MAP Forum

OnionPetal wrote: Tue Feb 10, 2026 8:56 pm I think it's culturally taught, because I remember a pretty clear societal shift in the mid 2000s coinciding with key media broadcasts that sent society off the rails into complete paedo-hysteria. Namely, the 2003 Michael Jackson documentary, and the entrapment-for-entertainment 'news' series 'To Catch A Predator,' which normalized thinking of MAPs as 'predators.' MAPs became the scapegoat that everyone was allowed to hate.

Contrasted with the preceding era of the 1990s-early 2000s, the cultural tone was totally different. It had been fairly common to see mainstream Hollywood films with (non-sexual) child nudity, family naturist documentaries were openly sold on Amazon, and non-nude model sites celebrated the beauty of young girls. Nobody you knew had a big problem with this until Chris Hansen and other mainstream media actors tried to scare everyone with their pervasive propaganda campaign.

Other MAPs will cite the Satanic Panic of the 1980s as a turning point in cultural attitudes around paedophilia. Now acknowledged as a hoax, the Satanic Panic was a media-fueled hysteria involving absurdly false accusations of Satanic Ritual Abuse in preschools. Although the accusations are now thoroughly discredited, the sensational media coverage was responsible for a widespread paranoia in and following that era. Again, contrast this with the previous decade, when in the 1970s, nude depictions of children were fairly common and uncontroversial. Media propaganda seems to be the key in inspiring such strong prejudices. And that would suggest primarily a cultural origin.

Hot take: MAPs are more protective of children than normies are.

I agree some of us are more protective to children, after all I would not brainwash children with far right propagand and us vs. them thinking against people who are different.

I already mentioned the Satanic Panic on another website months ago to defend my instinctual theory. Let me paste vetabrim what I wrote 3 months ago

"Conspiracy theories like QANON of today and the McMartin Preschool trials of the 1980s have the theme of "Satanic demon worshipping elite pedophiles" I argue that these fears of pedos being "demonic" and evil are directly tied to the parental instinct and I cite facts.

The 1980s McMartin preschool trials went on for 7 years and cost 15 million USD all for nothing with zero evidence or convinctions but plently of moral outrage and moral panic but no evidence of any sexual contact or abuse.

The QANON conspiracy that satanic pedophiles control the US Government has destroyed 1000s of lives, isolated families, and resulted in the white house capital insurrection and a gun men who walked into a pizza shop to save the world from satanic pedos. One and Five Americans believe in in Q Anon.
"
- end quote

My point was media and culture are the top layer of anti pedo hysteria the layer beneath is naturalistic forces at play. These conspiracies are fueld by the same neurocircuits wild animals have to protect their babies from being eaten by literal predatory animals.

You don't have to answer these questions but just think...

Why do you think they consider us sadist satan worshipping child eaters?

Why do you think pedophiles are called PREADTORS?

Why do you think laws forbid sex offenders from going outside at night? (wild animals hunt at night)

Why do you think NCMEC's original slogal that they now reject "STRANGER DANGER" was so popular with the public?
(wild animals randomly abduct their prey)

Why do you think they respond with visceral outrage, disgust and fear?

its all just an instinct. we must stop treating it like it is 100% a cultural issue, we hit the point where we must think below culture and educate the public on the psychology and naturalism. The history of science is the naturalist explanation succeeding the bloated and religious ones, and now science is going to sheed light on pedophilia and show parental instincts are a false alarm.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm "[...] I argue that these fears of pedos being "demonic" and evil are directly tied to the parental instinct and I cite facts. [...]
"

Of course, there certainly may be some 'parental instinct' involved. But even if you are not a parent, it's scary, because that's a freaking horrifying story. Even a child would be scared to hear that story. People are not afraid of MAPs because they are actually 'demonic.' They are afraid of MAPs because the mainstream media has FALSELY portrayed them as such. If not for the mainstream media's lies, this instinct to protect against 'demonic' paedophile cults would not be so misaligned with reality.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm My point was media and culture are the top layer of anti pedo hysteria the layer beneath is naturalistic forces at play. These conspiracies are fueld by the same neurocircuits wild animals have to protect their babies from being eaten by literal predatory animals.

Yeah, there are layers of it. And the mainstream media definitely knows how to play to people's instinctual fears.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm You don't have to answer these questions but just think...

I'm happy to answer these questions.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm Why do you think they consider us sadist satan worshipping child eaters?

Because the mainstream media perpetuated that absurdity. Clearly the public are not afraid of who we really are. They are afraid of a straw man, constructed out of propaganda and lies. If they actually knew any MAPs - like their sons or brothers or nephews - then then would understand better that we are not these 'cartoon villains.'

But biased media producers do not want viewers to understand who we really are. Hence the scary background music and jittery black-and-white horror movie-style footage every time MAPs are referenced. Pay attention to those peripheral cues added in - they are deliberate to manipulate viewers' emotions.

And on the other end of the spectrum, if sitcoms and reality series started introducing the 'goofy paedo character,' like they started doing with gay characters in the 2000s, then viewers would probably feel less threatened by the concept of MAPs. Media representations and portrayals matter.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm Why do you think pedophiles are called PREADTORS?

Because of Chris Hansen's wildly popular TV show 'To Catch a Predator,' which premiered in 2004 and had a devastating effect on social attitudes towards MAPs. The term 'predator' was used to dehumanise MAPs as 'animalistic predators,' and to inspire fear. Yes, the producers knew that people have an instinctual fear of 'predators.' That's why they went with this word. Prior to this show, MAPs were not referred to as 'predators' by default.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm Why do you think laws forbid sex offenders from going outside at night? (wild animals hunt at night)

I had no idea this was a thing. But it seems pretty dumb considering that most young kids are at home and in bed after dark.

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm Why do you think NCMEC's original slogal that they now reject "STRANGER DANGER" was so popular with the public?
(wild animals randomly abduct their prey)

It plays into instinctual fears of the foreign and unknown. Often in a very similar way that xenophobia works. Compare this with some people's fear of immigrants, after consuming certain media which constantly airs the worst crimes, cherry-picked from a tiny subset of statistical outliers, to portray immigrants as 'dangerous.' The manipulative media is deliberately playing into people's instinctual fears about people from outside groups.

So I acknowledge an 'instinctual' component at play, but those fears are rekindled by people telling scary stories (i.e., the media), with intent to manipulate public perception. Any analysis of the 'Stranger Danger' slogan is incomplete without acknowledging the role of media coverage in 'contributing to a moral panic that influenced public perception.'*
*Quote source: AI answering a prompt about the history of the term 'stranger danger'

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm Why do you think they respond with visceral outrage, disgust and fear?

Who, media viewers? Because they are shown things that are viscerally outrageous, disgusting, and fearsome. Because a false stereotype is being deliberately crafted and perpetuated by the mainstream media.

And if they did this to any other demographic, people would say that the media is perpetuating harmful stereotypes about a marginalised group. But somehow we're not supposed to notice the devastating effects of their stereotypes on our own group??

zarkle wrote: Wed Feb 11, 2026 2:24 pm we must stop treating it like it is 100% a cultural issue, we hit the point where we must think below culture and educate the public on the psychology and naturalism. The history of science is the naturalist explanation succeeding the bloated and religious ones, and now science is going to sheed light on pedophilia and show parental instincts are a false alarm.

Ok, this is an interesting point, highlighting the need for an integrated approach. But I would put a big focus on the need for understanding who MAPs really are. Because the media has been giving an emotionally manipulative, false stereotype of MAPs that has inspired actual PANICS, akin to a witch hunt hysteria. If people are given a chance to better understand average MAPs, without the scary music, they might come closer to the truth: That in general, MAPs are actually the group least likely to harm a child.