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See your reaction is exactly my point. In your mind the closest most analgous thing to a pedofile is a sadist. All a pedofile is definition-wise is a minor attr

See your reaction is exactly my point. In your mind the closest most analgous thing to a pedofile is a sadist. All a pedofile is definition-wise is a minor attracted individual (MAP). The rapey connotation is societally bound. Just like straight males as a group don't like to be thought of as rapists or rape fetishivists, MAPS don't like to be thought of as rapists or even as people who fantasize about rape. The confusion where you are technically right comes in because legally there is no such thing as a consenual sexual relationship with a minor, so someone who fantasizes about a sexual relationship with a minor is technically fantasizing about something that is legally rape, however what many of them fantasize about is absent of many of the trappings of what we would typically call rape. I've worked with some via some psych studies in college, and many fantasize about what they think of as a legitimate consensual relationship. That's a far cry from what society would have you believe, and that's what I'm trying to highlight.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
> See your reaction is exactly my point. In your mind the closest most analgous thing to a pedofile is a sadist. All a pedofile is definition-wise is a minor attracted individual (MAP) And all a sexual sadist is is someone who derives sexual pleasure from he suffering of others. And a rape fetishist derives sexual pleasure from thoughts about rape. You're the one who seems to think that has anything at all to do with how they act as opposed to merely what excites them. Edit: I think I see now your point. Your argument is that just because straight males are attracted to females does not mean that they are going to act on those impulses in an illegal or immoral way. I still think it is a flawed comparison because one could argue that being attracted to women doesn't mean being aroused by non-consent. That is of course also true of being aroused by children, however as you have pointed out the issue is that there isn't a legal (or for most definitions moral) path to fulfillment of that desire. The comparisons I mentioned fit better because they too cannot be legally or morally fulfilled. Instead, as is the case with pedophiles, they explore the fantasy via various fictional media, imagination, and role-play. Yet these two groups do not provoke this irrational equivalating with people who do fulfill their desires in illegal and immoral ways.
- sam0x17 8y ago
  Yes you are getting me now. The additional info I would give you is that many MAPS dont even think about the sexual component explicitly, focusing their fantasies more on a romantic relationship, and those that do think of sex would vehemently argue that the relationship or encounter they are imagining is consensual, even if that is legally impossible. Violent, forced rape fantasies among this population are much more rare than society would have you believe. Unfortunately even in academia much of the research that would show this likewise gets suppressed due to our moral biases against anything related to this category. So in other words, there are plenty of pedophiles who are disgusted by the act of raping children, which largely contradicts society's preconceived notions about pedophiles. There are also many otherwise normal people with varying pedophillic inclinations. It's clearly a spectrum, just like the Kinsey scale, but more complicated and multivariate. Some people can only form attractions to people their age, some people can form attractions to adults and minors, some people can ONLY form attractions to minors, and the age and gender requirements vary widely from person to person. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out that a double digit percent of the general population has at least a slight inclination towards this stuff, but the research that needs to be done to figure all of that out will never get done with the current social climate. People in general don't realize that many pedophiles know they are pedophiles as early as age 11 (let that sink in, and imagine growing up like that), and we know almost nothing about their early experiences and inclinations during childhood and teen years largely because they are too terrified to reveal themselves. Do pedophiles like even younger children when they are age 11? Do they like a particular age their entire life? All of these are open questions that academia and our society are frankly too scared to address.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

> See your reaction is exactly my point. In your mind the closest most analgous thing to a pedofile is a sadist. All a pedofile is definition-wise is a minor attracted individual (MAP) And all a sexual sadist is is someone who derives sexual pleasure from he suffering of others. And a rape fetishist derives sexual pleasure from thoughts about rape. You're the one who seems to think that has anything at all to do with how they act as opposed to merely what excites them. Edit: I think I see now your point. Your argument is that just because straight males are attracted to females does not mean that they are going to act on those impulses in an illegal or immoral way. I still think it is a flawed comparison because one could argue that being attracted to women doesn't mean being aroused by non-consent. That is of course also true of being aroused by children, however as you have pointed out the issue is that there isn't a legal (or for most definitions moral) path to fulfillment of that desire. The comparisons I mentioned fit better because they too cannot be legally or morally fulfilled. Instead, as is the case with pedophiles, they explore the fantasy via various fictional media, imagination, and role-play. Yet these two groups do not provoke this irrational equivalating with people who do fulfill their desires in illegal and immoral ways.

sam0x17 8y ago
Yes you are getting me now. The additional info I would give you is that many MAPS dont even think about the sexual component explicitly, focusing their fantasies more on a romantic relationship, and those that do think of sex would vehemently argue that the relationship or encounter they are imagining is consensual, even if that is legally impossible. Violent, forced rape fantasies among this population are much more rare than society would have you believe. Unfortunately even in academia much of the research that would show this likewise gets suppressed due to our moral biases against anything related to this category. So in other words, there are plenty of pedophiles who are disgusted by the act of raping children, which largely contradicts society's preconceived notions about pedophiles. There are also many otherwise normal people with varying pedophillic inclinations. It's clearly a spectrum, just like the Kinsey scale, but more complicated and multivariate. Some people can only form attractions to people their age, some people can form attractions to adults and minors, some people can ONLY form attractions to minors, and the age and gender requirements vary widely from person to person. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out that a double digit percent of the general population has at least a slight inclination towards this stuff, but the research that needs to be done to figure all of that out will never get done with the current social climate. People in general don't realize that many pedophiles know they are pedophiles as early as age 11 (let that sink in, and imagine growing up like that), and we know almost nothing about their early experiences and inclinations during childhood and teen years largely because they are too terrified to reveal themselves. Do pedophiles like even younger children when they are age 11? Do they like a particular age their entire life? All of these are open questions that academia and our society are frankly too scared to address.