Why do we say 'map' instead of 'pedophile'?

1 year ago

Trying a different voice generator now. I think I want to stick with this one.

Learn more about the ages of attraction https://map-wiki.com/index.php/Age_of_attraction

I cannot figure out if it's possible to create subtitles here, and I would appreciate some advice. For now I can post the full transcript below:

Many people who come across the map community for the first time have one particular question: why are we saying "map" instead of "pedophile"? The common assumption is that we do that because we think the word "pedophile" is bad and we want to avoid it. But this isn't the actual reason.

Most people have some kind of an age preference when it comes to who they find attractive. These age preferences are also called chronophilias or ages of attraction. In general, there are 7 or 8 kinds of chronophilias. These are:

- Infantophilia, an attraction to babies under one year old;

- Nepiophilia, an attraction to toddlers, typically under the age of 5. Sometimes infantophilia is also regarded as a type of nepiophilia;

- Then, pedophilia, an attraction to prepubescent children, typically aged between 5 and 10;

- Hebephilia, an attraction to pubescent teenagers, 11-14;

- Ephebophilia, an attraction to postpubescent young people, 15-19;

- Teleiophilia, an attraction to young mature adults, 20-35;

- Mesophilia, an attraction to middle-aged adults, 36-60;

- Gerontophilia, an attraction to the elderly, people over 60.

Attractions from infantophilia up to hebephilia are considered map attractions. Ephebophilia is sometimes also included, although most often it depends on the person. As you can see, pedophilia describes only a part of what being a map is about. And maps who are attracted to children under the age of 10 actually do identify as pedophiles. "Pedophile" is not seen as a dirty word, as something to be avoided, this is just a specific identity that does not apply to some of us.

For instance, I am a hebephile. The youngest person I have been attracted to as an adult was 12. Does that mean I think I am better than a pedophile and want to avoid them? No. Pedophiles are my friends and my family. 

On the other side of this problem, there are people who are well-meaning and do not dislike the map community, but they also end up believing that "pedophilia" is a bad word, and they call us things like "people with a sexual interest in children". Scientists and doctors are frequently guilty of that. This is not appreciated, and we wish they would just say "pedophiles" or "maps".

It is true that pedophilia is the most stigmatized identity out of everything under the map umbrella, but that doesn't mean we want to abandon it. One of the goals of the map movement is lifting the stigma of pedophilia, because this stigma is unfair. And spreading information about what pedophilia actually means is one way to do it.

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