In common public terms, pedophiles and child molesters are the same thing.
In liberal public terms, all child molesters are pedophiles but not all pedophiles are child molesters.
However, I’ve also seen this concept floating around which not only dictates that the vast majority of pedophiles don’t offend but it also dictates that the vast majority of child predators aren’t pedophiles in any sense of the term.
I’d like to believe this but I cannot find any sources to back this up, if this is true could someone provide some sources?
In regular conversation, people tend to use pedophile to mean anyone who preys on minors, which infantilizes teenage victims, and conflates predation with attraction.
It’s pretty interesting how most rape is related to violence and power, and not actually the rapist’s sexual orientation.
I like the phrase, “attraction is not action”, because to believe so is the basis of rape culture, the idea that just because a man is attracted to a woman, it means he HAS to have sex with one, and so if she doesn’t willingly give him sex, he is entitled to rape eventually.
Many people conflate pedophilia, the attraction, with the action of predation, which can be something anyone does to any age.
Predation is always wrong, but an attraction to something does not mean someone will act on it, or at least act on it in any dangerous way.
There are many many many people who are MAPs and never offend, and many who never even acknowledge these feelings because they are so socially unacceptable and not their only attractions.
So, most child molesters are not MAPs but abusers who use sex to hurt others,
most MAPs never offend because attraction does not equal rape (which is rape culture),
And pedophile is only one group of the MAP umbrella.
It is impossible for the contents of another universe to spill into this one. There must be a physical law. But, when I am reincarnated, I’ll marry a cute loli.
I have a whole parallel universe playing inside my head.
