Debate Guide: Short arguments

The following arguments are too short to command a full article. They may be discarded, added to or worked into existing articles.

• "If you at all doubt the ability of the state apparatus to produce page after page of concocted outrage, conjecture and anecdote concerning a completely harmless behavior, look no further than the 1986 Final report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, which is no less than 628 pages thick."

• "The declassification of pedophilia as a mental illness leaves less of an excuse from MAPs to "act upon" their desires. So why are the same people who fight for harsher sentences, the same people who advocate the medicalized model? What does this say about how muddled our thinking is, and how disjointed the public policy response is?"

• "In a culture where minors are treated as inferiors, beaten and told that their opinion doesn't count, maybe becoming a lover could gain them respect and some status?"

• "It is in the interests of big business to maintain the pedophile panic, in that it keeps children housebound, where they will consume food and expensive products. Notice that post 1970s, hardly any children's toys or products promote independence beyond the household."

• "If 'adult babies' and age-regressors are indeed regressing to an earlier phase to achieve sexual gratification, what does this say about our neglect of the young, and the prevalence of autopedophilia?"

• "Among those who have an interest in maintaining the status quo, the censorship of child pornography serves as a useful tool in hiding the truth as to youth enjoyment of sexual experiences"

• "Many investigations are conspicuously distorted by researcher bias. In labeling the sexual activity "abuse," "offense," "indecent assault," "molestation" or "rape"; calling the adult partner "actor," "perpetrator," "delinquent," "offender," "criminal," "abuser" or "molester," and the child "victim," authors betray the fact that they are operating upon premises which have yet to be proven." (Edward Brongersma).

• "The notion of a teenage boy being "emotionally scarred", "manipulated", or having his "innocence" robbed by a man, is just as harmful and contrary to reality as the old homophobic stereotypes. We switched from fearing and pathologizing sissified males to creating them at the expense of traditional notions of masculine resilience." Another version: "Why talk down Toxic Masculinity? It seems to be the only thing protecting boys from the perception that they were abused by the molester badman."

• "If the supposed power imbalance means that every adult who is having sex with a minor is behaving in a predatory or exploitative way, I seriously fear for the majority of adults, involved in any form of sexual relationship. I can imagine many an evil occasion, based upon adult couples I know."