My older step-cousin just got sentenced

[choof]

child pornography is pretty strongly rooted in child abuse

[Nullifidian]

Obviously child pornography involves abuse, because the child isn't old enough yet to consent. I'm not talking about pornography but about the sexual attraction itself.

[Dynam0]

If we're saying people with abnormal sexual preferences (like pedophiles) need psychiatric help...what makes other abnormal preferences acceptable? Is being non-heterosexual abnormal?

Just thought I'd toss a log on the fire

[MixMasterLar]

hmmm I see the political correctness runs deep in this thread.

I'll agree that pedophilia is an illness, and I'll agree that getting people who feel that attracted to little, underdeveloped children help instead of merely looking them up for 10 years is probably a good idea in it's own right, but how in the hell can you set there and compare that to being attracted to someone your own age? My God it's like you missed the point that they are children who are being abused for someone's sick fantasy

"I'm not talking about the act, I'm talking about the attraction"

Then get that joker some help. Don't encourage people doing this kind of thing. We're talking non-consulting, confused, kids here. How can you even compare this with being homosexual?

Just, how?

[Nullifidian]

None of those sexual preferences are "abnormal" really. These attractions occur far more often than you'd imagine. What's important is consent however. If you're sexually attracted to animals, tough luck cause an animal can't actively consent to your advances. If someone is unable to consent properly (children, animals, mentally ill etc. etc.), they need protection. It's the people that have trouble controlling themselves, can't tell what consent is or decide to ignore consent (resort to rape, sexual harassment and what not) that absolutely need psychiatric help/incarceration because they are a danger to others. Even if someone is a pedophile, zoophile or whatever other sexual attraction, it doesn't mean they lack any kind of empathy or reason. You don't go around raping women either just because you have an attraction to women, do you?

[Coolboyrulez0]

what if i am attracted to young baby animals pls help me online ddr simulator forums ???

[Arkuski]

Originally Posted by Dynam0

Is being non-heterosexual abnormal?

yep

[omega_grunt666]

It isn't so much the attraction it self, but the desire to act upon it despite moral/ethical and legal reasoning. If an individual has trouble living a normal life with such urges, why not try to help them rather than waiting until its too late and the damage is done. Nothing to speak of one fetish or another, but it applies to anything with real world rammifications.

edit/ typing on psp is too damn slow, but i felt like checking forums from bed. This was directed at dynam0. But in the meantime it was explained better.

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by Arkuski

yep

[Tim Allen]

intimidating

[DotKritic]

This thread has been on a ride of its own.

I'm with Devonin on this "should be treated as an illness." Maybe something happened in that person's past that is making them think and operate like they do. I remember reading an article a while back that a part of your brain will want you to think differently - making you think that child abuse or child pornography is okay.

Trying to find it to share...

[devonin]

Originally Posted by choof

child pornography is pretty strongly rooted in child abuse

Depends. Is animated or cartoon child pornography rooted in abuse? What about virtual reality creations? What about adults pretending to be children? Do those even count as child pornography? You've got to be pretty clear about what terms you mean.

Actual pornography made with actual children is absolutely disgusting, and one of the very few crimes for which I have to debate my opposition to the death penalty, but there's more to this.

Some guys in Europe recently created a computer simulation of a 10 year old girl that they've used to gather the information of over 1000 sexual predators (Actual predators who are actively offering money to kids to do sexual things etc, so we're in the clear viz the earlier discussion) to pass along to government agencies.

The reason it is so effective is that they aren't trying to go Chris Hanson and just get a petite adult woman to pretend to be a teen boy. They can turn on a webcam, and show the guy a very realistic looking kid without actually exposing actual children to any harm.

It's proving hilariously effective as a means of catching out people who are looking for kids to take advantage of, but there's no reason that something similar can't or won't be used soon for simulations explicitly -for- sexual gratification.

[devonin]

Originally Posted by Dynam0

If we're saying people with abnormal sexual preferences (like pedophiles) need psychiatric help...what makes other abnormal preferences acceptable? Is being non-heterosexual abnormal?

Just thought I'd toss a log on the fire

I think if we can't give them tools to help control their attraction to someone or something which can be harmed but can't consent, then we might be better served treating it like an illness rather than a crime.

Even knowing somebody was a pedophile wouldn't strike me as any more unacceptable than any other sexual preference intrinsically, if they also claimed that they had never and would never act on those preferences. But since that particular preference can express itself in very harmful ways, I feel like exercising some caution is hardly unjustified.

[devonin]

but how in the hell can you set there and compare that to being attracted to someone your own age? My God it's like you missed the point that they are children who are being abused for someone's sick fantasy

"I'm not talking about the act, I'm talking about the attraction"

Then get that joker some help. Don't encourage people doing this kind of thing. We're talking non-consulting, confused, kids here. How can you even compare this with being homosexual?

Because pedophilia is a preference like any other preference: Often inborn, often not based on any particular event or reason, and something that, with some help, you can express in non-harmful ways, if it could be expressed harmfully.

Mind you, comparing it to homosexuality is a bit off because they are different categories of things. The Kinsey scale of hetero/bi/homo sexuality is one axis. You can have hetero or homosexual pedophiles. But comparing it to being attracted to people your own age, or old people, or blondes, or people with nice feet, or donkeys or chairs are all basically the same -kind- of thing.

Nobody is disagreeing here that pedophiles who abuse children are doing a terrible and horrible thing and shouldn't be allowed to do that.

[blindreper1179]

Throwing in my two cents... feeling something and acting on it are two different things, like some have said already. There many things all of us feel that we don't act on, and aren't judged for it, but you know it's there. What really erks me is saying "I could tap that as all night" to your friends is acceptable" yet "she's so cute" to a 14 year old is looked at creepy and wrong from the get go, even if not sexual.

[qqwref]

Just one thing to think about: child porn is an image of a horrible, destructive, illegal act, right? But so are pictures of murder victims, and I'm pretty sure those aren't illegal. So why is possession such a major crime? If the real problem in child porn is the producers of live action cp (since they actually abuse children) and those who support them financially... why not just go after those people? Go after cp producers the same way we go after drug kingpins, and give smaller sentences to anyone who has paid for it. If someone's a pedophile but hasn't actually done anything to support the industry (and hasn't abused anyone directly), they should be in therapy, not prison.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by MixMasterLar

I'll agree that pedophilia is an illness

An illness? what? Do people here support thought crimes too?

[devonin]

Originally Posted by qqwref

Just one thing to think about: child porn is an image of a horrible, destructive, illegal act, right? But so are pictures of murder victims, and I'm pretty sure those aren't illegal. So why is possession such a major crime? If the real problem in child porn is the producers of live action cp (since they actually abuse children) and those who support them financially... why not just go after those people? Go after cp producers the same way we go after drug kingpins, and give smaller sentences to anyone who has paid for it. If someone's a pedophile but hasn't actually done anything to support the industry (and hasn't abused anyone directly), they should be in therapy, not prison.

They already do this. I had a chance when I was in University to see Ron Jeremy debate the validity of pornography as a medium with the head of our Women's Studies department, and he pointed out, in objection to her talking about child porn that he's actually received a number of citations from the FBI for his work in putting an end to child porn production and distribution.

It is pretty serious business, as it should be.

[adlp]

I'm not surprised with the content of the posts in this thread

[Nullifidian]

Originally Posted by adlp

I'm not surprised with the content of the posts in this thread

adlp the nonjudgemental, ladies and gentlemen