13 year old is not expected to raise a family. In some areas of the world, children are forced to grow up quickly and the idea of a "childhood" as we know it, is virtually non-existent. I feel blessed that my daughter and I live in a time and place, where we have opportunities.

[carlimac]

Another question might be why do some women continue to have periods into their mid to upper 50s? Most aren't really likely to get pregnant. So why do they have to keep going through this thing for so long after it's necessary?

[Echo2002]

In some developing countries it is still common for a 12 or 13 year old to be married off, usually because the family can't afford to take care of her.

When the life expectancy used to be around 40 years old, I bet marriage came pretty early.

I think I've heard from either internet or TV sources that girls are actually getting their periods at even younger ages than before, because our society is so focused on sex. Children are being exposed to it at much younger ages.

[carlimac]

In some developing countries it is still common for a 12 or 13 year old to be married off, usually because the family can't afford to take care of her.

When the life expectancy used to be around 40 years old, I bet marriage came pretty early.

I think I've heard from either internet or TV sources that girls are actually getting their periods at even younger ages than before, because our society is so focused on sex. Children are being exposed to it at much younger ages.

I've heard that one big factor in menstruation starting earlier in girls these days is obesity. But I don't see how simply being exposed to sexuality earlier in life could make girls start their periods earlier. Have you found any scientific documentation of that happening? What is the physiological/psychological connection there?

[kapikui]

I remember seeing some national geographic-esque program a while back. I think it was about "cargo cults" present on south pacific islands, but that's not really relevant. It was a rather primitive culture like you see in a lot of documentaries, where everyone is naked or nearly naked, and the only technology you find is what the camera crew brings.

They were celebrating the birthday of the oldest woman ever in the history of their tribe (of course oral history only, as there was no written language). She looked to be about 80. It turns out she had just turned 30.

If your society is one when you're likely to be dead by the time you're 25, you tend to start a little earlier.

While OUR modern society figures on 18, we live in a far more complex society. People in our society have the luxury of being immature until 18 and beyond. Anyone in that society that was immature beyond about 10, probably didn't live long enough to make reproduction a concern anyway.

We are designed to maximize the survival of our species. We were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. That is the one commandment that we are programmed to follow. It takes a conscious effort not to follow that one, and even then most people who would want to can't do it, at least not long term, and not without technological assistance.

Women start at the age that they do, because that is the best time to start under the worst of circumstances. If it were later, most of the human race would have died out because there is no genealogical line that hasn't gone through such types of problems.

[ClickyClack]

I feel a bit silly to ask but it has been on my mind for a while. Why does women get their period so early when it has noe purpose before earliest at the age of perhaps 18 and married?

Why has God made the woman body like that?

That has only been the case in the last 0.5% of human history, and even then, only in some parts of the world.

For most of human history, life expectancy was 35 or less. Some places in the world still barely average 40 years.

When that is the case, waiting until you're 20 to start having kids doesn't work out very well.

A much better question would be this: For nearly all of human history, people were making adult decisions and taking on adult responsibilities at ages of 15 or less. Why does it now take us an extra decade to start doing that?

Edited July 30, 2012 by ClickyClack

[John11111]

We know a lot more then we used to know is why. Recent advances in the medical field, all the research done on growth and development. Knowing these things has led us to make changes that reflect these discoveries helping us to become a more civilized and learned people or something o.o...

[MarginOfError]

I feel a bit silly to ask but it has been on my mind for a while. Why does women get their period so early when it has noe purpose before earliest at the age of perhaps 18 and married?

Why has God made the woman body like that?

Kapikui really nailed the answer, but I'll rephrase some. I think a better question would be "why do human females start menstruating so late?"

More generally, why do humans reach sexual maturity so late? The earlier a species reaches sexual maturity, the more likely it is to propogate and survive. Yet, humans seem to have perverted that fact--we reach sexual maturity relatively late and still manage to live much longer than most other species. How does that work?

Some scientists theorize that homo sapien developed larger brains that allow them to think their way through complex problems. These larger brains enabled early man to survive despite the reproductive disadvantage. Other early species of humanoids with smaller brains, on the other hand, couldn't make it.

Another question might be why do some women continue to have periods into their mid to upper 50s? Most aren't really likely to get pregnant. So why do they have to keep going through this thing for so long after it's necessary?

Because it's healthy. When a woman begins menopause, she may shed the monthly cycle, but she picks up all sorts of other risks. Breast cancer is more prevalent in peri- and post menopausal women; osteoporosis is a becoming a huge problem, etc. Women are much better off with the hormones that regulate menstruation than they are without them.

(this has led some to try what is called hormone replacement therapy, or artificially providing the hormones that cause menstruation to keep a woman's cycle continuing beyond her natural menopause. My understanding is that this has had mixed results so far)

In some developing countries it is still common for a 12 or 13 year old to be married off, usually because the family can't afford to take care of her.

When the life expectancy used to be around 40 years old, I bet marriage came pretty early.

I think I've heard from either internet or TV sources that girls are actually getting their periods at even younger ages than before, because our society is so focused on sex. Children are being exposed to it at much younger ages.

Let's not put the cart in front of the horse. Society tends to be more influenced by the physiological process of sexual development than the other way around.

That has only been the case in the last 0.5% of human history, and even then, only in some parts of the world.

For most of human history, life expectancy was 35 or less. Some places in the world still barely average 40 years.

When that is the case, waiting until you're 20 to start having kids doesn't work out very well.

A much better question would be this: For nearly all of human history, people were making adult decisions and taking on adult responsibilities at ages of 15 or less. Why does it now take us an extra decade to start doing that?

Because we're giving kids more opportunity to learn a wide range of abstract and practical skills than ever before in our history. If you were born 200 years ago on a farm, you probably learned to farm from an early age and that was all you were ever going to learn. You certainly weren't going to go to school and learn to play 6 different sports, advanced algebra, US and world history, and ready perhaps hundreds of books before you turned 18. When we began to diversify education, we had to divide up the time children spend learning specialized skills among many specialized skills. The natural result is that they gain less experience in any one skill, which means they will be less capable of making excellent decisions in that skill at the same age as their counterparts of earlier centuries. You might say that we've sacrificed some speed in emotional development and experience in order to provide a broader and more enriched experience of life.

[Backroads]

Without reading the other posts...

I subscribe to the theory that young women get their periods so early these days because of the abundant nutrition. If nutrition is plentiful, the body is thinking "hey, might as well procreate".

I like it better than blaming chemicals in the water.

[Dravin]

Just a heads up, because it is a common error to run into to, but average life expectancy isn't the same thing as life span. That is to say if the average life expectancy is 40 that doesn't make 20 years old of the time period should be thought of as the age (particularly physically) equivalent to being 40 today. One thing that brings down life expectancy for a society is child mortality rates. Since life expectancy is a statistical measure of how many years of life someone can expect at a given age (usually birth unless specified otherwise), child mortality can lead to numbers that are misleading to those making the common error mentioned above. Now high child (or other) mortality rates are a great argument for procreating early and often, so it is an entirely pertinent part of the discussion. I just wanted to clear up any possible confusion people may have had concerning what the term means.

Wikipedia's explanation is probably better than mine: Life expectancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edited July 30, 2012 by Dravin

[Solstjerne76]

I thank you all for answering my Q. BUt, I am bit simpleminded so here goes:

Why could not God from the ADAM and EVE and until today let humanbeing have an average life expectancy of 80 so then a human can have a chance to mature etc?

I am aware that people didnt live longer than 30,40 or 50 and is only recently we live as long as we do.

But it really dont answer my question. God has a plan, we are here to be tested, to have a mortal body, to be GODlike etc.

But in order to feel, learn, teach etc is it not better to live till you around 80 rather than 40 so you can mature more, be able to feel things like having a crush, falling in love etc?

When you are like 12 or 13 how can a woman or a man actually feel those things when they get marreid and have children?

If it was accepted by God that a man should married a girl at the age of 13, then we should not be horrified that men like girls under 16 today then? Dont get angry now, i am just thinking or trying to see the logic here. Back in the days it is ok that a man of say 20 marry a girl of age 13, he actually finds her attractive ( he must do since they get kids etc) but todays world dont accept that sort of things, calls the man a pig etc.

So is that why we have so many men out there who likes girls younger than 18 cause it is in their nature to like them that young, cause it has always really been that way until recently?

I hope you understand my thinking and not think I actaully support men who like girls younger than 18, cause i Dont, I just trying to understand the Logic, or Gods way.

I know that us LDS has to follow the worlds law and at the same time follow Gods Law.

I just trying to understand everything.

I thank you all in advance for answering me ..

[Backroads]

Just a heads up, because it is a common error to run into to, but average life expectancy isn't the same thing as life span. That is to say if the average life expectancy is 40 that doesn't make 20 years old of the time period should be thought of as the age (particularly physically) equivalent to being 40 today. One thing that brings down life expectancy for a society is child mortality rates. Since life expectancy is a statistical measure of how many years of life someone can expect at a given age (usually birth unless specified otherwise), child mortality can lead to numbers that are misleading to those making the common error mentioned above. Now high child (or other) mortality rates are a great argument for procreating early and often, so it is an entirely pertinent part of the discussion. I just wanted to clear up any possible confusion people may have had concerning what the term means.

Wikipedia's explanation is probably better than mine: Life expectancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apparently, even "back in the day" when life expectancy was ridiculously young, often was the case that if you could get past that nasty age of average death, you could expect to live quite a long time.

[Backroads]

Solstjerne, you are asking some excellent questions. I need to ponder them first.

[Solstjerne76]

Solstjerne, you are asking some excellent questions. I need to ponder them first.

Thank you for thinking that I do, I am actually afraid of people might be angry at my weird thoughts.

[Backroads]

Nah. I'm all "Ooh! Interesting topic!"

[mrmarklin]

Apparently, even "back in the day" when life expectancy was ridiculously young, often was the case that if you could get past that nasty age of average death, you could expect to live quite a long time.

Very true. There are Roman records of people living to be 100. And a lot of the nobility who were better nourished, housed and educated, were in general longer lived throughout history.

Getting past 40 or so was the problem. If you look at the pioneers, a lot died in what we would consider the "prime of life" 30s and 40s.

[Backroads]

I thank you all for answering my Q. BUt, I am bit simpleminded so here goes:

Why could not God from the ADAM and EVE and until today let humanbeing have an average life expectancy of 80 so then a human can have a chance to mature etc?

I am aware that people didnt live longer than 30,40 or 50 and is only recently we live as long as we do.

But it really dont answer my question. God has a plan, we are here to be tested, to have a mortal body, to be GODlike etc.

But in order to feel, learn, teach etc is it not better to live till you around 80 rather than 40 so you can mature more, be able to feel things like having a crush, falling in love etc?

When you are like 12 or 13 how can a woman or a man actually feel those things when they get marreid and have children?

If it was accepted by God that a man should married a girl at the age of 13, then we should not be horrified that men like girls under 16 today then? Dont get angry now, i am just thinking or trying to see the logic here. Back in the days it is ok that a man of say 20 marry a girl of age 13, he actually finds her attractive ( he must do since they get kids etc) but todays world dont accept that sort of things, calls the man a pig etc.

So is that why we have so many men out there who likes girls younger than 18 cause it is in their nature to like them that young, cause it has always really been that way until recently?

I hope you understand my thinking and not think I actaully support men who like girls younger than 18, cause i Dont, I just trying to understand the Logic, or Gods way.

I know that us LDS has to follow the worlds law and at the same time follow Gods Law.

I just trying to understand everything.

I thank you all in advance for answering me ..

All right, I think I'm ready to attempt some thoughts of my own. I thought of Madeline L'Engle's novel Many Waters which takes place as Noah is building his ark. The people have remarkably long lifespans of hundreds of years, and everyone is surprised at the Murray twins' age--by this people's reckoning, they should be mere infants. This struck me as an interesting concept, these people with their ability to slowly mature and discover life. Then again, these centuries-old people were still petty, foolish, and immature--begging the question, is so much life really necessary for growing, feeling, and maturing? Granted, this is just a children's book to which I refer. But if L'Engle's version were truth, perhaps God felt the people no longer deserved such long life spans.

As we have discussed, health and living conditions have quite the effect on how long you can expect to live. I doubt God would intervene very much in that. We might say He set up a standard life expectancy--that is, how long the human mortal body is capable of living--and then let it be subject to the ups and downs of the mortal world and condition.

After that, we get to do what we will with that body. Is it necessary to live to age 40, 60, or 80 to learn wisdom and mature? I would say age certainly brings wisdom. But that doesn't mean those who are younger are incapable of learning.

Some sociologists argue that the "teen mindset" is largely cultural, something that more or less started in the 1950's. As has been said, it's only been recently that marrying young girl has become frowned upon. I do believe that lot of our child/teen mindsets and expectations are that way only because that is what society expects. Children and teens are often capable of more than we might expect, as many other cultures have proven, not to mention history. We might just be babying our young people when they are certainly capable of much thoughts and feelings at a young age.

I suppose I can't claim to know exactly what God intended age-wise, having no way to separate that from culture, but I do believe He does expect us to "seek, ponder, and pray" as soon as we are able and to be aware of our full abilities.

Edited July 31, 2012 by Backroads

[Anddenex]

I thank you all for answering my Q. BUt, I am bit simpleminded so here goes:

Why could not God from the ADAM and EVE and until today let humanbeing have an average life expectancy of 80 so then a human can have a chance to mature etc?

I am aware that people didnt live longer than 30,40 or 50 and is only recently we live as long as we do.

But it really dont answer my question. God has a plan, we are here to be tested, to have a mortal body, to be GODlike etc.

But in order to feel, learn, teach etc is it not better to live till you around 80 rather than 40 so you can mature more, be able to feel things like having a crush, falling in love etc?

When you are like 12 or 13 how can a woman or a man actually feel those things when they get marreid and have children?

If it was accepted by God that a man should married a girl at the age of 13, then we should not be horrified that men like girls under 16 today then? Dont get angry now, i am just thinking or trying to see the logic here. Back in the days it is ok that a man of say 20 marry a girl of age 13, he actually finds her attractive ( he must do since they get kids etc) but todays world dont accept that sort of things, calls the man a pig etc.

So is that why we have so many men out there who likes girls younger than 18 cause it is in their nature to like them that young, cause it has always really been that way until recently?

I hope you understand my thinking and not think I actaully support men who like girls younger than 18, cause i Dont, I just trying to understand the Logic, or Gods way.

I know that us LDS has to follow the worlds law and at the same time follow Gods Law.

I just trying to understand everything.

I thank you all in advance for answering me ..

I am going to provide a different thought pertaining to God and His perfect plan. I am in the belief that if all of God's children had followed God's plan, from the beginning, I wouldn't be surprised if all of us would have had an average life span.

Let me explain why I share this. The city of Enoch probably had a different life style, culture, and happiness as never experienced by any other human. They had the faith to be taken up and translated, a whole city, due to their righteousness.

I think a lot of what we have faced as children here upon this earth is a direct result of disobedience to God's plan.

I think you have already answered the majority of your questions by saying we obey God's laws and we obey the world's laws.

When cultures develop they create their own rules and their own set of laws. I read once, that in Delaware (if I am remembering correctly), that it was legal to marry a 7 year old. At least one of the 50 states at some point, I am thinking it was Delaware.

In light of faith God does not interfere with the choices of men, unless they seek Him out.

I agree with other statements specifying our culture has babied adolescents. I read one study that was saying the adolescent years have extended to the age of 25-26, when I was growing up, it was 18, and then teens were expected to be adults. Now we have 30 year olds still living in Mom's basement. If we expected more from our children, instead of just playing video games, kids would probably grow up quicker. I think the children who crossed the plains, especially those who lost a father, a mother, or both parents grew up pretty quick.

I knew a lady who was married at 15 years old, her husband was 18. This was only 30 years ago. She received permission from her father, or she eloped, I don't remember her story as well anymore.

In some states, unless laws have changed, the rightful age, via permission of the parents, for marriage is 14. If a 14 year old wants to get married all they need is a parental permission.

*These are solely Anddenex's thoughts.

[Bini]

Hehe, I think it's funny that you add "*These are solely Anddenex's thoughts" -- not a bad idea on these forums but I get a chuckle every time I see it

[RMGuy]

Clearly the average age for marriage has risen, and you can find instances of child brides throughout history. While these examples exist they are by and large exceptions. In the history of the United States the lowest average age for 1st time marriages of females was just over 20 and that was in the 1950's. In England from 1450 onwards the average age for first marriage by a female has never fallen below 18. The idea that in the 1700's and 1800's that children were regularly married at 12,13, 14...while common is none-the-less not born out by the evidence.

-RM