Normal?

[PorcelainLark]

It isn't obvious that a person should think pedophilia is a mental illness. Other abnormal behavior like left-handedness can be explained without reference to the mind. Just because something is abnormal that doesn't mean it's the product of trauma. So, I'd say it's neither normal nor a mental illness. In any case, it's not something I'm ashamed of.

[Outis]

It's no an illness.

It reminds me of when they tried to build a fighter plane cockpit for an average pilot. They collected measurements from serving pilots and built a cockpit for the averages and found no pilot would fit, so after that they made cockpits adjustable.

To me, people are like that mentally and physically, there is no one in the middle although society strives towards that. People are all shapes, sizes, sexualities with different interests and tastes. Being a pedophile is different to being attracted to people in their 20's or 50's or same sex or an ethnicity, but it's just as normal.

[Kara32]

I would say from what I read here and my recent experiences with my brother, that you are all normal. Is normal the same as natural. If something is from nature, its natures way, then it is normal. You just have to take all the things everyone learns out of the equation, such as 'the church' 'peer pressue' 'education ' Nature is normal 100%. As a non MAP but I hope an ally, hope that makes sense. One thing I learnt today, that didnt know or think about before is the spectrum of attraction and love we all have. Within your community you love different things on different levels. So the MAPs community is just like any other. Gay people dont just like one type of man or woman, same with trans people or straight people. We all attracted to different things. There are younger who love older and older that love younger. There ones that love different races or the same age. Too many that live themselves. Guess what it is called the human race. Although it is the same in most species, it just us humans have developed so much, we have learnt to beat ourselves up over what is both normal and natural. I love what joanne7315 says, in that they happy and normal in all respects. As a compassionate human (or learning to be one), I definitely agree. Your community just need to convince more non maps like me, but I hope that can be done. Firstly you have to stop worrying if your normal, which you are. As unfortunately do think it a long fight.

[PorcelainLark]

I would say from what I read here and my recent experiences with my brother, that you are all normal. Is normal the same as natural. If something is from nature, its natures way, then it is normal. You just have to take all the things everyone learns out of the equation, such as 'the church' 'peer pressue' 'education ' Nature is normal 100%. As a non MAP but I hope an ally, hope that makes sense. One thing I learnt today, that didnt know or think about before is the spectrum of attraction and love we all have. Within your community you love different things on different levels. So the MAPs community is just like any other. Gay people dont just like one type of man or woman, same with trans people or straight people. We all attracted to different things. There are younger who love older and older that love younger. There ones that love different races or the same age. Too many that live themselves. Guess what it is called the human race. Although it is the same in most species, it just us humans have developed so much, we have learnt to beat ourselves up over what is both normal and natural. I love what joanne7315 says, in that they happy and normal in all respects. As a compassionate human (or learning to be one), I definitely agree. Your community just need to convince more non maps like me, but I hope that can be done. Firstly you have to stop worrying if your normal, which you are. As unfortunately do think it a long fight.

Thank you for your support. I think I agree I with the spirit of what you've said, but I have a caveat that I don't think "abnormal" should be taken to mean "unnatural". Plenty of things like albinism and heterochromia are abnormal, but that doesn't mean they're a product of human choices. The unfamiliar can be natural; I think a lot of problems come from limiting what's natural to what's already familiar and unthinkingly putting the strange into the category of unnatural.

[gedjarvis]

I consider myself to be normal. I am a paedophile and proud. I suspect that there are many more secret paedophiles who will abuse their fellow paedophiles to protect themselves

[hdlss1]

I'm not a believer in the concept of "sexual orientation" as it's now commonly understood. I believe it's a natural extension of the neotenous preferences most people already have. It just needs the right context to manifest as it has in the past.

[NotTrueToMyself]

I am a non-exclusive MAP…I’m on my second marriage. I do it because it’s what society expects. I’ve never looked at either of my wives and wanted to rip off their clothes and screw the hell out of them. I could even learn to love a guy, if he was a fem but older.

But I’ve never felt anything like the animal attraction that I have to young boys (8/9-12/13). It’s not just sexual, I want to hug and hold and cuddle them, protect them. I want to fall asleep with them at night and wake up with them in my arms..Eric Murphey’s characters in like Void in my Heart really resonate with me.

I didn’t ask to be like this…I realized when I was 14 that the age of who I was attracted to stayed younger. I didn’t want to live a life of fear and being someone I’m not.

I didn’t ask to cry myself to sleep at nights, longing for a love that made me call myself a monster.

It’s normal and natural and it’s taken me nearly 40 years to figure it out. But unfortunately, I don’t think I will ever find a YF to give my heart to. Society sucks balls. I’m not fucking evil because I want love!