MovieChat Forums > Are All Men Pedophiles? (2013) Discussion > The title is a misnomer, I think they me...

The title is a misnomer, I think they mean 'Are all men Ephebophiliacs'

posted 11 years ago by adrianlloyd
5 replies | jump to latest

Ephebophilia is the sexual attraction to adolescents in mid to late publety (14-19) and is quite different that Pedophilia (pre-pubescent children). Teenagers in mid to late puberty are pretty much exactly the same physcially as adults, and most adult men may find a sexually mature teenager sexually attractive. Most well adjusted adults,however, will not act on this attraction. I just feel the title is unneccesarily provocative.

Just saying

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia

[–] davidvincentwolf 11 years ago

I agree...I think you're exactly correct...true pedophilia is regarding children who are prepubescent, commonly as young as eight or nine, and prior to their bodies developing more distinctly to resemble young men and women.....on the other hand, girls as young as 14 or 15 can make themselves appear older, so when men are attracted to these girls it's not unusual...but, as you say, well adjusted adults will not act on this attraction...just like we don't act on every emotion or impulse when we're mad or upset with other people...as mature adults, we make decisions every day while controlling our emotions and determining what is proper and improper behavior before acting....that said, I do believe this film happens to draw attention to a another growing problem beyond pedophiles/ephebophiles...the increasing sexualization of increasingly younger and younger girls....things like special versions of typical teen clothing, bikinis and make-up,etc. but marketed especially for those as young as five to six year old...I also recently saw a BBC special dealing with children being exposed to porn at younger and younger ages...some as young as eight....so maybe bigger still is some children's access to adult online material...whether through ipad, iphones, home or friend's home computers, or even an older sibling's device...they could potentially have easy access to mature sites, twitter feeds, instagram, etc, where little is censored...if their parents aren't careful enough, many young girls are being brainwashed from a very young age through the music, videos, their peers at school, tv, movies, etc to act a certain way, and often subtlety to start utilizing their sexuality to get what they want....it's a very tough time to know exactly how strict parents should be today to make sure your children are as protected as they can be...while at the same time, not smothered and with enough freedom to still develop their own unique individuality..

[–] mentattodd 11 years ago

You might want to watch the film instead of commenting on it based on the title alone. They thoroughly discuss how the term "pedophile" is misused in the media and in common vernacular means anyone who is sexually attracted to anyone under 18 in the West. They also thoroughly discuss the subsets of pedophilia including hebephilia (under 18 but physically mature). I felt like the main point of the show was to discuss that difference. For example, the main model (who is perfect and probably about 16) has the logo on posters that says "Do You Find me Attractive?" Which, frankly, almost all heterosexual adult men would probably say "hell yeah" and then you read the title "Are all Men Pedophiles" and they are going - what - you tricked me! All because of the common misuse of the term.

[–] DisturbedPixie 11 years ago

Exactly. The point is to poke the holes in our modern societal definition of pedophilia and examine what pedophilia really is and why we are fighting this issue and what have we done to fight it, and whether those things we have done is good or bad.

The title is controversial because that sells, sheds light on a common misconception the director is trying to fight against, and it also then makes it easy to discredit those who make a big fuss about things out of ignorance.

It's not hard to at least find a summary of a film that seems controversial to you, before ranting about it. But many people are so lazy and hateful that they don't feel like researching a topic, and would rather rate it a 1/10 for the title alone or threaten "the dumb b!tch" they the assume created the film.

This film in fact can appeal to men and women, feminists and misogynists. Why? Because it uses logic and deep thoughtful analysis bridges gaps. I recommend the film, even if you disagree with some of the points made or merely the inquisitive title.

I recommend one then watch a film about the issues with the modeling/fashion industry and docs about statutory rape, female gendercide, and "the war on children." It's great to be well rounded on the topic if we are to protect children, as well as treat all/both genders with respect.

[–] lazarillo 11 years ago

Yeah, the title is meant to ironic.

Pretty much EVERYBODY is disgusted by child molesters, and it's really tiresome all the people who get on their moral high horse about that. There probably are pedophiles that don't actually molest children. There's no way to know how many, but I don't know what the hysterical moralists are going to do about that--pull random men off the street and hook them up to one of those penile lie detectors and test them with images of child porn? I think we have more than enough PRACTICING child molesters to worry about.

Ephebophiles are less dangerous for the simple reason that the teenage objects of their attraction are usually ALREADY sexually active. I don't think anybody is saying it's OK for middle-age men to date 16 year olds, but it's simply NOT as bad molesting 6 year olds.

You also have to distinguish between ephebophiles and normal men. Normal men are sexually attracted to breasts and high-heel shoes, but that doesn't make them all foot fetishists or breast fetishists. Nor are all men who feel a tingle of attraction to teenage girls necessarily ephebophiles, let alone pedophiles.

What disgusts me is various hysterical people (especially in America) have drawn this simplistic equation--normal male=ephebophile=pedophile=potential child molester--and they have not only maligned normal healthy male sexuality, but have also distracted attention from the REAL problem of people that molest children. So just because you don't want to define "potential child molester" so ridiculously broadly that you turn it from a rare aberration into a veritable army of every man in the world doesn't mean you're "excusing it".

[–] Jeorj Euler 8 years ago

No offense, but the term is ephebophile not "ephebophiliac".