Well, this just got darker.

  • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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    11 hours ago

    This isn’t surprising, it’s inevitable.

    If you folks knew how common pedophilic fantasies are amongst the general public, you would be shocked. Just look to cultures like Japan and Russia that don’t strongly condemn such things, and you’ll find it’s about 15% of the population. It’s only less in the West because of the near homicidal stigma attached to it that makes people vigorously hide that part of themselves.

    Fortunately, this also shows that the vast majority of those people don’t offend.

    We also tend to define pedophilia as “anything sexual involving a minor”, while reacting to it as if it means “violent rape of a toddler”, so no shit, we sexualize youth all the time, the 18 year mark is a legal and social formality, not a hard limit on human attraction. Adults will find themselves attracted to teens, and they won’t reveal that because who the fuck ever would?

    If anything, the issue isn’t that people have these attractions and fantasies, it is that some portion of those people can’t separate fantasy from reality and are willing to hurt a child to get what they want, or they are sociopaths that consume child porn without feeling disgust for witnessing horrific child abuse.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      to cultures like Japan and Russia that don’t strongly condemn such things

      As someone from Russia - what?

      Unless you mean being attracted to post-puberty, but pre-legal girls. That, ahem, makes sense biologically.

      Girls of that age are sometimes kinda cruel to boys, though, so my personal teenage years trauma prevents me from dreaming of them. But if not for it, I think I would.

      Toddlers are a completely different issue.

      • evranch@lemmy.ca
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        25 minutes ago

        There is this thing that I feel is most prevalent in the USA, to call any attraction to a girl under the age of 18 pedophilia. Because that’s the age to star in porn. The term should truly be used for attraction to children. I think it’s an extension of the “pedo panic” where every man is assumed for some reason to be a child rapist now.

        As such almost every young man could at some point be caught as a “pedophile”- 17 year olds sneak into clubs all the time, for example. 20 year old hooked up with one? Now he is considered a pedophile even if the actual age of consent is lower.

        Meanwhile the porn industry glorifies “barely 18” girls as something highly desirable. It’s a little messed up to say the least.

        Actual pedos who are into kids should be put in mental institutions. But I would strongly suspect that 15% stated just includes honest young men and creepy old men, none of which are truly pedophiles. That number is way too high.

    • emax_gomax@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      I think the common incest fantasy in the west isn’t too far removed from this too. Like all the actors are above age minimums but they pretend to be step kids or babysitters like these roles aren’t commonly associated with children and older teens. It’s clearly a form of deflection IMO.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        2 hours ago

        As the other comment implies, that’s just the easiest plot to shove porn into. I don’t think that many people are watching it for the plot, it just happens to be there. Like, people aren’t fantasizing about becoming a plumber to fuck women instead of being paid, for example. It’s just a lazy plot because they need to give some reason for the scene.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          1 hour ago

          I think there’s something to be said for how commonly these fantasies and plots feature specifically young or youthful stereotypes. I think there’s no denying that people are into that sort of thing.

      • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Could also be that those are the only porns with even a half assed attempt at a plot instead of just opening with a ground and pound

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          1 hour ago

          even a half assed attempt at a plot

          “I watch it for the plot, I wonder if they’ll ever get her unstuck”

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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          57 minutes ago

          It probably stuck from the time when porn was becoming a bit more normal to watch, so it still had some nominal plot initially. Still gender roles with women being at home busy with washing machines and all such, or babysitting.