I have my problems with your thesis, buddy. I was thinking about it yesterday and I concluded something: many pedophiles do not like shotacon, because shotacon manga is an exaggeration. Like, some people in this very BBS, enjoy real children because they are whole selves. But I observed that shotacon is a mix of traits that are attractive in children, that are exaggerated at the expense of others. Perhaps shotacons do like some things in children, but not their whole selves and perhaps real children, due to the beloved traits coexisting with traits deemed unattractive, are turn offs. Isn't like they enjoy physical, real children, but childish emotions and behavior, short stature and things alike. Those traits are stripped from actual kids and put on a blank slate, that is then filled with other characteristics for sake of the plot or titillation. This is so true that, in many shotacon manga works, the shota is not even a child, but an adult who looks like a kid and doesn't act like one. In short: when someone says they are into shota, but not real children, it could be because children have some traits that they deem negative and unappealing, that are not present in a drawing, usually personality and bodies that are not "just right". That's how I see things. As for the use of irony as coping mechanism, I do that all the time. I kinda enjoy pedophile jokes because of that. I'm doing this comic, which I won't share here, in which there is a pedophile character who is the butt of every joke, even if he is not a "bad" guy in any way. Just quirky. I also crack this type of joke around friends who know about my secret. And they share some memes about pedophilia with me, as they know I don't get offended by them. I even wrote about this in the diary I sent to a researcher. Laughing about it helps me to see pedophilia as a backseat issue, that should not inspire concern. If someone who isn't in good terms with their pedophilia does the same, I believe that's what they are trying to do: to deflate the seriousness of the issue, so they can feel better about themselves. |