If paedophilia is considered an illness, can the same be said for homosexualls?

Question

and before anyone gets on their high horse, i'm not a paedophile or gay or a gay basher. i just want to see what other peoples differing views on abstract sexuall activities - societies change, in ancient greece, male warriors had young boys they trained - they were also their lovers. They were not considered ill.

Answer 1

No. Because homosexual acts occur between two consenting adults who know what they are doing; whereas paedophilia is an adult taking advantage of children who don't fully understand what is happening and can't give fully-informed consent.

Answer 2

I liked the way you phrased your question,I have done the same thing a few times, but was eventually caught out!!
You have implied that homosexuals and paedophiles are the same thing! without actually saying that!
It is no longer 'politically correct' to be a gay basher, however I still am!
It is however accepted and even encouraged to be a paedophile basher and rightly so.
You are also quite correct when you say paedophilia was all the rage and accepted in times past! (As was homosexuality)! That still doesn't make either practise acceptable now!
I'm not sure if paedophila has in fact been designated as an 'illness'?
I will l take your word for that, but if it is then you are correct again homosexuality should be also classed as an illness! and suitable treatment given. Politically correct or not!!

Answer 3

Paedophilia is not an illness, per se. It is a symptom of non-adjustment to a societal norm that has transcended the individuals' capacity for dealing with aberrant behaviour and has thus manifested as a dysfunctional sexual practice. The sex-drive is powerful, and some paedophiles may have been frustrated in earlier life in trying normal sexual relations, and have turned to paedophilia because it is easier to seduce a child than an adult, particularly if one lacks the social skills to succeed in the 'chat-up' stakes.

Homosexuality is not a disease either. Once again, the phenomenon can be the result of men failing to make it with women because of social inadequacies, but the bulk of the homosexuals that I know are homosexuals simply because they prefer men. There is nothing wrong with this preference - you are what you are.

I do not knowingly know any paedophiles, and I do not research their web-sites because of the fact that I could get nicked for doing so, consequently, I am restricted in what I can say about this particular manifestation of human sexual dysfunction. It is possible for the Social Scientist to examine such problems dispassionately, but it is best for society as a whole that access to such material be restricted under strict penalties of law. Doubtless, there will be academic studies of this phenomenon published in due course, and these will serve as information sources for those who are concerned to find the true causes of paedophilia. The homosexual is a totally different case. Society has ruled the paedophile as 'out of bounds', because the lack of knowledge that children have (innocence) renders them vulnerable to sexual advances, and such advances and contacts have ben proven to be psychologically harmful to the child. Homosexuality, however, is carried out between consenting adults and has won tolerance (in some cases) and total acceptance (in other cases) from the general public, with the exception of a few anal retentives who probably also object to the right of songbirds to excrete upon the pavement.

Answer 4

I would have to say no, although I find the basic question flawed. Paedophilia is no doubt wrong and should not happen as it is in effect the rape of a child, however, I feel that it is not an illness. Paedophilia, while totally abhorrant is a sexual preference much in the same way as heterosexuality, homosexuality, bondage, transvestitism, voyeurism etc. It cannot be treated it is just what turns these people on. You can no more ask these people not to be aroused by children than you can expect heterosexual people not to be turned on by the opposite sex. The only problem is that paedophiles act on their sexual urges and the only way of doing this is to coerce children into sexual acts. It is regrettable that there are people like this out there but nevertheless i feel there is no way to combat it. I reiterate the fact that i find paedophilia wrong, I am just expressing my views on the causes of it, I myself am a straight man who enjoys consenting sex with adult women (just in case you were wondering)

Answer 5

I don't consider either to be an illness personally, just abnormal (ie. different from the normal, not inherently evil or bad) orientations. The difference for me is that practising homosexuality is socially acceptable because the parties involved can be consenting adults, as in conventional heterosexual relationships. Practising paedophilia, on the other hand, is not acceptable because children cannot provide informed consent to participate in sexual activities.

Since they are similar, the flip side is that yes, both can be and are considered illnesses.

Answer 6

The difference is the effect on others.

Homosexual acts between consenting adults are neither more nor less harmful, to those taking part and to non-involved others, than otherwise equivalent heterosexual acts.

Paedophile behaviour is (according to best current research) nearly always harmful to the child taking part, even if s/he initiated them.

I don't like the word "illness" at all because I don't see thoughts and feelings, and their expression in behaviour, as resembling e.g. flu or cancer. But "mental illness" is the language our society most often uses for behaviour that is harmful to self and/or others, especially when the person's rational mind knows that their behaviour is harmful but the compulsivity in their desires overrides their reason. Other examples besides paedophile behaviour include anorexia, alcoholism and other addictions, compulsive shoplifting, and the manic-depressive cycle.

Answer 7

I think the same does hold true for homosexuals. They're both perversions from the norm. In the first, a person is into a much younger person, a minor that is. And in the second, the person is into someone of the same sex. Both types are considered perversions because they're against what human nature is about, which is attraction to the opposite sex for purposes of reproduction (leaving pleasure purposes aside for the sake of this argument).

See, the truly scary thing would be if someone said that homosexuality is not an illness, and hence pedophilia is not an illness. I would be mortified if the day comes when people conveniently and shamelessly state their sexual orientation as a "pedophile".

Answer 8

Something must drive them to it. Clearly, children are not sexual beings. The only thing I can come up with, is that, they may be so emotionally damaged that they are incapable of developing any sort of relationships with people of their own age, but they still have sexual desires, and see children as being on their level. Desire for a relationship, rather than sex, could be the main motivation. I would have more understanding if the object of their interest was pubescant +. It is impossible to have a rational debate about this subject, to a degree, that is understandable.

Answer 9

I believe paedophilia is a pathology because it involves the desire to forec oneself on someone without their consent, or the willingness to perform an action they are aware will cause pain, suffering, and harm to a child. By the same token, Rapists also suffers from a pathology, because they are also willing to inflict harm on people, and to have sexual relations with them with no consent.

The majority of homosexuals, like the majority of heterosexuals, would not force themselves on somebody, would not have relations with someone without consent, and would not willingly do something that will harm the other person, therefore homosexuality cannot be categorised with paedophilia and rape.

Answer 10

The widespread practice of y/a (youth/adult) sexual practices stemmed from a cultural notion, not from a person being homosexual. The majority of pedophiles today are white, heterosexual males. This is not to say that stems from being heterosexual, it has more to do with the social construction of masculinity, as well notions of control (i include both because not all pedophiles are males). (an example would be the gerai people of the dynack. there is no word for rape because rape does not happen. Rape, like pedophilia, is thought by some sociologists to be a symptom of a certain cultural structure in regaurds to how people learn to think in terms of dynamics and power as well as human bodies in relation to one another and themselves.)

It is considered a mental illness now a days [in part] because it is not accepted by society and is seen as a deviation that goes against logic in the face of such severe penalties. Back then it was accepted and i doubt THAT many people were mentally ill. or because one does not wish to have those attractions or does but in either case feels a sense of compulsion about it.

I am not condoning pedophelia.

"The nation's leading mental health organizations long ago rejected the suggestion that "homosexuality" is a mental disorder or pathological condition. The American Psychiatric Association, National Association of Social Workers, National Association for Mental Health, and American Sociological Association have adopted resolutions deploring discrimination based on sexual orientation. Stephen F. Morin and Esther D. Rothblum, Removing the Stigma, 46 American Psychologist 947 (American Psychological Association, September, 1991). Over twenty years ago the American Psychological Association adopted an official policy recognizing that "homosexuality per se implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability or general social or vocational capabilities." Id.; see also Patricia J. Falk, Psychosocial Assumptions in Family Law, 44(6) Am. Psychologist 941, 943 (1989) (reviewing research that confirms that lesbian women, and lesbian mothers in particular, are psychologically healthy as their heterosexual counterparts.)

Social science research confirms that many gay men and lesbian women live in committed, long term relationships, see section II A, that those relationships are characterized by the same love and satisfaction as comparable heterosexual relationships, see section II B, that partners in committed gay and lesbian couples, like married partners, take care of one another, see section II C, below; and that legal marriage would serve the same unitive purpose for same-gender couples as it does for heterosexual couples. See section II D. "

ALSO TO "Y A's" response

I will disregaurd your statement as being valid because you speak as though on authority and then mention "opposite sexes" which sets up a dicotomy of only two sexes. there are over 30. Also, sex is on a spectrum, meaning there is not biological jump from "male" to "female" rather humans fill a spectrum ranging from a 12 inch penis to a clitorous, even to no clitorous and there are people filling all places between. Sex is socially constructed and the only "opposite" is not sex, it refers to socially constructed genders within the binary gender system (man-gender and woman-gender)

http://www.isna.org/faq/gender_assignment

Answer 11

Sex with a child is not normal period. Their genital anatomy isn't even mature. Children are vulnerable and trusting of the adults around them.

Teens are a mess of hormones that society entices to act older, yet expects them to finish growing up at the same time. IMHO, if we are failing as a society with all our mixed messages and the pressure put on children and teens to act as adults without life experience.

Regardless of any views on homosexuals, as along as it is between consenting adults then it is a decision as an adult. In our society, homosexuality is no longer classified as a mental illness.