From: Kathryn Aegis (aegis@igc.apc.org)
Date: Mon Feb 02 1998 - 12:41:14 MST
As I continue to work on the Transhumanist Gender Site, I plan to
include some information on so-called 'alternate' modes of sexuality,
including polyamory, bisexuality and androgyny. I will not, however,
include pedophilia nor make any statement that it is representative
of any sort of evolved relationship or sexuality. Given that I'm
making a strong statement in favor of removing some clinical
definitions of abnormality that surround some sexualities, this was a
tough decision, and I had some tough talks with both clinicians and
the nice man/boys from NAMBLA before coming to this decision.
My reasoning: There is no need to depend upon social norms to
assess the value of pedophilia. Rational ethics supports
establishing a set of criteria by which to assess a truly evolved
sexual experience/relationship--let's choose the basic ones: safe,
sane, consensual, equal. Pedophiliac sexual relationships do not fit
the basic critria and often depend on the emotional or
physical vulnerability of one individual. (Note that B/D/S/M
enthusiasts and polygamists have no trouble fulfilling these
criteria). Indeed, these relationships bear a strong resemblence to
early forms of marriage that depended upon the female remaining
ignorant, dependant and infantile.
As puberty begins to occur at earlier ages in humans, the age of
consent probably could stand to be lowered by several years, but
basic principles of consent and maturity remain problematic. I'll
agree that some adults probably are not ready for sex and that some
younger folk are, but when you plan to live for over 100 years, a few
years of waiting can't hurt!
Sin,
Kathryn
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:48:33 MST