NSFW How common is the sexual interest in adolescents (Are many of us potential Epsteins?)

[noname223]

Today I read an interesting news article. It was published in German this is why it won't be useful to link it.

It was an interview with a forensics/psychiatrist specialized in sexual misbeheavior. The title of the article was "Was Epstein a Psychopath? A Psychiatrist Says: "Epstein had a fairly common pattern of sexual arousal"

I think he was a little bit naive when it comes to Epstein. I will use a translator for some passages.

"The Jeffrey Epstein case seems so monstrous that psychiatric diagnoses like psychopathy or pedophilia are quickly used as explanations. Forensic psychiatrist Andreas Hill points to something else: the not-so-noble side of human nature."

"Millionaire Jeffrey Epstein was charming, intelligent, manipulative, and ruthlessly pursued his interests. But was he a psychopath? Only a narcissist or psychopath can wrap celebrities around their finger so skillfully; only a pedophile sleeps with 14-year-old girls—right? In the Epstein case, it seems immediately clear that he must have been mentally disturbed. But how does someone who deals with sex offenders daily assess Epstein?" "He argues that we underestimate the power of money, power, and charisma."

Tbh the assessment of Epstein's crimes seem to be naive at some point. He seems to be in favor of innocent until all evidence is analyzed. He argues we can only be certain about the crimes he was charged for. But this seems sort of ridiculous if we look at the Epstein files and that this judge for example was probably corrupted when giving him a lighter sentence.

"Question: In addition to pedophilia, there is the term hebephilia—a sexual preference for adolescents?"

The term exists, but it is not a diagnosis that appears in medical classification systems. Rightly so, because it is a rather common arousal pattern for people to be interested in sexual partners who have just reached sexual maturity. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, this is also understandable.

Why is that?

Youth is attractive; advertising works with that too. In earlier times or other societies, people married and had children at puberty. Because physical maturity and fertility are present, it is attractive; it makes biological sense. But our society has changed, of course; psychological and social development takes much longer. We rightly have stricter ideas today about when someone can consent to sexual acts. But that doesn't automatically change these patterns, which are partly shaped by biology. The proportion of people who are sexually responsive to both adolescents and adults is quite high. In a German study, one-third of adult men surveyed reported sexually arousing fantasies with pubescent girls. So, in terms of his sexual preference, Epstein was probably not "sick" or disturbed."

It was an interesting and controversial article. I am not an expert on sexuality. But when assessing the Epstein case I find the considerationsof in this article very simplistic and not nuanced. I think the hebephilia argument is misused by some people to defend Epstein's actions like Nick Fuentes does. FIrst MAGA promised to publish all the files. Then Trump didn't do it. Then he published them redacted. And now some people from the right say that Epstein was really mega fucking cool". (Nick Fuentes)
I get the feeling the article was (a little bit) sensationalistic to generate clicks. At the same time my thread is similar. But it is a very stigmatized topic. And we on SaSu like to discuss things that are nowhere else discussed.

One thing to add concerning the following quote "The proportion of people who are sexually responsive to both adolescents and adults is quite high. In a German study, one-third of adult men surveyed reported sexually arousing fantasies with pubescent girls".

I think it is really important to differentiate between fantasies and acting out such thoughts. There are people who have fantasies to get raped. Obviously raping them is still extremely immoral and should be punished in the right way.

 

[Arvayn]

I always thought it was really interesting how our society seems to orient physical sexual attractiveness and value around youthful, child-like aesthetics, such as lithe bodies and clear skin. Psychologically infantile character features like clumsiness, fragility, vulnerability, cuteness and emotionality are also sexualized within women, while the cultural norms surrounding men are much more concerned with stereotypically mature features. Many would flatten this to simple patriarchy, but the sociological timeline that has gotten us to this point is a lot more complex. Nonetheless, this societal tendency to infantilize women likely emerged as a result of gender roles.

There seems to be a cognitive dissonance for many people where they would certainly engage in sexual interactions with one who physically and mentally resembles a child, so long as they are not actually a child. It's as if they make a strict category distinction between 'child' and 'adult', usually based on chronological age and legislation, and sometimes cultural norm, without taking the time to rigorously examine the clarity and implications of the criteria used to determine these categories.

"Adult children" are a very real phenomenon, and for me, it begs the question why so many are fine with permitting these inexperienced individuals the right to sexual consent in spite of the fact that they possess all of the qualia which would make a younger soul ineligible for such a thing (lack of life experience, emotional instability, poor education, etcetera). Many would argue that at a certain point, direct introduction to sexual phenomena is required in order for them to learn. But then what does that say of the safety of society's children?

In general, many people have internalized a moral belief that the older someone is, the less worthy they are of defense and "safety from themselves", even though age has no correlation with wisdom, social development and emotional intelligence, which are the three qualia that the moral wrongness of sexual attraction to children is foundationally built upon.