Nubile is a term from the Latin word nubĭlis . It is an adjective that allows you to describe someone who is of marriageable age .
Typically, the concept is used with reference to a woman . The person who reaches nubility reaches the legal age for marriage .
The nubile condition is associated with the customs of a society . Generally, these traditions and beliefs are reflected in the laws , which is why the marriageable age is detailed in the legislation: only those who are over X years old can marry.
This floor that is established is linked to full consent , since it is considered that minors do not have the maturity and the psychological and cognitive tools necessary to choose to get married. With the marriageable age, it is understood that the human being can now decide if he wants to get married.
Nubility generally adjusts to puberty . However, there are other components specific to anthropology and culture that affect the definition of marriageable age and that even change over time.
It is important not to confuse nubility with the age of majority , legal emancipation or the age of sexual consent . These are notions that can be related to marriageable age but do not refer to the same thing.
Beyond the differences between nations, the United Nations Organization ( UN ) dictated, in a 1962 resolution, the obligation to set a minimum age by law for marriage, leaving family agreements and religious doctrines invalid. Thus the establishment of the marriage age formally became the power of the State .
Let's look at the situation of some countries regarding cloudiness. Let's start in France, where before the Revolution the marriageable age used to be 12 and 14 years, for women and men respectively. Starting in 1792 this requirement changed to 13 and 15 years, and in 1804 the French Civil Code (also known as the Napoleonic Code or Napoleonic Code ) modified it again, this time imposing the minimum ages of 14 and 18 years.
Already in the present, in 2006 the marriageable age in France was established at 18 years for women and men, a sign of the growing search for equality that characterizes our times. If one of the spouses is a minor, authorization from their legal guardians is mandatory to marry, since once they do so they are fully emancipated.
Regardless of the marriageable age, the study of statistics can provide us with interesting data to understand people's real preferences, that is, at what age they really want to get married beyond what the laws impose . In 1994, the average age of married French women and men was 26.8 and 28.7, respectively; by 2010, it increased to 30 and 31.8, while in 2013 it reached 30.6 and 32.4.
Let's now talk about Spain, where the reality is noticeably different. Until early 2015, Spaniards could marry from the age of 14, although they needed a judge to authorize the bond . The current marriageable age is 16, but it is still too low compared to France.
In 1978, the Spanish government removed the expression "marriage age" from the constitutional project to support the legal equality of women and men with respect to their right to marry, their marital obligations and potential separation, among other legal aspects.
In the United States, on the other hand, the marriageable age is 18 years for both sexes, with the exception of Mississippi and Nebraska, where it is 21 and 19 years, respectively. Despite this, in all states it is possible to marry as a minor as long as the parents or legal guardians approve the union.