In internet spaces populated mostly by millennial-aged males, I notice expressions of adoration for child actresses has become conspicuously frequent. While mainstream communities aren't officially accepting of this behavior, large sites like reddit have reached a détente wherein polite love of famous girls is permitted to exist mostly undisturbed.

These sorts of discussions, previously the domain of unsavory online enclaves, now exist in the margins of the mainstream web. Notably, these young men appear indifferent to the politics of pedophilia itself. In fact, their girl-crushes are treated as a natural outcropping of their heterosexuality; for instance, on -----^† /tv/ board, the term du jour to describe one's girl-crush is cunnyfu. To announce that you have one carries with it no sinister social baggage - it is typically used as a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of one's innocent deep affection for a young girl.

I will stop short of making broad pronouncements about this developing niche of internet culture. I mean only to express my surprise that these communities now exist in broad daylight. A generation of young men that came of age on the web seem increasingly fearless about their attractions... and they want to talk about them.


^† - the name of this community, a large image and discussion board, is banned. Go figure.