An ongoing conversation...
This topic of 'pedohilia' has been coming up a lot in my classes and I have come across it in readings as well.
I am of the left liberal view that the US's current fascination and witch hunt for 'sexual predators' ... is fucked up.
To quote something I just read .. 'Like 19th century homosexuality, pedophilia is considered by defintion an illness, and little effort has been made to learn about the 'ordinary pedohpile'. In the US, the literature continues to be dominated by psychiatry and, more recently, victimology. Indeed, as a a result of the poopular misidentification of child sexual molestation with intergenerational sex, any scientifc survey of ordinary pedophiles has become impossible due to the legal requirement to report any suspected cases."
It scares me that this sexual variation has become pathologized and demonized. The rhetoric used to discuss it does seem very similar to what has been said about homosexuality.
In past cultures and in present ones outside of the West, intergenerational sex was/is commonplace. Yes, intergenerational sex can take a form or molestation or rape... but so can any sex. Sex can be an expression of love and compassion and a type of shared spiritual experience.
I'm sure I'll get some comments about this from people on here in disagreement, but really I want to just get you thinking. And I want you to take a moment and question sexual norms and where they come from and why you think the way you think on this topic. And then... what has influenced your thinking.
I am of the left liberal view that the US's current fascination and witch hunt for 'sexual predators' ... is fucked up.
To quote something I just read .. 'Like 19th century homosexuality, pedophilia is considered by defintion an illness, and little effort has been made to learn about the 'ordinary pedohpile'. In the US, the literature continues to be dominated by psychiatry and, more recently, victimology. Indeed, as a a result of the poopular misidentification of child sexual molestation with intergenerational sex, any scientifc survey of ordinary pedophiles has become impossible due to the legal requirement to report any suspected cases."
It scares me that this sexual variation has become pathologized and demonized. The rhetoric used to discuss it does seem very similar to what has been said about homosexuality.
In past cultures and in present ones outside of the West, intergenerational sex was/is commonplace. Yes, intergenerational sex can take a form or molestation or rape... but so can any sex. Sex can be an expression of love and compassion and a type of shared spiritual experience.
I'm sure I'll get some comments about this from people on here in disagreement, but really I want to just get you thinking. And I want you to take a moment and question sexual norms and where they come from and why you think the way you think on this topic. And then... what has influenced your thinking.