Unpopular Opinion
Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
How voting works:
Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
Guidelines:
Tag your post, if possible (not required)
- If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
- If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].
Rules:
1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
2. Be civil.
Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.
5. No trolling.
This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
This is a prime example of what the community is about.
With that said, advocating violence (read: not justice) will not be tolerated. Vigilante mindsets will not be allowed.
Really getting tired of removing comments calling for death. Advocate for strict justice, not death itself.
Thank you for your efforts!
If one assumes that merely by being a pedophile someone is danger to kids then by the same logic being a heterosexual is a danger to the opposite sex.
Most people in jail for raping children are "normal" rapists with no specific interest towards kids. They're just an easy target. Being able to rape someone requires a special kind of twisted mind. Just being sexually interested about it alone in general isn't enough. Many people have sexual interests they're not going to pursue for moral reasons. Pedophiles can and usually do have morals as well.
I think your conclusion here is a sound one, but I don't know if the logic works. Because for a heterosexual teleiophile, there are multiple legitimate avenues for outlet. Paedophiles do not have any legitimate outlets that don't cause harm.
What is that argument? Do you need an "outlet" or you'll eventually become a rapist? I think many people spend years/decades without sex and they don't suddenly become unstable.
Wow, this one got me. Top tier unpopular opinion.
You lay out pretty good points, mostly in terms of specificity.
And then you continue pointing out that there's likely no choice for a pedophile, and that they're not abusers until they abuse someone. And hey, I can get on board with that.
But man, if you really think that there shouldn't be a severe social stigma attached to pedophilia, then I really gotta disagree with you there. This should be something a person should only feel comfortable talking about with their doctor, close loved ones, or anonymously like you're doing here. There should be no stigma attached to getting help, but this isn't fun facts about yourself you should share with others.
If this is you, get help. And if you are getting help, I am honestly glad for you. But please don't ever think that anyone outside of professionals, loved ones, and other pedophiles is ever going to not have a visceral reaction to the revelation that you are attracted to kids. It is an appropriate defense mechanism meant to attempt to separate potential victims from their potential abusers.
I'm not one, but yes, pedophiles should absolutely reach out for help if possible and if they need any. I'mma play it open - I had a close person of mine opening up to me, and I did my best to research before proceeding.
I think it should be treated like "wow, okay. Hope you know that abusing children is bad, and if so, I'm here with you".
It shouldn't be a fun fact, but it shouldn't be "you sicko pervert let me shoot you" kind of situation.
My unpopular opinion is that pedophilia is a paraphilia and not necessarily a mental condition, even though some cases do manifest that way. But maybe I'm wrong. Please, go easy with the lynching.
True!
Pedophilia by itself is not considered to be a disorder starting with DSM-V/ICD-11.
However, if pedophilic thoughts cause distress or may lead to dangerous behaviors, it is seen as a pedophilic disorder, which remains in both medical classifications.
Should have made this point clear.
If child molesters don't have sexual interests. Why do they molest children? If they don't have pedophilic interests why would they be more likely to cross the line? Sorry I'm just a bit confused.
Most commonly severe sexual deprivation multiplied by antisocial tendencies and the ease of abusing a minor vs an adult.
Also in violent cases, similarly to adult rape, a sense of power over the victim.
On the point of "more likely" - pedophiles are still more likely to be child abusers; it's 1-5% of male population responsible for 25-50% of child abuse. Statistics is fun.
Because the current use of the word reinforces stigma around pedophilia and makes it less likely for people with pedophilic disorder to reach out for help for the fear they would be outed and treated the same as actual child abusers.
OP is saying that by referring to child molesters as pedophiles, instead of child molesters, we risk scaring non-abusing pedophiles from seeking treatment. There are treatment programs for pedophilia, but social stigma can cause them to not be popular with the masses and lose funding.
Edit: I brain farted a bit and had a fib in there. Removed it.
As an OP, not exactly with your first point. As I explicitly stated, 50 to 75% of child abusers are, in fact, not pedophiles. They do not experience primary sexual interest in children, and would much rather have sex with an adult, all other things being equal.
Second is true.
Thank you for this post. I think you've expressed your thoughts very well.
An additional benefit to a well thought out and nuanced post like this is being able to block people who don't think things through and wouldn't be able to grasp nuance even if it was slathered in Gorilla Glue.
Good truly unpopular opinion, and mostly good discussion on the points made. That said, I think pretty much all the points that were going to be made have been made. Locking thread.