Yes, I just went there, because you see both of these terms all over the news. I get sick of it. No one understands what they mean.
You even see “interview with a pedophile” and junk like that, and most of the time, they are talking about a convicted child rapist, not someone with pedophilia, a sexual attraction to children. Most of the time you hear about pedophilia and pedophiles, it is a news story abusing these two terms horrendously to discuss child sexual abuse and those who abuse. Minor attraction is clearer, but when I correct people about this issue, I get flak for it. Think about why that is. Think hard.
Why does it matter? Who cares? Well, I think you should care, and I think it makes all the difference in the world to about 5-10% of the population and for children.
Can you let me explain why? Can I illustrate this for you?
What Is Minor Attraction?
Do you know what being heterosexual is like? Statistically, this is likely, so I will roll with this, though if you are LGBTQ+ or whatever, then you can apply what I am about to say for your situation as well, but it is easier for this illustration to just go with one example. Sorry.
If you are a man, are you attracted to every woman you see? If you are a woman, are you attracted to every man you see? Of course not. If you are a man, can you be sexually attracted to a woman… but not romantically or emotionally interested? Can you be romantically attracted, but not sexually? Of course you can. Did you choose to be attracted to men or women? Of course not, it just developed during childhood and puberty, and this is how it ends up for most people: A man likes women, and women like men. No urge to rape. No urge to harm, though you might have some fantasies around that, you still know it would be wrong to act out.
Well, minor attraction takes what you usually experience towards men or women, and they feel that towards a child. It was never something they chose, it just happened. There are children that are drop-dead cute, there are children that are easy to gravitate towards, but at the end of the day… those with minor attraction cannot do anything about their attraction, especially if they are only attracted to children (which is not common, from what we know, though more study is needed). Minor attracted people are attracted to certain ages and not others, and that varies from person to person. Not every child is attractive, not every minor attracted person is only attracted to children.
Why Does That Matter?
Well, think of the implications here. If you have an attraction you know you can never act on… One that everyone hates and does not understand… One that automatically makes you a risk to children in the eyes of most…
…where does that leave you?
Monster!
Because of what I first mentioned, you know, that many, many news stories abuse the word “pedophile” to mean “sexual abuser” and “pedophilia” to mean “child sexual abuse,” what do you think minor attracted people find when they go online and try to hunt down information… when they finally figure out that they are attracted to children? Yeah, stories about people abusing children. What do you think that does? I mean, if you looked up the term “heterosexual” online, and all you found were news articles talking about how someone raped a woman… where would that leave you? Right, feeling like a monster, like you will inevitably hurt a woman if you are a man.
So, now what?
If you choose to tell someone, what is the first thing you are told?
You Can Never…
Yup, you are told that you can never be around children. You can never do that to a child because it would ruin their life. That you are a risk to kids, stay away from them, etc.
About that… most minor attracted people fully realize that they can never fulfill their desire in real life. They can never be sexually or romantically involved with a child. You do not need to even broach the subject- they just know. Telling them, “Well, you know you can never touch a kid, right?” Yeah, that is like telling someone with Celiac’s that they can never have gluten. Like, duh, dude.
Frankly, it is insulting to hear that.
What is more insulting is the insinuation that just because someone has such an attraction means they should always stay away from children… or they are at risk to rape a child. I mean, let us go back to that illustration. Do you need to be kept away from men or women for fear of raping them? You have a sexual, romantic, and emotional interest in men or women, with no desire to harm them. So why should we not apply the same logic?
You should stay away from women if you are a man, and from men if you are a woman, if minor attracted people must stay away from children. See where that leads? Yeah, okay, I think you get my point there.
Urges? Um… What?
If I am being honest… I hate the garbage people spout about urges. Everyone always talks about urges that we get towards children. It is baffling to me. Do heterosexuals get urges towards the opposite sex? If you are a heterosexual, is that how you would describe it? An urge? Or would you call it what it is- an attraction, a feeling?
But what happens to the teenager that does not know that pedophilia is really just a sexual attraction to children? What happens to the teenager that hears, time after time, that they are a risk to children, that they will rape a child, or if they have to face the suspicion that they already have? Have you ever heard of self-fulfilling prophecy? Not good, not good at all, and most people do not want to take any responsibility for the harm their words can cause.
The Way We Treat Minor Attracted People Is Appalling
I think that goes without saying at this point. As a society, we have backed minor attracted people into a corner where there are a handful of ways to get out of that corner: Suicide, telling someone, abusing a child, or crying loud enough for help until someone who knows the subject actually gives proper help (good luck with that). The options are not appealing, not at all. And they do not really help end child sexual abuse either.
Frankly, it is our response to pedophilia and to pedophiles, not their existence, that puts children at risk. That needs to change.
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Means Having Empathy For Minor Attracted People
Yeah, it does, and if you have followed with me to this point, you know why. We misuse the word to mean someone who has raped a child, but that understanding is wrong. And that first starting point is exactly why we need to have the tiniest bit of empathy for minor attracted people. Forget the science and the research.
Minor attracted people are human beings just like you are, and just like you, they have the need to fit in and belong, yet there is something so fundamentally different that they cannot help but feel that they do not belong.
Just like anyone with mental illness feels that same difference, so does a minor attracted person.
That should tug at your heartstrings.
I Am A Minor Attracted Person
With all of that having been said… in case you did not yet know… I am a minor attracted person I have a sexual attraction to children, full stop. Most of my attraction is towards young boys, though I do have some attraction to men and even less towards young girls and to women. I am married to a man my age. I call myself bisexual in that regard. Maybe that is because I was abused, maybe not. I will tackle what I think about the origins of my attractions sometime later. But I can write stuff like this, because I know exactly what it means to be a minor attracted person. It means I have a sexual attraction to children that I can never change and never chose to have.
I advocate against sexual abuse because it is harmful. But I think a big part of preventing sexual abuse is addressing minor attraction properly so that we can be supported like the human beings we are, and not driven into a corner with a handful of ways out of that corner.
What do you think?
[…] to children, a feeling very much the same as a heterosexual man’s feelings for a woman, except towards children. And just as heterosexual men do not wish to rape women, a pedophile usually has no wish to rape a […]
[…] 3. Why Pedophilia And Pedophiles Are Not A Risk To Children […]
Hear hear! After working with sex offenders in a care setting i had so much empathy towards the true pedophiles. None of whom had offended but were treated as they had. I actually worked with a guy who tried to castrate himself out of fear of being a monster. My heartbroke for him. I am now doing a degree in forensic psychology in the hope of helping this poor and misunderstood minority. Awareness= prevention= happy safe lives. Thank you for sharing your story. Pedophiles are not sex offenders and should never be made to feel as such.
[…] is more an accusation than it is an argument, and as I have discussed here (discussing risk), here (discussing my history as a sexual abuse survivor), and here (discussing […]
It’s no different than me when I see a sexy man! I’m happily married and would never act on those feelings, I actually tell my husband about those feelings. The only difference is that I am in love with my husband, and can show him sexually, or in other ways. A pedophile cannot relate to someone they have a crush on, for fear of accusations of being called a predator or child abuser. They don’t act on those feelings, nor would I act on my feelings toward a man I was attracted to. Just doesn’t seem fair that they can’t have a “normal” life because of their inner attractions. Attraction doesn’t mean act upon your feelings, it’s only a normal human feeling. Being attracted to something doesn’t mean abuse. Some people are attracted to dogs, and others prefer cats. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love a dog, just because I’m more attracted to cats. In other words, I understand!!! Pat
You conveniently leave out the most important part: Pedophiles are attracted to MINORS, who do not have the maturity to understand this type of mental illness. They are not violently raped but are SEDUCED, GROOMED ETC. The relationship is inherently an unequal power relationship, that is why children are especially protected by the law. Furthermore, even the thought, the sexual glance, the provocative roaming eye towards a child can be very disturbing to the child, making him/her a victim. No attempt at rationalization will change that.
I actually did not leave that out, I made it very clear in the article. Also, most child sexual abuse is actually perpetrated by situational abusers, not pedophilic offenders. You are addressing abusive behavior – which I am in no way trying to rationalize – while I am referring to attraction only. I believe you are also addressing through crime. I do not leer at children. Please be reasonable.
Well damn what do you want the government to do, kill or imprison all minor attracted people for being attracted?
Your links are broken.
“to women” What does that feel like?
[…] is more an accusation than it is an argument, and as I have discussed here (discussing risk), here (discussing my history as a sexual abuse survivor), and here (discussing […]
I’ve read this before how people think of paedophiles as someone who has raped a child. No, stop kidding yourself, we don’t. We think of a paedophile as someone with sexual attraction to children – that is enough to be repulsive! If you have an attraction solely to children the only way I will ever show understanding is if you get castrated, then I will know you knew it was wrong and did something to stop it. And don’t tell me the paedophiles who don’t touch children do not watch them being abused by others on videos, because we all know they do. That in itself is abuse because that child is being hurt for your pleasure. The left has been trying to normalise paedophilia for decades. This knew term ‘MAP’ is no less grotesque than paedophile as soon as its meaning is understood. Children are not sexual, they never will be, we know this because no child growing up in household that does not expose them to sexual abuse, attempts to be sexual with anyone. Humans begin to be sexual and feel sexual urges during puberty and beyond – which still does not mean they can consent to sex with a grown adult until they themselves are a grown adult. I saw you said you were abused yourself, which I do feel extremely sorry for you for. And I would urge you to channel this in a healthy way by speaking out about your abuser, and if they are still alive get justice! Then speak against these horrifying people.