Re: Researching the mind of a pedophile

I am content with your clarification of your position. I hope when you summarize it in the future you will consider putting in a caveat or two to make it clearer what you know that you don't know.

the pro-choice stance takes the principle that claiming to have no self-hatred or condemnation of your feelings, but then saying you feel your feelings would be toxic to youths in your respective AoA if expressed, is doing a disservice to the first claim.

The claim is not that it would be toxic, but there is a significant risk of bad outcomes. This harm is not inherent to the activity itself in the moment or to the intention of the pedophile -- but I think it highly likely that it's not all arbitrary social convention either. I fear it is inherent to innate long-term patterns of feelings among many girls -- at least a significant minority.

Analogies, analogies...

You could claim that a person cannot feel good about sadistic fantasies because harm to another is inherent in full expression of the desire. (You could also argue that there is no need to feel bad in that case either, but let's leave that aside.) And many antis express the view that pedophilia is exactly like that -- but I certainly don't. Since the risk of harm is removed from the act, it need not affect self-concept. (This assumes a situation that is ideal in other respects -- situations that we would both agree are harmful abuse do occur.)

Suppose I really want to have intercourse with a grown woman, who reciprocates those feelings. Suppose I the find out (but she doesn't) that this will make her very sick. I have no need to suddenly feel guilty about my desire for intercourse -- all I have to do is abstain from the activity. The parallel is not perfect (it never is) but it shares this aspect that the risk of harm is removed from the activity.

What I am trying to explain here is a rather specific point: how one can feel good about pedophilic desires but also feel they can never be acted upon even if society changes.