I'm undoubtedly setting myself up for one of the world's worst flamewars here (and I've donned my asbestos suit accordingly), but just how far will our crusade against evil dirty child pornography carry us into the land of insanity?
Yes, the site referenced above might well have been a support structure or a front for pedophiles to get their jollies, but, er, it could also have just been a site featuring boys rolling around in underwear on a wrestling mat.
So what comes next? Do we go after any site online that has pictures of girls participating in gymnastics? They wear tights, too, and many of their routines typically involve those legs-spread-wide-open shots and there's plenty of opportunity for "child lovers" to have a nice drool-fest at these events, too.
What about public swimming pools? Since people under 18 frequent swimming pools, both enclosed and outdoor, we should probably ban those (or cover them up) too because it's possible that a pedophile could go gawking at all the scantily clad youngins'.
Then there's the myriad olympic events requiring participants, young and old, to dress in form-hugging tights. What about advertisements sent in the Sunday paper for swimwear intended for youngsters? How about commercial advertisements on television advertising diapers or baby wipes that show bare-assed naked children on television?
Should we just keep burying our heads in the sand, hoping that censoring groups that may (or may not -- are we completely, 100% certain the sites mentioned above are harboring or catering to pedophiles?) be encouraging (or at least, by not aggressively trying to weed it out, not contributing to the elimination of) pedophilia will do the trick?
I think a better solution to this kind of thing is education. I know -- that's a four-letter word these days, but as a society that seems so deathly interested in preventing their precious children from being exposed to any kind of danger or risk, it's up to us to teach our children about sexuality at a young age (as early as they can possibly understand it, not in bloody junior high school, and not abstinence, but the whole damned "how sex works" lecture) so they can recognize potential abuse before it begins, our fellow parents about the need to educate their children more effective about such things, our teachers and education officials about how to recognize real abuse (and quit throwing all the bogus false alarms they've gotten so good at), and our law enforcement agencies and agents about how to properly deal with real cases of abuse.
No, I'm not a pedophile. I have some problems with how we handle our sexuality in this country (random, spurious age of consent laws, most with abnormally high ages like 16 or 18), but don't let the thought police catch wind that I've said that. Sex with children is wrong, but I dare wonder aloud how "wrong" it is for a person to simply think about the idea, or even [gasp] be aroused by it. Again, no, these cases don't apply to me (I think my cut-off age is around 16 or so -- if she's 16 or older, I don't find it offensive to sport a chubby if she's hot), but if we make the mistake of delving into the realm of trying to make even thoughts and spoken word illegal because it's a "taboo" subject, we're in some major trouble.
I wonder what's actually wrong with constructing images or even fantasies in one's mind about sex with children (it's like the virtual child porn issue -- if no actual person is harmed in the construction of the thought, fantasy, or imagery, is it actually a crime?). Nobody was abused, assaulted, or even told about it. What goes on in someone's own mind should be his (or her) business as long as it doesn't spill out and affect someone else negatively.
I wonder how people in the "no sex under 18!" camp would react to exposure to countries in Europe where consenting people as young as 12 years old engage in safe sexual intercourse (using precautions like condoms and birth control pills), have lots of fun, and have a remarkably lower pregnancy rate than the United States does. Are they, and the people who express interest in them, pedophiles? Funny how there's no epidemic there of sexual abuse of children...
I know I've posed more questions than I've given answers; hopefully a decent discussion will erupt out of this instead of a "you're a sicko, fsck off!" barrage, but I'm prepared for either one :)
