Correspondence

...silence or denial regarding sexual orientation abandons youth who need our help and guidance...

...I was a child protection social worker and can tell you the devastation in young lives continues on into adulthood when boys are not protected and their trauma is not considered...

...We are parents, family members, and friends of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth...

...Yet now I am told that the glorification of the idea of sex between persons below the age of consent and persons above the age of consent is unique to homosexuals...

...JOHN P. BLADEL Fairfax, VA MARY EBERSTADT RESPONDS: My gratitude to all the readers who have thanked me for this essay, whether publicly or privately...

...In past generations, youth who were gay had no avenues to learn about their sexuality until they were old enough to move to urban areas that had some gay culture...

...KATHRYN FOURNIER Vancouver, BC Mary Eberstadt sells her original theory on pedophilia short...

...Now children can get on the Internet and are vulnerable to those within the gay community that would victimize their youth...

...But enough of these double standards, proof of which could continue ad nauseam...

...It had been pressed earlier with respect to contraception and abortion, by the supreme Court itself...

...As someone said in another context: It was about lying, not sex...

...And what does it say about Eberstadt's motives that there is almost no mention of heterosexual pedophilia in her piece, a phenomenon which dwarves in scope and danger that posed by homosexual pedophiles...

...Thank God every pendulum eventually swings back, no matter how many ads currently festoon the latest issue of Joey...

...It is ironic, but sad, that Eberstadt drives home my point by distorting my own column in order to denounce it as "anti-anti-pedophilia...

...Anyone wondering about whose interpretation better fits the facts should simply read the Psychological Bulletin piece (July 1998) in its entirety and decide which is worse: normalizing pedophilia or protesting that normalization...

...CHRISTOPHER WOLFE Milwaukee, WI Mary Eberstadt says that, "Like the authors of the piece itself," I "advocated" and "echoed" the conclusions of a controversial 1998 study of after-effects of child sexual abuse...

...My article did indeed criticize some of the prominent attacks on the 1998 study, but it took issue with their veracity, not their point of view...

...One has only to turn on any talk show these days to see topics like "I'm 12 and I want to have a baby," "I slept with my mother's boyfriend," and on and on...

...The breakdown of the distinction between adults and minors did not begin with homosexual sex...

...As for the essay's critics, several have inadvertently demonstrated something it described...

...According to that view, the problem is less sex with minors than the people who declare themselves against it...

...To the extent that a number of people in the public square no longer have such gut reactions—and as some letters fairly reflect, it is a significant extent—more evidence is adduced for the claim that the taboo against pedophilia is eroding...

...Yes, what Britney Spears represents is deplorable (even if she is of legal age), and what Brooke Shields represented in yesteryear's Calvin Klein ad campaign is deplorable, and for that matter hoary old Lolita (described in my piece as an "antinomian and arguably malignant exercise") remains deplorable too...

...Thanks for the excellent work...

...Child abuse is always and everywhere an evil of extraordinary gravity, whether committed by heterosexuals or homosexuals...

...What we are seeing is the inevitable result of a culture that continues to deny that homosexuality is innate and fails to deal with it openly and honestly...

...Rauch says, here as in the column he wrote about it, that such condemnation is worse than the article itself...

...Writers are reflecting what actually happens in such an underground culture, including some of their own experiences in their work...

...All that remains, perhaps, is the effort to nail down a new age-of-majority-for-sex (14...

...Browse the shelves of any major chain bookstore...

...Many, in fact, hold the view that Berkeley sociologist Kristin Luker described in Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood: "Pro-choice people . . . have no basic objection to sexual activity among young people if they are 'responsible,' that is, if they do not take the risk of becoming parents...

...I would protest the author's choice to use the term "chic" in her articles because its very use trivializes a very serious subject...

...He too responded to the controversy over "Meta-Analyt-ic" not by condemning this pro-pedophile piece of advocacy, but rather by impugning its critics...

...Just recently, writer Wendy Kaminer penned a classic example for American Prospect magazine called, casually enough, "speaking of Man-Boy Love...

...sullivan's declaration here that "child abuse is always and everywhere an evil of extraordinary gravity" is a particularly gratifying clarification...

...It is manifestly not acceptable to advocate about girls what is advocated "with some regularity," as I wrote and documented, about boys...

...Anyone still pondering the essay's larger thesis might consider this...

...Kathryn Fournier's letter, for its part, reminds all of us that the public deterioration of this taboo is not just a scholastic point to be debated, but a social change with devastating consequences for real-life children and their families...

...obviously, he and I differ in our interpretations of the notorious 1998 study, "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples...

...CAROLYN WAGNER Fayetteville, AR I do not believe and have never argued that child abuse is a lesser problem than "the people who declare themselves against it," as Mary Eberstadt claims...

...Female children are sold into child prostitution rings for the gratification of adult males worldwide...

...Eberstadt then enters my article into evidence that "a separate option—call it anti-anti-pedophilia—appears to have taken root...

...You either viscerally reject the thought that such a man is "kindly," or you don't...

...Yes, the coarsening of public and popular life—which includes the sexu-alization of all children—proceeds apace...

...WENDY WARTES Woodinville, WA Mary Eberstadt's recent article has left me somewhat confused...

...And in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the supreme Court reaffirmed earlier holdings that minors who seek an abortion can be required to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian, if and only if there exists a judicial bypass procedure whereby "mature minors" may evade that requirement...

...I was further under the impression that Brooke shields, who notoriously stated that nothing came between her and her Calvins, was a girl...

...This is the phenomenon of "anti-anti-pedophilia"—meaning that, instead of addressing the argument itself (i.e., that pedophilia is being normalized), they have resorted instead to attacking the messenger...

...To the extent that my essay makes any writers more emphatic about drawing such lines, it is all to the good...

...Because pro-choice people view the goal of sex as being the creation of intimacy, caring, and trust, they also believe that people need to practice those skills before making a long-term commitment to someone...

...Indeed: The niche which boy pedophilia has acquired in mainstream gay fiction and journalism is without parallel anywhere else in the cultural uni-verse—and as I observed, gay activists who abhor that association should lead the charge against it...

...As for Andrew Sullivan, his ire is misspent...

...The openness of adult-child sex is not predominately within the gay community...

...At the same time, however—and this is a crucial point—heterosexual pedophilia, unlike homosexual pedophilia, is not enjoying the support, tacit and otherwise, of any parts of any organized movement...

...GLBT youth can realize their sexual orientation without engaging in sex...

...Even a very cursory reading of my August 7, 1999, National Journal column makes it immediately obvious to the honest reader that I was summarizing and quoting from the study, not "advocating" or (in Eberstadt's sense) "echoing" it...

...The Court was (as usual) simply reflecting elite opinion, which holds that young people who are not yet adults, with the privileges and responsibilities of that status, must nonetheless be expected to engage in sex and be "protected" from its consequences...

...Its subject is a wretched one, and those who have had the fortitude to read through the piece and to reflect on it deserve more than the usual authorial commendation...

...Reputable works that glorify—not depict, but glorify—the sexual molestation of girls, or question the age of consent laws for girls, are few and far between...

...It is unworthy of a serious publication to smear those of us as pro-pedophile who found some small solace in the fact that a survey found that boys were less traumatized by infantile or pubescent sexual abuse from adults than girls...

...8), in which she describes the frank acceptance of sex with minors by certain homosexual activists and scholars, and the reluctance of leaders of the homosexual rights movement to condemn it...

...If there is a single substantive concern that these critics share, it appears to be this: Why didn't the essay give more attention to heterosexual pedophilia...

...In its 1977 case Carey v. Population Services International, the Supreme Court held that a New York statute forbidding the sale or distribution of contraceptives to minors under the age of 16 was unconstitutional...

...since only homosexuals engage in pedophilia, I suppose I must be wrong: Lolita, Jon Benet, and that young Brooke were all, somehow, glorifying 'man-boy' sex...

...The real story here is the criminalization of masculine virtues, heterosexuality first and foremost...

...Jonathan Rauch shies away from any real discussion, instead criticizing my characterization of his prose...

...ANDREW SULLIVAN Washington, DC “‘PEDOPHILIA CHIC’ RECONSIDERED” is upsetting in its inferences that it is primarily homosexuals who are promoting child sex...

...This, too, is clear from even a cursory reading...

...I did not "smear" or "demo-nize" him: I quoted him, which is something different...

...WILLIAM MOSCHKE Chicago, IL In an otherwise hard-headed article, it's unfortunate that Mary Eberstadt has failed to connect the glaringly obvious dots between the non-stop assault on traditional depictions of masculinity and the rising tide of pedophile-acceptance...

...Wolfe— comfort that very quickly (and on both sides, very willingly), turns to sex...

...But our society surrounds heterosexual children with support through role modeling, appropriate activities to explore dating, and parents and churches that teach values and morals for heterosexuals...

...If straight 12-year-olds had no such support but were forced to hide their orientation from friends, parents, and other adults and could only turn to cyberspace for contacts, we would see a similar rise in the incidents of children seeking affirmation and support from adults, some of whom would cross the line of appropriate behavior...

...Put that reality together with another one—that no response, public or private, has challenged a single statement of fact in a 7,000 word piece that relayed hundreds of them—and the meaning of it all is plain, and exceedingly sad...

...It is even more prevalent than homosexual and much more accepted...

...Having read that article, I called it an attempt to justify child molestation that deserved to be publicly condemned...

...Dorothy Allison's book Bastard out of Carolina, now a movie, and Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive are about heterosexual child/adult sex...

...It's similarly no surprise that man-girl sex is, if anything, more verboten than at any other time, while the man-boy variety is coming alarmingly close to being defined as liberating and transcendent...

...I was also under the impression that Jon Benet Ramsey, and the others against whom she competed were young girls, dressed and made up in a manner more appropriate to women...

...The need for such protection—contraception and, inevitably, abortion as a fallback— trumps effective social pressure to discourage sex...

...Could it be that The Weekly Standard's sole motive in publishing such a piece is not to condemn or oppose pedophilia but to continue the campaign to demonize gay men and women, their families, and their children...

...I was heretofore under the impression that the title character in the book Lolita was a girl...

...so, if one combines this benign view of youth sex with ideological commitment to equality for homosexuality, how is it possible to hold the line against homosexual sex with minors...

...This question is an attempt to dodge exactly what my essay de-scribed—namely, the unprecedented, and also unparalleled, legitimation of boy pedophilia...

...Eberstadt should appreciate the work of organizations like PFLAG and others to ensure the safety and well-being of GLBT youth instead of making unfounded assumptions...

...The only antidote to these developments is a recognition of the profound seriousness of sex and its essential connection to marriage...

...I hope that the author writes a similar piece on heterosexual pedophilia...

...one point that might be added to her analysis is a source of this development...

...LOU MANZATO New Orleans, LA Mary Eberstadt's article was exceptionally good...

...Our straight children would be just as vulnerable if they had no help in dealing with their sexual orientation...

...JONATHAN RAUCH Washington, DC AS THE MOTHER of a gay teen and a national vice president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), I was troubled to read Mary Eberstadt's implication that PFLAG is associated in any way with the sexual exploitation of youth...

...Such is the trend of the day...

...While the movement to destigmatize child abuse can't be blamed on any disembodied force called "nihilism" or "relativism," there can't be any doubt that the individuals behind pedophilia chic are guilty of the soft relativism of muddled thinking...

...The idea of an adult male having sex with a 9-year-old either horrifies you, or it doesn't...

...Rather, it is to underline something my essay documented in detail: that some advocates of boy-child molestation are riding on the coattails of the gay rights movement's success, and that some leaders in the movement, for reasons I also described, have failed to discourage that parasitism...

...In my column (available online at www.reason.com/rauch/99_08j07.html), I roundly criticize those who distorted the 1998 study in order to denounce it as pro-pedophilia...

...These decisions breached the wall between adult and minor, and there are strong forces fighting any attempts to repair the breach...

...Your priorities seem to be out of order...

...The week after "'Pedophilia Chic' Revisited" appeared, a writer for the New York Times Book Review penned these words about the novel before him: "Lost in his new environment and shunned by the other boys, the 9-year-old James turns for comfort to a kindly, handsome teacher named Mr...

...To observe as much is hardly to call sullivan pro-pedophile, and I did not...

...But there are plenty of such works about boys on the gay studies shelf, as none of my critics deny...

...Does anyone really believe that the same magazine would have licensed any writer to weigh the pros and cons of men having sex with little girls...

...Well, there it is...

...I am especially appreciative of Christopher Wolfe's thoughtful letter, which makes an important point about the extrinsic causes of today's diminution of the pedophilia taboo...

...I saw the latter, about an uncle grooming his young niece for sex, performed on a community college campus...

...I find it particularly disturbing that, in a country where most abused children are victimized by heterosexuals known to the child, the author and the editors of The Weekly Standard thought it appropriate to dwell upon homosexual pedophilia...

...Only then can they make safe and responsible choices regarding their sexuality...

...If that isn't staring into the abyss, I don't know what is...

...She has no evidence for this claim and should withdraw it...

...Nor can there be any question that this same double standard, according to which the molestation of boy children is to be treated differently from the molestation of girl children, is now popping up not just in gay fiction and non-fiction, but all over the mainstream...

...Even so-called "conservatives" constantly succumb to temptation and gutlessly compromise, taking us down the slippery slope one concession at a time...

...Both the gay media and the religious Right tell these children that to be gay is to be sexually promiscuous...

...The argument stands uncor-rected...

...Like many parents, I hope my gay son waits until he is in a mature, loving, and committed relationship before engaging in sexual activity...

...PFLAG provides accurate information regarding sexual orientation and gender identity to GLBT youth in ways that are healthy and affirming...