Search


EroTopicon


Kinky Attire


Other Blogs

Comments

  • Vibrating Feeldoes
    We've tested just about every double-ended harness-compatible dildo available, and they all leave something to be desired UNTIL NOW. The FeelDoe is the best double-ended dildo we have ever seen!
  • Aneros Prostate Massagers
    Made of top-grade stainless steel, polished to a gleaming finish. Ideal for male milking.
  • CB-3000 Male Chastity Kits
    The CB-3000 represents the latest design in modern male chastity devices from the same designers who invented the best-selling CB-2000 and The Curve.
  • ErosTek Digital Power Unit
    Whether you've been into electrostim for awhile or are just getting started, there is something to be said about having the best and safest equipment.

« Intersexual prisoner's small victory • Home • Oveweight and want a date? »

The great sex panic

• Sexual Health

In the 1980s, as McNally relates, day care workers risked prosecution and imprisonment on the coerced testimony of bewildered and intimidated three-year-olds who were prodded to "remember" nonexistent molestations. Meanwhile, poorly trained social workers, reasoning that signs of sexual curiosity in children must be "behavioral memories" of rape, were charging parents with incest and consigning their stunned offspring to foster homes. And most remarkably, whole communities were frantically attempting to expose envisioned covens of Satan worshipers who were said, largely on the basis of hypnotically unlocked "memories," to be raising babies for sexual torture, ritual murder, and cannibal feasts around the patio grill.

Frederick C. Crews, The New York Review of Books: The Trauma Trap

Richard Evans Lee
February 24, 2004 •
BlinkList • del.icio.us • Digg it • Furl • ma.gnolia • Netvouz
RawSugar • Shadows • Simpy • Spurl • Yahoo MyWeb
Top↑

Comments

Hey, Richard; I have strongly mixed feelings about this whole thing; for one thing, I know personally two people who were varifiably sexually abused in ritual contexts; one by an actual fam-trad coven, one by a schizophrenic doing what the voices told him. Something of that sort may have occured to me, or may not have; I've huge memory gaps, and odd fragments that might indicate - well, anything. But who knows, really? I must deal with the aftereffects, in any case. That's what I'm mostly concerned with these days; abuse - especially at a young age - shapes us in enduring ways; no amout of therapy nor compensation will change that; we must simply cope with the results in some ethical way. I'm a BDSM Lifestyler, and of late I've seen people coming out saying they were raised in the Lifestyle as slaves. That sets of an alarm bell or two, especially when those saying it are in their 40's and 50s. Anyway, I've noticed that american culture has two speeds in such matters; utter denial and sheer panic. Personally, it seems obvious to me that a certain amount of abuse occurs, has always occured, and will occur, and it will occur in places where it can go undetected, or seem reasonable. Seems a little social paranoia about the issue, at reasonable levels, ain't such a bad idea. Commen sense says you will see it concentrated in small groups, cults if you will, contexts where isolation, mental or physical is the norm, you will find it where children are concentrated - for the same reason why Will Sutton robbed banks. So of course, church sunday schools, boy scout troops and day care facilities are all places that pedophiles and others that like messing with kids for whatever reason would think of; especially when trust goes with the role itself, without any background checks. :> Personally, while the panic was complete insanity, and I know people burned by it, I think the result has been a good deal of improvement in social awareness; a better idea of what abuse is, what it isn't, and a more honest idea of how sexuality fits into our culture and what repressing it can lead to. Or at least, I like to think that. Regards; Bob King.

Posted by: Bob King | February 29, 2004 11:42 AM

Aside from the lives that were destroyed by the false memories (both the accused and the clients of the therapists) there was a real danger that the backlash could've resulted in the dismissal of real cases. As what has happened to the Catholic priests seems to show that didn't happen. I've had a few friends whose parents abused them in nonphysical ways as children. They didn't intend to abuse them at all. They were undiagnosed schizophrenics. The stress and fear the kids grew up with crippled them for decades. Many of the worst cases of child abuse I've noted in papers when scanning the news seem to stem from tiny Christian cults where children are punished by starvation or burning. I'm wholly friendly to BDSM but, yeah, the idea of kids being raised as slaves is disgusting.

Posted by: Richard | February 29, 2004 12:33 PM

Well, I think that some real cases did get dismissed. The McMartin pre-school case continues to disturb me; in that the parents hired a professional archeologist; they dug up the site and found tunnels that had been backfilled; exactly as described. That case was kind of typical of the era; pretty much every aspect of the investigation was botched. But all in all, I think that we have been stripped of the idea that Authority can be trusted because it's in authority, and conversely lost the idea that children always tell the truth - or know what it means in an adult sense. In other words, innocence is revealed as ignorence and suggestability. Indeed, I rather think that loss is part of the whole Marriage Debate panic. Authority is no longer sacred and innocence not so valued by those who would preserve it. Speaking of that, I've two good articles on sex ed to put up this morning, you may wish to swing by. :)

Posted by: Bob King | March 1, 2004 09:17 AM

How do you feel?

Feel free to share your feelings about The great sex panic. Please stick to the theme of the entry. Disagreement is fine. Homophobia, racism, and kindred expressions of hatred will be deleted. This site is one of my hobbies. I genuinely enjoy hearing from people and hate moderating or killing comments. Forthright disagreement is fine as long as it is civil.
My thanks,
Richard

Monthly Summaries

June 2006, May 2006, April 2006, March 2006, February 2006, January 2006, December 2005, November 2005, October 2005, September 2005, August 2005, July 2005, June 2005, May 2005, April 2005, March 2005, February 2005, January 2005, December 2004, November 2004, October 2004, September 2004, August 2004, July 2004, June 2004, May 2004, April 2004, March 2004, February 2004, January 2004, December 2003, November 2003, October 2003, September 2003, August 2003, July 2003, June 2003, May 2003, April 2003, March 2003, February 2003, January 2003, December 2002, November 2002,