Do we live in a "paedophile" culture? I think so.

[BlytheSpiritsSpirit]

I came across this old article on Feminist Current:

You’ve heard of rape culture, but have you heard of pedophile culture?

It's really made me stop and think; children are hyper-sexualised in our culture, aren't they? A recent issue my own DD brought up was the way Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things has been sexualised as she's grown (example here) and her co-star Finn Wolfhard (example here)

Why do people feel it's ok to sexualise children like this? What about the beauty pagents for 3 year olds, the drag queen competitions for pre-teens, or remember the internet countdown for when the Olsen twins turned 18? (that was a while ago, so clearly this isn't a new phenomenon)

The more I think about it, the more disturbed I get. I think we do live in a paedophile culture, or at least a culture where the hyper-sexualisation of children is completely normalised. AIBU?

Sadly nothing new. There are some horrific documentaries about the sexualisation of Shirley Temple.

I've noticed the language is subtle, but needs changing. No 14 year old is in a relationship with a 20 year old man - a 20 year old man is sexually abusing a 14 year old child.

If that was in reference to the example in my post I fully agree - I put the word 'relationship' in quotation marks because of course it's not a relationship, it is abuse.

Just to be clear..

AngryFeminist
I've just looked it up and watched the first 10 mins of it. It's really sickening. What concerns me is the police held the team up for 2 hours and defended the right of men to pump out school aged girls.

Agree with PP on banning child porn. It's not child porn; it's images or footage of child sexual exploitation

Nothing new here. Sixteen year olds on Page Three until 2003. There was also a documentary in 1986 about an aspiring 15 y/o model who sent her pics to the editor of the Daily Star who looked her up and down (old enought to be her grandad) and turned his nose up.

Remember My Sharona (1979)? Did you know what the lyrics are saying?

Stuff like:

"Ooh, my little pretty one, my pretty one"
"Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind"
"I always get it up, for the touch of the younger kind"

More examples of dodgy 70s songs here: louderthanwar.com/savilgate-we-know-about-the-djs-but-what-about-dodgy-70s-song-lyrics/

I don't think we do have this kind of stuff anymore- do we? The 70s were a time when men were much more openly sexist to women, and stuff we now see as sexual abuse was normalised, including lusting after younger teens (but not young children).

In mainstream society, I mean.

I think the sexualisation of children and the fact there are paedophile are completely separate in that they are two issues. We don't live in a paedophile culture unless you're saying society accepts and doesn't mind the abuse of kids. The disgusting phrase kiddy fiddler seems to have died out thank fuck.

I think this all starts with too much emphasis on the benefits of 'growing up'

there are so many threads on here where people are constantly forcing the speed of growing up for their kids and for what? So they can be leered at from age 10?

Its easy to do this..I'm pretty sure I was gazing adoringly at my 8 yo at the weekend saying how much more grown up she looked with her hair done differently. Now she WANTS to look grown up because I made it sound like something to aspire to....

I think, thankfully, we actually talk about it now and openly admit it’s wrong. So in many ways it is better. I grew up in the 70s and was catcalled and approached more times by leery adults than I care to remember. It is better for girls now. But by no means okay.

My parents and grandparents were also prone to the widespread child abuse, even though sex was not even talked about and children were not openly sexualised. However Male dominance through religion and family cultures meant they could do what they liked.

Now I’m very concerned about the internet and I even think that adult porn just makes that world of young women/girl stereotypes prop up paedophiles. None of it is cool and all of it is exploitative and seedy. I’m not sure about girls being told to dress less sexily, I think we need to empower women to feel confident and in control. They can wear what they like. However I’d be also encouraging young girls to think of themselves as more than porn sex image beings. Sexuality is also motherhood, love, relationships. Dressing can also be fun, creative, comfortable. Lots of the girls dress mainly in sports gear and I think that’s quite fun and good. Boys too.

Still not over, the war on paedophilia. However at least for many of us the tyranny of religion, teachers, fathers etc in power and abusing it is far less than it was as women have more power, jobs, and everyone is less deffrent to leaders, men included.

Also, regarding the lack of non-butt-cheek exposing shorts/skirts: its really easy to add some additional material around the bottom of a skirt or shorts...either in a different colour, or as a thick ribbon or as a frill of some sort.

The pictured will add at least 3 inches....

There's certainly an issue with clothes for kids that are highly inappropriate in my opinion, cropped tops, very short shorts etc but we live in a free country and parents buy this stuff. Another issue is the acceptance of sexualised dance routines for kids, watch any carnival etc and it's just wrong but parents pay for their girls to be members of such troops.

Parents should vote with their wallets!

I wasn't having a go at your wording, AbsentmindedWoman, more like fleshing out my own ideas. We're in full agreement.

I watched Bugsy Malone for the first time last year, was quite shocked at how very young girls are sexualised there.

I'm not arguing that the sexualisation of children is new in our culture, but I wonder if it's more prevalent, more embedded, less noticeable somehow?

Easily accessed, for sure - t'internet.

@Cocobean30
A lot of people will role their eyes at me, but there is a clear agenda to normalise peodophilia. Please google it if you don’t believe me and suspend your disbelief in ‘conspiracy’ theories. This is coming from the people that run the world, not a fringe group

I completely agree with you on this.

I think a lot of very high ranking, very wealthy men started sweating after the #MeToo movement because they knew the world was coming for them next. They knew the world was coming not because of their harassment or rape of grown women (meh, they've enough power, wealth and influence to weather that storm) but because of their behaviours with under-age girls, and possibly boys.

I think these men orchestrated an almost imperceptibly slow shift towards the sexualisation of children, and the emergence of 'minor attracted' as a legitimate sexual preference, which would enable their crimes and behaviours to be minimised if they ever came out.

I also agree with a previous poster who said the expectation of grown women to look and behave like pre-pubescent girls is key.

I actually think children are less sexualised than in previous generations. Childhood is long these days- girls used to be considered as an adult once they had gone through puberty and married off- now talk about 16 and 17 year old girls as children and wonder why they want to have sex at age 14 or 15? Of course they do!

I don't think a great deal has changed, I think paedophilia is always going to be present, it just finds spaces that it can inhabit comfortably as society changes.

For example have a look at this:
www.dailywire.com/news/42081/10-year-old-boy-dressed-drag-pictured-naked-amanda-prestigiacomo

Just to make clear, as the link suggests that article is NSFW.

We don't live in a paedophile culture unless you're saying society accepts and doesn't mind the abuse of kids.

To a certain point, society as a whole doesnt mind. We may outrage in smaller groups.

But people feel free to admit they are 'Minor attracted' and proud of it. Rotherham and the news today proves that large groups of men have gone about abusing children and the police have turned a blind eye. There is a new scandal of the same type today and it wont be the last. The children are blamed, called attention seekers and promiscuous by the authorities.

Senior west yorkshire police officers were very good friends with Jimmy Saville and met him every week for coffee at his leeds apartment (which incidentally over looked the play ground area of Roundhay park) and gave him updates about what they were doing. A man who wasnt part of the police at all met with the police each week and got updates about what was going on in the area. They cant really account for why they did it.

To me that says, that actually, society as a whole, is saying is accepting it. As individuals and as small groups we dont. But the people who make and apply the law do think it's ok. Those that run our social media (therefore having lots of influence) think it's ok. Lots of people compare it to being gay and claim kids are missing out by not being abused. All in the public eye. How many people still have partners living with them that have down loaded child abuse photos, or being convicted of abusing a child. You see threads here all the time where a family member has been accused and/or convicted but some of the family are stop standing by him.

We have a long way to go before I can say that society doesnt accept child abuse.

The thread title really confused me.

I thought you were going to be writing about the sheer number of sex abuse cases coming to light and how many around us must be pedos

I saw article on the this morning about girl abused by parent, put in 'care' home to be abused by numerous staff.
Eg watching her shower. She said she ran away and felt safer in public loos washing because it had lock on door.

Anyway, women in our society dress up, do nails, hair, wear revealing clothing. I guess their daughters do the same?

8 year old having beauty parties etc.
Copying.
Like girls in other cultures wanting to be like mum and wear a veil.

I don't understand however how it's a pedo culture with some people young girls wearing whatever without the actual perverted person leering at them?

Surely it's the pervert leering that makes it a pedo culture?

As an aside I do feel judgy when I see young 10,11 12 year old in really short shorts however.

I think we don't even know the half of it. In the upper echelon's of society there are a lot of paedophiles, child abusers and murders. I've done quite a bit of research into how the Freemasons and secret societies are involved in covering it up. They use symbols and codes as a way of communicating and keeping it hidden from mainstream society. It all trickles down though. Hundreds of thousands of children worldwide go missing every year, many of whom are abused and murdered. It's a hard thing to come to terms with, most people prefer to not know about it.

I totally agree op. After reading the telegraph link, I did a twitter search of the hashtag quoted as being removed from Instagram. Unsurprisingly it’s still very much active on there. I read a few comments about daddy / school / dominating / taking virginity and similar vein then clicked off. Sick.