One of the questions I am most often asked is why I think that I am an amarso. Indeed, this is one question I often ask myself. Unfortunately, however, after reading study after study on the topic, I have realized that nobody really knows. While a number of theories exist as to why I am the way that I am, none have been definitively proven. Not suprisingly, my interest was piqued last week when I read that Canadian researchers have discovered that men with a primary sexual attraction of children have a much higher likelihood of being left-handed than the general population. Being left-handed myself, I found this fascinating. But on a more profound level, the suggestion that there is a neurological component to pedophilia forces all of us to question the prevailing theories as to the etiology of pedophilia. Furthermore, it begs further research and examination.

It seems that in many countries now, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the Evil Empire, it is possible to find padded bras for young girls that you see here by companies such as La Senza Girl and Bratz. Mind you, these are not bras for girls whose maturation has already begun. Apparently, you can find them in a size six, suggesting that marketing gurus somewhere seem to have the opinion that first graders might enjoy augmenting their flat chests. Whilst I agree that the notion of primary school girls needing padded bras as a fashion accessory is silly, the ranting of ‘childhood experts’ who claim that such fashion accessories will make the wearers magnets for girllovers is even more ludicrous. Do people not yet understand that girllove, by and large, is a celebration of flatness?

Whilst male girllovers profess to have a special attraction to young girls, they often harbor less noble feelings for adult women, ranging from ambivalence to antipathy. This is often the case even if the woman is herself a girllover. Whilst some of these less than positive feelings may be understandable to a certain degree, they are neither necessary nor consistent with girllove. The primary reasons for these feelings tend to be: negative experiences with women in the past; a distrust for the motives of women; a dangerous tendency to forget that girlhood and womanhood are inextricably intertwined. Rather than focusing on one’s perception of the negative traits of women, it would be beneficial for male girllovers to look at the positive aspects of womanhood as a key to understanding the nature of girls and strive to learn about girlhood from women who, after all, were once girls themselves. This way, they can better help girls to become women with a positive outlook who are proud of both their womanhood and their bodies.

by Peter Bardaglio

The tragic tangle of race, gender, and sex in the South after the Civil War afflicted not only adults but also children. The prosecutions of sexual assaults against white girls, in particular, illustrate the corrosive effects of this tangle. Like lynchings, the ways in which southern state courts between 1865 and 1900 handled such prosecutions can be read as a cultural text, revealing, in the words of Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, "a story [whites] told themselves about the social arrangements and psychological strivings that lay beneath the surface of everyday life."¹ In this narrative, although the courts found themselves confronted with disturbing evidence that many white fathers and stepfathers sexually abused the young females under their charge, southern judges viewed the black rapist as the primary threat to the innocence and purity of white girlhood.

Many have pointed out that there is no terminology that refers collectively to both the younger and older parties in an adult-minor relationship. Instead, there is a confusing array of terminology and euphemisms that refer to each. The younger party may be referred to as a teleiophile, gerontophile, young friend or young lover whilst the older party may be referred to as an ephebophile, pedophile, nepiophile, childlover, boylover or girllover. This paucity of common terminology is unique to adult-minor relationships. Other sexual orientations have a single term to refer to both partners — heterosexual or homosexual. For this reason, we have begun to use the term amaros to refer to the attraction between the partners in an adult-minor relationship and amarso to refer to each of the individuals in such a relationship.

Introduction

Over thirty years after the landmark Roe vs. Wade court decision, the issue of abortion is just as divisive as ever, polarizing American society. Each of the two sides is quick to vilify anybody who does not toe their line, heaping politically-charged epithets upon them in the hope of shaming them into compliance. I suspect, however, that this behavior more often leads to the alienation of many people who, like myself, are not enthusiastic proponents of abortion but at the same time do not want to see the practice completely proscribed. Does less-than-ardent support for the legally-sanctioned termination of unwanted organisms amount to a desire to trample upon a woman’s ‘right to choose’? No. But neither is support for the willful destruction of a non-sentient embryo as a means of last resort tantamount to the advocacy of murder.

As a childlover — indeed, as a human being — I would prefer to preserve young life as much as is possible. At the very least, I would like to give the benefit of the doubt to the unborn, erring on the side of caution as to when the foetus becomes ‘viable’. I believe that in this age of information and technology, education is crucial. With proper education and training, the number of unwanted pregnancies can be significantly curbed, reducing the need for abortion altogether. Furthermore, I think that we need to closely examine the issue of children’s rights. When we begin to consider children as more than property or an appendage of their parents, our approach to rights for them, both born and unborn, must change as well.