Butch Femme Planet - View Single Post - What influences our reactions to sexual abuse/exploitation of children?

Martina · 02-05-2012, 08:02 PM

It's a weird question, finally. i think it is normal to react. It's a function of our innate empathy for the pain of others and our innate anxiety regarding the vulnerability of the weak and small.

Lots of things could get people to react less intensely:

being taught that children and women are property
working in a field exposing one to victims and their stories
being victimized oneself
being a predator oneself

i think that people who can't handle it and turn away are sometimes the people who respond most strongly. To actually NOT respond, i imagine, takes some training, some desensitization.

i sometimes think i have heard it all when something like that LA teacher story comes out and i am overwhelmed with disgust, pity and anger. The same thing happened when the story of the pediatrician in Delaware made the papers.

i still think it's a weird question. It is normal to respond. It doesn't take outside influences. It's a basic human response. What is abnormal is to have that response muffled in some way by culture or individual life experience.

02-05-2012, 08:02 PM	#18
Martina Senior Member How Do You Identify?: * Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: * Posts: 4,999 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,409 Thanked 18,286 Times in 4,167 Posts Rep Power: 21474854	It's a weird question, finally. i think it is normal to react. It's a function of our innate empathy for the pain of others and our innate anxiety regarding the vulnerability of the weak and small. Lots of things could get people to react less intensely: being taught that children and women are property working in a field exposing one to victims and their stories being victimized oneself being a predator oneself i think that people who can't handle it and turn away are sometimes the people who respond most strongly. To actually NOT respond, i imagine, takes some training, some desensitization. i sometimes think i have heard it all when something like that LA teacher story comes out and i am overwhelmed with disgust, pity and anger. The same thing happened when the story of the pediatrician in Delaware made the papers. i still think it's a weird question. It is normal to respond. It doesn't take outside influences. It's a basic human response. What is abnormal is to have that response muffled in some way by culture or individual life experience.