Pederasty
Peter Herman of the North American Man/Boy Love Association states "In aping the heterosexual lifestyle ("We're just like everybody else except for our choice of partners.") much of the gay leadership has cast overboard those they felt to be a liability. They would also disown, were they alive today, the likes of Allan Ginsberg, Oscar Wilde, Socrates and many other such luminaries and icons of civilization. Even if we do not agree with the assimilationist aspirations of those seeking gay marriages, we can admire the steadfastness of those who struggled to achieve their goal. Were they only to grant the same tolerance for the love that does dare to speak its name, the same love celebrated in the art and poetry of many cultures, the love between man and boy that was once synonymous with forbidden homosexuality."
Pederasty is a historical term that refers to a relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy, often involving sexual or romantic aspects. It has been documented in various cultures throughout history, notably ancient Greece, where it was a socially accepted practice. Relationships between adult men and adolescent boys or young men were the most commonly attested same-sex relationships in the ancient world.
Ancient Greece featured at least five different varieties of same-sex relations: (a) pederastic relations, typically between adolescent boys and adult men who were not yet married; (b) relations between male youths of approximately the same age; less frequently (c) homosexual relations between fully adult men; (d) age-differentiated relations between females; and (e) relations between adult females. The standard terminology in Greek for talking about these relationships—the older man was the erastes (lover) and the younger man the eromenos (beloved).
The origins of pederasty appear to be related to the relatively late age of marriage for males, which evolved as a response to needs to limit population growth in the scarcity-driven economy of the 7th century BCE. The contexts of pederastic socialization (athletics, military comradeship, hunting, cockfighting, and intellectual/musical performance at elite symposia) point toward masculinizing pedagogy and mentorship as key social functions.
As Athens became more democratic and saw greater distribution of prosperity throughout all social classes, the age of male marriage declined; larger families became socially desirable, while non-procreative alternatives to marital sexuality became less fashionable and even morally dubious. What had always been characterized as an elite habitus during the archaic period and first half of the 5th century no longer seemed at home in a political system where appeal to the common man defined success and popularity. Some philosophical texts from the 4th century BCE characterize physical sex between males as para physin (“beyond nature”), whereas others recognize the possibility that it is determined through natural processes grounded in anatomy or spiritual heredity.
Modern jurisprudence, especially in the United States, assumes a universal inability to provide informed consent until well after the onset of puberty, and even voluntary relations between adolescent boys and men are heavily sanctioned in the criminal justice system. Although classical Athens featured a robust tradition of criticizing pederasty for a number of reasons, the notion that pre-adult sex with an older partner was psychologically harmful to boys was not among them. The Greeks viewed adolescent (and even younger) boys as inherently sexual.
It's important to note that the concept of pederasty is highly controversial and widely condemned today, as it involves a significant power imbalance and raises ethical concerns regarding consent and the well-being of minors. Laws and societal norms have evolved to protect children and adolescents from exploitation and abuse.
In modern times, engaging in any form of sexual activity with a minor is considered illegal in most jurisdictions. Laws vary by country, but the age of consent is typically set above the age of adolescence to safeguard young individuals from potential harm and exploitation.
In 2018, news websites such as The Daily Caller and LifeSite News claimed that pedophiles were attempting to be included in the LGBTQ community, while on the online forum 4chan, a user looking for “images that prove LGBT community is advocating for pedophilia,” was given the flag as a reference.
The concept of Minor-Attracted Persons (MAPs), which is perceived by some as part of the attempt to normalize pedophilia, is an umbrella term used by organizations such as B4U-ACT or The Global Prevention Project, an organization that addresses “risky sexual thoughts, fantasies, and non-contact problematic sexual behavior in adult men and women,” in order to prevent child sexual abuse, as well as some researchers, to define a variety of people attracted to minors.
The primary public school in England were the nurse of statesmen. In Imperial England "public schools" were private boarding schools and not day schools. Only a very small a fraction of the population was educated in the schools which are described-rather quaintly as "Public". The informal alliance between the public schools and Oxford and Cambridge served to preserve a corner of higher education, preponderatingly, though not, of course, exclusively, for the relatively well-to-do.
The 1972 movie "The Ruling Class" stars Peter O'Toole as Jack 14th Earl of Gurney, assisted by the creme de la creme of British character actors. The first hour or so is devoted to a peckish examination of British peculiarities, taking a sledgehammer to the concept of patronage and privilege as a criteria for governance and influence - being forced to conform to the ritualistic practices of upper class British society produces a monster.
- He can't forget being rejected by his mother and father at the age of 11. They sent him away, alone... into a primitive community of licensed bullies and pederasts. - You mean he went to public school? - Exactly.
This is one of the most original, thought-provoking and honest critiques of the British class system ever to be put on film.
Only one other people besides the Spartans insisted on subjectining their male childrend to a brutal form of education. It was assumed that fear and nervousness can be cured by violence, and that knocking about will turn a timid boy into a bold one. Any system which takes boys away from home life at the age of nine and deprives them of the company of their father and mother, and especially of their sisters, is bad and "unnatural", and can only produce "unnatural" results. Fagging was a traditional practice in British public schools and also at many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the eldest boys. In some situations, fagging could either encourage or conceal sexual activity between students.
The three great subjects of Beating, Bullying, and Buggery (the junior or cadet equivalent of Winston Churchills naval tryptych of “Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash”) were familiar enough at those Spartan schools where the empire, the church, the cricket field, the war memorial, and the monarchy were sovereign. The unstated excuse was that this was what one did until the so-far unattainable girls became available. This was a time when all homosexual conduct was illegal in the rest of society.
Public schools were the creation of an accident: England happened to have a small wealthy society to rile as the government of England was constituted, and the boys were sent to be trained for public life, as they were later trained to be athletes and soldiers. This system, was of great social and political influence: and England will always be grateful to her public schools. But circumstances have altered and their day has passed.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
