Archive Home Page Subj: Re:Nambla 94-10-06 22:50:17 EDT
From: Joe Uhrig
A few additions to my last post.
I would encourage folks to do their own research into this area as there are contradictions in the studies and numbers. I'm pretty much quoting my conclusions from memory though I'm pretty sure they aren't way off.
Expanding on the reasons for a tendency to under-report male abuse. There are the obvious homophobic reasons which keep the kid from telling anyone ESPECIALLY their parents, and even if they did might hold the parents back from taking any kind of action (like counseling as the kid almost always believes they are somehow to blame). The is more likelyhood of official reporting with young women because of the possibility of pregnency though AIDS has added a new twist to this and I don't know if it's changed the official statistics. Young males abused by older women are taught to romanticize their experience or chalk it up as that first notch on their belt. There are a number of mainstream movies that openly encourage this view. "Well son, you're a MAN now" ;) This social attitude also discourages reporting.
This whole issue gets stickier with older teens, though some of the interaction I've had with some of the gay teens here online suggests that many of them don't have a very high opinion of being the fresh young meat on the market. Sweet 16 is of course the battle cry of many heterosexual abusers and these attitudes are deeply ingrained in our culture. It wasn't all that long ago that the Church officially sanctioned the "giving away" of 12-14 year old girls to older men as wives. Children are still seen by and large as property.
I havn't taken the time to read official NAMBLA positions (no interest in rhetorical cover for these issues), however what I've heard occasionally points to some legitimate concerns. It is a shame that we are taught when we are children to be ashamed of our bodies and sex. "Don't touch that, it's nasty". Society enhances the shame felt by the children over sexual issues. Things rise. They just do. It's all very natural.
Perhaps stripped of the underlying power issues forced into sex by the initial conditions of evolution there might be a general easing of this shame shared by both gay and straight people. (If anyone doesn't think God has a sense of humor, consider the symbolism of the human reproductive act, a bunch of sperm competing with each other to conquer the single planet).
It's also entirely possible that a young person wasn't harmed by a sexual act by an older person, but given that these issues are almost always driven by cycles and generations of abuse, it is probably extremely rare. There is no shortage of sexual partners in this world and my own very strong opinion is that we should leave kids alone to find their own way. Err on the side of fundamental respect. Maybe the presence of NAMBLA within our community is a sign that we have been called upon, as we have been for so many other things, to help find the solution to the abuse of children which is primarily a heterosexual issue of violence and exploitation.
Anyways, that's MY view on this.