Debate Guide

Our Debate Guide summarizes arguments and counter arguments encountered online by MAPs and allies. We also refer to the related topic of youth choice within the sphere of minor-adult physical relationships. Debate Guide offers general advice and links to useful resources on these topics, including our own. Why not consider reading our introduction or getting involved in the wider wiki project?

Advice The task at hand... Contextualize your activism and choose your debate platform and approach: For old-fashioned long-form debates: Start a debate. For modern Social Media: Social Media/Trolling. Please also note: Don't be too rational. Responding to others... Logical fallacies and intergenerational sexuality - A list of important logical fallacies used in debates on minor-adult sexuality. Social constructionism - An important, underpinning theory. Misdefinitions and Rhetorical Manipulation. Arguments about attraction to minors Too many people hold conflicting beliefs about attraction to minors... Against: MAPs are invalid - The idea of "valid/invalid" sexuality is questionable. Against: Pedophiles chose their condition - Like other orientations, pedophilia is not a choice. Against: Pedophilia is unnatural - How can an unchosen sexual orientation not be part of nature? Popular anti-MAP sentiments and common human flaws go hand in hand... Self-loathing hatred - Violently anti-MAP sentiments are an example of "reaction formation". Parenthood and pedophilia - Somewhat similarly, parenthood structures perceptions of the "pedophile". Human sexuality, including attraction to minors, is mischaracterized and misunderstood... Against: Cognitive distortions - The justification for this slur against pedophiles is a fallacious, circular argument. Against: Porn is the theory, rape is its practise - Completely unfounded belief that Child Porn causes offending. Against: The violent sexual predator - Now less common argument conflating MAPs' sexual interest with "violence", "psychopathy" or "reptilian" impulses. Arguments about young people, minors, children People under the age of majority can be sexual... Against: Cognitive ability = consent - Some argue that "sex" has special properties that make it impossible for minors to give informed consent. Against: Childhood innocence - "Childhood innocence" is a highly problematic concept. Evolutionary logic - Trauma from voluntary age-gap relations makes no sense in evolutionary terms. Cyclical paternalism - Protecting minors brings about the need to protect them more. Liberty-empowerment - Empowering young people will benefit them. Anti age-gap arguments are really anti-youth arguments... Against: The kids do not want it - Legal minors (who are supposedly too stupid to consent) are suddenly required to show enthusiasm for law reforms that antis dispute, but not ones that take their rights away. Against: Teen brain - Ideas of a distinct, or inferior "teen brain" are value-laden, outdated western pseudoscience. Against: Corresponding age attraction - Questions the assumption of a unique "childhood" or "between minors" sexual orientation. Sexually repressing minors does not benefit them... Against: Online dangers - The internet is generally not a dangerous place for minors. Reverse sexualization - Popular acknowledgement of sexuality in nude photography is revealing. Turn of events - How the reporting and prosecution of sex can change the perspective of a youth. From the encyclopedia... Youth are sexually oppressed through the legal system So-called "child pornography" and its effects on minors.

Arguments about adult-minor relationships Age of Consent laws are a blunt instrument... Against: It's wrong because it's illegal - Homosexuality was once illegal. Problems with the Age of Consent - There are numerous flaws, listed on this page. Against: Legal pragmatism - It is wrongly argued that high Ages of Consent are "pragmatic". Against: There is no law that prohibits minors - Nonsensical argument claiming minors are already sexually emancipated. Myths and bad meta-ethics plague discussions of expressed adult-minor sexuality... Against: All child molesters are pedophiles - This belief is demonstrably false. Against: "Stranger danger" or "It could be anyone" - Two conflicting "expert" opinions (both unfounded, abused to incite fear). Against: If we could only save one child - Negative utilitarianism is discredited and nonsensical meta-ethics. Against: Sexualisation and objectification - Sex/physical relationships needn't be all-consuming. Against: Sexual inexperience - When is supposedly the "best time" to gain life experience? Levels of harm are exaggerated and the sources are completely misunderstood... Against: Power disparity/Stockholm Syndrome - Differences in power may lead to abuse, but how often is this actually the case? Against: Profound and lifelong scarring - These sequelae are thankfully rare. Against: Doomed from the beginning - Will adult-minor relationships really die off as the youngster grows older? Against: Recidivism is highest among child sex offenders - Demonstrably false. Other societies and species are points of interest... Nonhuman relatives - Other species' adult-juvenile sexuality. Historical nonadult-adult sex - Historical societies in which said relations were permitted. Many people also speak from direct experience... Our database of accounts - An anecdotal study, including useful infographics. Other arguments Other arguments don't relate fundamentally to attractions, minors or relationships, and instead focus on the debate itself, and its key participants... Against: Your arguments must be self-serving - Emotional, accusative and fallacious argument. Against: "As a parent" or "as a survivor" - Some wrongly argue that only parents are qualified to make judgments. Against: Religious arguments - Misquoting bible verses is an occasional anti-MAP strategy. Against: Common claims about Newgon - Various misrepresentations of this website and its users. Child abuse industry - Child sexual abuse has an "industrial complex" all of its own. The professional victim - The sexual abuse discourse perpetuates itself via well-meaning victims. State hypocrisy - Why concerns about child abuse may be disingenuous. Abuse of language - Language is misused and redefined to suit nefarious purposes. Blame game - How societies and individuals look for easy scapegoats. Debate Guide is a work in progress, and some material is undeveloped... Short arguments - A large number of smaller arguments for use in debates. From the encyclopedia... Hysterical reactions have many adverse effects Self-fulfilling prophecy - Examples from within and outside of the MAP community. SOR problems - Registries for sexual offenders are unfair and counteractive. Child pornography is much misunderstood, and is most certainly not a multibillion dollar industry (research).

Thank you for reading You may also find some other parts of the Wiki useful in debate situations. Check our research anthologies for highly citable scientific articles on this subject. Our encyclopedia contains an easy to use database of all the individuals and organizations of interest to those who follow our ethos. Our database of lived experiences lists personal testimonies intended to be used as evidence of positive relationships. Debate Guide was written by a range of authors during the years 2006-25. If you are not pleased with the quality of Debate Guide, consider getting involved. From the simplest of corrections to the most complex of new arguments, we want to hear from you, so please consider signing up for MAP Forum or a chat such as PCMA, where we may have people present.