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Aug. 8th, 2005
American hysteria
Aug. 8th, 2005 09:22 amThe problem of the sex offender in American culture is one that we need to grapple with sooner than later. I'm not talking about this from a feminist perspective--I'll do that on a different day and time. What I'm talking about is the unfairness that attends the charge of sexual offender.
Today, the news stories of former sex offenders abducting and killing small children has middle-class America up in arms. They want to know what they can do about these people. They want to ban them from their neighborhoods. They want them zoned out of existence.
The problem is that the media has helped to confuse sexual offenders of children with people who are date rapists and other types. There is a crucial difference: people who see children as sexual beings are fundamentally at odds with those who are attracted to adults. There is no good in mixing the two populations and driving them both out of cities and towns. Everyone needs a place to live. Pedophiles can't be rehabilitated (at least, so far as we can tell). There is nothing to be gained by lumping those people in with someone who may or may not have gone too far with someone their own age. The dangers are completely different.
Someone who is 18 and has been charged with statutory rape by having sex with someone who is two years younger but consenting will have the label of sex offender for the rest of his or her life. Not the same situation as a 35-year-old manipulating a child into trusting him or her enough to get past the child's clothes.
So now Florida has decided to ban sex offenders from storm shelters. Yes, they all deserve to be swept away with the hurricane tides. Every single one of them, regardless of the context of their crimes. The world is black and white; let them drown and let God sort it out.
Today, the news stories of former sex offenders abducting and killing small children has middle-class America up in arms. They want to know what they can do about these people. They want to ban them from their neighborhoods. They want them zoned out of existence.
The problem is that the media has helped to confuse sexual offenders of children with people who are date rapists and other types. There is a crucial difference: people who see children as sexual beings are fundamentally at odds with those who are attracted to adults. There is no good in mixing the two populations and driving them both out of cities and towns. Everyone needs a place to live. Pedophiles can't be rehabilitated (at least, so far as we can tell). There is nothing to be gained by lumping those people in with someone who may or may not have gone too far with someone their own age. The dangers are completely different.
Someone who is 18 and has been charged with statutory rape by having sex with someone who is two years younger but consenting will have the label of sex offender for the rest of his or her life. Not the same situation as a 35-year-old manipulating a child into trusting him or her enough to get past the child's clothes.
So now Florida has decided to ban sex offenders from storm shelters. Yes, they all deserve to be swept away with the hurricane tides. Every single one of them, regardless of the context of their crimes. The world is black and white; let them drown and let God sort it out.
(no subject)
Aug. 8th, 2005 04:05 pmWhen you say someone is "hot," what do you mean? Be as specific as possible.