I try to stay out of proship/anti stuff because like. I can kiinda see both sides?
The “don’t sexualize minors” side is an obvious reason, no one should be finding themselves legitimately attracted to loli or shotacon (of course minors can be attracted to minor characters no problem, we’re talking abt shotaloli adults here)
I also get csa survivors using fiction to cope n stuff. HOWEVER,, besides the fact that it’s an unhealthy coping mechanism and won’t really do much to heal your trauma in the long run,,,, I saw a post the other day claiming
“There are no pedophiles in the proship/lolicon communities, it’s all just abuse victims” which is WILDLY INNACCURATE
my 4 ft tall 18 yr old best friend married a 24 yr old guy who loved lolicon (engaged at 17 and knew her since she was in the single digits mind you) and GUESS WHAT THAT GUY ENDED UP BEING— not only was he grooming her for years but she found real child porn on his phone and he threatened to molest and kill their newborn daughter. A lolicon obsessed adult man who turned out to be a real pedophile, who was participating in these communities.
“That’s just one guy, not the whole community! Most of us are survivors ourselves we wouldn’t do anything to a real kid!”
Well, my friend from highschool- she had 5 brothers. One older and 4 younger than her. Her oldest brother molested her and the 2nd oldest when they were kids. Its been years since then,, she took a lot of time processing what happened and recovered to the best of her ability. I’m sure her trauma still effects her, but her 2nd oldest brother (21) on the other hand?
He kept thinking about the trauma and reenacting it in his head, at some point placing himself in the view of the abuser. It stuck with him and he never found a healthy way to cope. Guess what he just got arrested for last year? Molesting my best friends niece (yep, same girl from the 1st story) and his two youngest brothers, who are only 13 and 12.
I’ve had countless online friends who were groomed, who’s abusers used proship content as a way to convince them it was normal or okay.
Another ex friend of mine was molested by her brother and groomed when she was 14, she used proship and shotacon content to cope because she didn’t have access to real therapy, but became so caught up in it that it warped her perception of reality. She’s an adult now and has admitted to stalking “cute underage boys” she’s seen in public.
Someone close to her just recently was outed for grooming a 12 year old and he admitted it. despite being a victim herself, she shrugged it off and acted like it was normal.. she’s been so caught up in these communities she’s convinced herself it’s okay, and she’s turning a blind eye to an actual groomer.
The fact of the matter is, MANY pedophiles were molested themselves as a kid, they didn’t get therapy or proper treatment. They become obsessed with their trauma and repeat it when they’re older, whether it be because they’re trying to “take the power back”, or relive it because they never recovered.
they can find these online groups reenacting their trauma, and became invested. They may even see underage “proshippers” and prey on them because they know they can use proship to normalize or justify it to their victim.
Credit where credit is due, sometimes a “problematic ship” here or there can be used to vent or help process what happened to them. But when you romanticize these things, when put in a positive light and encourage it the way these communities do?
It raises the risk of these now-adults, wanting to reenact their trauma irl.
Constantly surrounding yourself with it to the point where it becomes your whole personality, as some of the blogs I’ve seen do, is not a healthy way to cope.
At what point does the “just coping” turn into conditioning?.
If you were just using loli/shota as a way to process what happened, but now find yourself legitimately turned on and attracted to minors, that should be a big fuxking red flag and a testimony to what long time exposure to that kind of content can do to a person who’s already in a vulnerable state mentally
“There’s no REAL pedos in the proship community” yes there is! There’s pedos in EVERY community, but especially ones that cater to them!
Here’s the thing, friend.
Most people who enjoy loli and shota content are not attracted to children irl. They’re not attracted to real minors.
Most people who enjoy shota and loli are attracted to the character traits ascribed to a drawing of a fictional character.
Most people who enjoy furry content are not attracted to animals irl. They’re attracted to the character traits ascribed to a drawing of a fictional character.
Most people who enjoy villain content are not attracted to murderers irl. They’re attracted to the character traits ascribed to a drawing of a fictional character.
I’m not here to speak about actual child molesters or pedophiles (though yes, not all pedophiles are child molesters).
But I need to point out to you that most people who enjoy a taboo trope in fictional aren’t interested in playing out that taboo in real life.
Enjoying loli and shota content isn’t going to erode your morals and make you into a child molester any more than enjoying content about murderers is going to make you into a murderer.
And being interested in a type of content in fiction doesn’t secretly mean you were already interested in playing out that type of thing in real life.
You can’t blame fiction for the actions people take in real life. They chose to harm people, they weren’t made to do so by the fiction they consumed.