@tsarstepan,
Quote:So? Ethically, morally, and in many countries where these practices are profoundly accepted by indigenous communities but made illegal by their state and federal governments? Consent is thrown away because ... who cares? You clearly don't.
In the modern world, there are several situations.
1) In countries like the United States, Australia and much of Latin America, the traditional cultures indigenous populations have largely been destroyed. In these countries the problem has been solved (through forced assimilation and killing a lot of people).
2) On the other extreme, there are some traditional indigenous cultures that haven't been touched and are (nominally at least) protected. An example of this is the Yanamomi in Brazil and Venezuela. They practice child marriage; as has been well documented. We have decided not to touch these cultures. I think this is a good idea.
Going in and destroying these ancient cultures (even in the name of stopping child marriage) would be a horrible crime in my opinion.
3) In many countries, for example India and much of Africa, Western culture now dominates the national culture. However traditional indigenous cultures still survive and practice customs that we would find troubling.
4) And there are groups of indigenous people in Western countries who defy (either openly or secretly) Western cultural norms. I believe this is happening in Australian Aboriginal communities, as well as some secretive groups (including Jewish and Muslim communities) in the US.
Western cultural hegemony is not as simple or complete as you seem to want to believe.
