• melsaskca@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    Megan Kelly follows the “if you’re old enough to bleed, you’re old enough to breed” playbook.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    It’s only paedophilia if it comes from the pedophile region of Alabama. Otherwise it’s just sparkling ephebophilia.

  • saigot@lemmy.ca
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    4 days ago

    He’s not a Pedophile unless he comes from the Pedo region of Epstein Island, otherwise he’s just sparkling child molester.

  • KnitWit@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old, you know?

    She should not be able to walk down the street without constant reminder of making this statement about victims of sex trafficking. Absolute monster of a person.

    • gdog05@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old, you know?

      “There really is, one is annoying and one is hot”. -Trump, probably

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      I want every single, sheltered Lemmy progressive to use this opportunity to SPAM every message board, every subreddit, every facebook group, with this clip, this story, Megan Kelly’s warp-distorted face rationalizing the abuse of children.

      THIS is the shit we need to be doing and putting all our energy into instead of infighting about what words are problematic.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I agree with the sentiment, but you lost me at using corporate social media. Eww.

        Can we shove these clips in MAGA CHUDs’ faces IRL instead, please?

        • ameancow@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          using corporate social media

          If you can reach enough people, do what you will, but it’s ridiculous to be performative about it, millions of conservatives use social media, they trust social media, social media is what got trump fucking elected to begin with.

    • Cruel@programming.dev
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      4 days ago

      Why? It’s different both legally and clinically. Almost all states increase the severity of the crime for younger victims, usually choosing the delineating age around 12 or 13.

    • Hannes@feddit.org
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      5 days ago

      I mean it’s kind of important to be more mindful about the choice of words in general as many people say pedophile but mean child predator.

      There are many people born with that attraction to kids that never act on it or even actively seek help.

      The whole “let’s call everyone a pedophile” is doing more harm than good as it creates a huge stigma preventing people from looking for help.

      That said: they are 100% not caring about that at all and just moving the goalpost…

      • TheFogan@programming.dev
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        5 days ago

        I do 100% agree that the concept of having hugely varied terms for pedophile, and say the term Minor attracted person, and get really sick of hearing people lash out on when the term MAP is used to say “You just want to protect pedophiles”.

        No I want people who have the urge to abuse children, to get treatement and never act on it and live peaceful happy lives where they never harm an innocent person, and to me that is far better of an outcome than a child being abused, but supposedly it gets made up for by the abuser getting tortured in prison.

        • moakley@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I don’t know. Can’t we just stigmatize it to the point where their only recourse is to turn to faith and try to live a life of celibacy and denial? They can all become priests or something. That’ll help them with the internalized guilt while they’re at it!

          • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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            5 days ago

            I don’t think priests go celibate. What you’re suggesting would likely result in a lot of child molestation

            • moakley@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              I’m sure god wouldn’t let that happen. Let’s just give it a try for a few hundred years.

        • warbond@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Perhaps it’s a personal failing but I generally don’t care why somebody doesn’t abuse minors, I only really care that they don’t abuse minors.

      • Grimy@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        If the person has never acted on it, then there isn’t really anyway to know and he wouldn’t be labeled with it.

        I guess we could be more accepting of people that just download pictures, but downloading those pictures is acting on it, and shows that they have trouble controlling it.

        I get your point, and that it isn’t always their fault, but the link between both words seems very justified imo.

        • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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          5 days ago

          Except that people who have not acted on it and are seeking support in continuing to not act on it are afraid of identifying themselves as pedophiles because the association, even amongst mental health professionals, is with the action and not the thoughts.

      • RattlerSix@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I’ve never heard the word hebophile and I bet a lot of people haven’t either. Sometimes when unfamiliar words are introduced as part of a story or event, they become a central part of that story and forever linked to it. Maybe people should use it more regarding trump.

      • skibidi@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        It is a useful distinction when considering possible rehabilitation. In general conversation it’s just weird.

      • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        The best explanation I have seen was that it’s like death metal sure there’s varying types and styles within death metal but at the end of the day the only ones who really care about those distinctions are death metal fans.

        (My apology to any death metal fan offended by the comparison)

        • krashmo@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I don’t think a 20 year old dating a 17 year old falls into that category but it would fall under the legal definition you’re referring to in many states. That’s the problem with drawing arbitrary lines, you usually end up labeling some things incorrectly. That doesn’t mean you get rid of the line but understanding the context is still important.

          That being said, there is no amount of context that will lessen the creepiness of a 50+ year old man serially preying upon 15 year old girls. That’s disgusting and I find Megyn Kelly’s invocation of this defense to be indefensible. She should be ashamed of herself if she were capable of feeling shame.

          • hateisreality@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            Yeah of course a 20 year old dating a 17 year old is fine…we all know this isn’t what they are talking about…it’s disgusting people trying to justify someone old enough to be their parent or grandparent…

            Maryland has a system in place to protect teenagers…the age of consent is 16 (which if you’re over 21, shame on you) but there’s a 4 year sliding clause, so for example if your 17, a pissed parent cannot charge you for having relations with their 14 year old, if all was on the up and up.

            I’m in my 40s and anyone under 30 is too young.

        • Cruel@programming.dev
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          4 days ago

          Being sexually attracted to 17 year old females makes someone a reprehensible creep?

          Most straight men probably fit into that.

  • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    She has a 14 year old daughter

    If you tell someone not to fuck kids and their response is “actually 15 year olds aren’t kids” then that person is a pedo.

    • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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      4 days ago

      This talking point is very popular among the right wing libertarian guys who are so offputting they cannot date their peers.

      It’s also popular among Christian fascist theocrats who want to be able to date and marry children.

    • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      It is spreading for a reason though. There certainly is a difference between raping an 8 year old and a 16 year old. And medically it is defined as “sexual interest in prepubescent children.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19327034/ People have started slinging the term even at guys dating 20 something year old women just because they are 50 or 60. In short, the term has been made into a dog whistle and used were it doesn’t apply because it carries more negative connotations than terms like statutory rape, sexual assualt of a minor, sex trafficking.

      Frankly, I think the term has been cheapened by this misuse. Now when people here someone is a pedo, instead of immediate revulsion, they have to ask, “what kind of pedo”. It shouldn’t be that way. All of the phrases should be bad enough that we don’t need to exaggerate. So it is more the acceptance that statutory rape is ok that is the source of the problem.

      That said, the motives for this talking head to say what she said are purely political. Her words aren’t worth spit.

      • Zetta@mander.xyz
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        4 days ago

        The biggest tragedy about everyone on the left using pedophile as a dog whistle is that it actually directly harms children in my opinion. Pedophelia is a mental disorder, and just because someone is a pedophile doesn’t mean they have ever or will ever harm a child or anyone else for that matter.

        The problem with everybody using the word pedo and creating such a hateful and negative reaction to that word instead of the more proper term of child sex offender or child rapist, is it directly results in pedophiles who want to get mental health help to ensure they never hurt a child, never will and they will just keep it quiet because their entire life will be destroyed if they try to get professional help.

        Of course, everybody is always responsible for their actions, but all of you using the word pedo in such a negative and catch-all way directly results in children being harmed.

        You all need to use better terminology, like rapist or child sex abuser, not using a real DSM-5 mental disorder to vilify.

        I won’t compare it directly to any other mental disorders because I will get a significant amount of hate, but imagine picking any other DSM-5 disorder and using it as a catch-all to vilify, it would be unpopular.

  • varjen@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    If you use the definition of hebephilia or ephebophilia as an argument about anything I’m going to think of you as a pedophile.

  • TipRing@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    It is so predictable that conservatives would end up in “Pedophilia isn’t that bad” once it became undeniable that Great Leader raped little girls.

    • droopy4096@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      funny that QAnon stuff circled around Dems having pedo-leanings and that was an OUTRAGE yet now it turns out to be OK, Humane even… wtf? Their morals exist only to stick it to anyone opposing them and they evaporate the second one of their own is caught doing exact thing

      • ameancow@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Q-anon was never about children.

        It was always about the fantasy headline: “Uneducated Everyman Uncovers Massive, World-Altering Secrets and Becomes Huge Hero by Decoding Publicly Published Materials for Unique Connections and Number Puzzles”

        They are entirely damaged or dumb or religiously brainwashed people who are so deeply insecure about their lack of factual understanding of the world, that Q-anon became their “gateway” to some kind of real way to impact the world and be recognized for something good.

        When a family member of mine fell down this pitcher-plant of mental illness and delusion, I went deep and hard into learning everything I could about the movement and conspiracy culture. Sadly my family member could not be pulled out and was at one point arrested for trying to… abduct girls. Seriously. He rationalized that he was trying to “save” them.

        • someguy3@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I read somewhere that people like conspiracy theories because it gives them a sense that they know secret information that others don’t know.

          • ameancow@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            I wish I could say my family member was my only exposure to conspiracy derangement, but I’ve know a handful of them.

            And it’s ABSOLUTELY what you said. These are people who don’t understand things. They don’t have a grasp of scale of things, they don’t know math and numbers and don’t get how populations work and how systems work, from city infrastructure to political institutions. They get severely insecure or anxious when something comes up that makes them feel that insecurity… like almost any news story or political scandal.

            So they write their own story using magic and mysticism and ideas they pulled from grifters online basically telling children’s stories and fairy tales about flat worlds and goblins who steal children.

            Having a “secret” story makes them feel knowledgeable, like they have something they can teach others, a way to be relevant and respected. Even if it’s just by other delusional people.

            • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz
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              5 days ago

              Yep, this pretty much nails it.

              The conspiracy makes them feel a sense of importance that they can’t get in any other aspects of their lives. It is sad, these people cause real harm to those around them with these fantasy worlds they buy into.

              Telling them they are wrong, often just feeds the delusion; because you don’t know the secrete, this makes them feel more of the same, feeding the conspiracy further.

            • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              There is also a kind of reverse virtue signaling to each other about how “edgy” they are when it comes to being steeped in/buying into what they think is insider knowledge…

              For example, the ones that claim they are flat-earthers - I honestly think many of them might not really believe it, but use it as a way to play the kid skipping science class and smoking out behind the school, basically as a way to raise up their middle finger to annoy the people they think are just being schoolmarms: “you’re not going to tell ME what to believe, I did my own research!”

              The reality is, anyone they think of as a schoolmarm (“normie”) just mostly would rather ignore these asshats, and just roll our eyes at their juvenile and backward ways. Sadly, what these idiots do in large groups ends up harming everyone - e.g., not vaccinating, being terrible at reasoning skills, basic numeracy and literacy, while at the same time being able to vote for the Republicans.

              • ameancow@lemmy.world
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                5 days ago

                There is much of what you describe in these communities, and a lot of it is even simpler and sadder than that, which is people desperately scared of death and clinging to religion to provide some level of comfort.

                One of my favorite documentaries of all time is Dan Olsen’s In Search of a Flat Earth, it’s a sublime journey that starts with a beautiful and pleasant journey into measuring the humbling scope and scale of our world, and in the second act, delves deep into conspiracy theorists and their motivations.

    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      But they’re still probably gonna push to prosecute lgbtq people as pedophiles. They should at least have to pretend to be consistent.

  • PeacefulForest@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Ohh okay so now we’re going with the “they’re mature to marry once they hit puberty” thing Somalia does. I feel real bad for Megyn Kelly’s 14 year old daughter.

    What a POS