dholliday
deconstructed rep
@dholliday @The binman chronicles should we be equating acceptance with normalising though? If they're not doing harm can we not accept them as they are?
Acceptance is normalising, eventually.
Homosexuality is an example of how mainstream acceptance of a certain sexual behaviour leads to normalising, so is sex-before-marriage. These behaviours however aren't paraphilic, they are natural acts between consenting adults = not conceivably doing any harm presuming good caution is made etc. The normalising of these acts is a sign of a progressive liberal society.
Another sign of such a society is not accepting clinically-paraphilic behaviour as something being ok, while holding out a supportive, if fairly-judgemental, hand for those who want help.
Tho' even today it's little understood: paraphilic behaviour isn't generally something that's considered harmless in the field of mental health, and if encouraged to grow may complicate already-delicate mental inbalances in the afflicted, as well as potential inbalances in society. A biblical, if barely historical, example is Sodom and Gomorrah: some studies suggest it was a widespread acceptance of paraphilic acts (rather than homosexuality or promiscuity) which led the cities to their infamous downfall.
My position is that even the most liberal care-free societies have to set moral limits to retain a universal sense of healthy humanity, even if certain acts are seemingly victimless. That doesn't mean to criminalise victimless paraphilic acts, but it does mean to maintain a hearty disapproval of such things.
While we don't want a samey normalised society (we tend to value eccentrics who add much colour to life), we should want to help people who fall too far into extreme eccentrism: the man who's addicted to simulating sex with car exhaust pipes (object sexuality) would likely prefer to be a little more normal, just like the man who's masochistically-addicted to humiliating himself by pretending he's a baby, and some to the point of sexual arousal (paraphilic infantilism). Raising awareness of these things so the afflicted feel like they can get help is a good thing. But accepting such behaviour as if these people don't need help is a potential slippery slope, not least because it may discourage afflicted persons to seek help as they no longer view their paraphilia as a problem (as mainstream society has accepted it as ok).
It can be a massive grey area tho', as we don't want a society which is so conservative that it distrusts people who enjoy role-play. The distinction would need to be made between mere role-playing and actual acts of psychosexual paraphilia, and then we get to the boggy waters of who makes that distinction: the one who's claiming he's only role-playing or the one who's claiming the role-player is in fact sexually paraphilic?
No easy answers, and another plus for Nev for indirectly putting this debate out there. I just know that the grown man who's into My Little Pony is sexually-frustrated, very likely still a virgin, finds communication with other people tricky, generally unhappy with his lot but finds some joy in virtual cartoon friends who he'll admit start looking strangely alluring in lieu of contact with real people. While I'm sure he'd never hurt anyone in the future, he will probably remain in this unhappy unfulfilled state because contemporary right-on society does seem to be quite accepting of his situation.