Talk:pedophile

Under 12 years old

This isn't true is it? While in a very strict sense, once they're 13 they're teenagers so it's ephebophilia, but realistically anyone who is attracted or attempts to engage sexually with a minor (whatever age that is, as it varies by country) can be called a pedophile. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:16, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Not all pedosexual behavior is motivated by pedophilia. That would be like saying any man who attempts to have sex with a man is gay. He could be bi or bi-curious. In a sample of nearly 200 university males, 21% reported some sexual attraction to small children, 9% described sexual fantasies involving children, 5% admitted to having masturbated to sexual fantasies of children, and 7% indicated they might have sex with a child if not caught. There have also been several studies using the penile plethysmograph that have shown large percentages of "normal" men are aroused by pictures of female children (e.g. ages 4-10, in a study of young Czech soldiers). The DSM doesn't label people as pedophiles unless they act on those desires or are distressed by them. See Green, Richard (2002 December) “Is Pedophilia a Mental Disorder?”, in Archives of Sexual Behavior‎^[1], volume 31, number 6, pages 467-471Leucosticte (talk) 04:24, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

• Just a note: Leucosticte is globally blocked, and that block is partly related to his views on adults being sexual with children. As for pedophilia, the key criteria is whether or not the person has a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 02:37, 15 April 2017 (UTC)

Ephebe

Ephebophilia? Love of young solders?

Yes, as opposed to the old solders you sometimes find in antique electronic equipment. Leucosticte (talk) 04:24, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

'Minor' definition

In Spain the legal limit is 16 but was recently 12. However, this was for people within that age range so 12 and 14 was acceptable but 18 and 13 is not. The 16-18 year old range is a grey area and depending on which newspaper prints it can be a '15 year old man' or a '17 year old girl'. — This unsigned comment was added by 92.26.135.96 (talk).

Yeah, you're more likely to see young women referred to as "girls" than young men referred to as "boys" (unless they're World War II-era soldiers). You might find this article interesting: Graupner, Helmut (2005) “The 17-Year-Old Child: An Absurdity of the Late 20th Century”, in Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality‎^[2], volume 16, numbers 2-3, →DOI, pages 7-24 Leucosticte (talk) 04:24, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

I think pedophile would usually imply an adult who sexually assaults or is sexually attracted to small children (probably younger than 14), not just anyone below the legal age for sex or legal age of adulthood. But I don't think it usually is restricted to prepubescents the way the medical definition is either, so the medical definition should not be in the dictionary, because nobody uses it in real life.Leucostictes (talk) 07:24, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

Many people (not just professionals) use the term correctly in real life. Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 01:48, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Two citation quotes do not relate to definition.

The two citation quotes given here do not relate to the definition of pedophilia based on attraction, which is the definition given here, but to the behavioral definition. "1982, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Criminal Justice Abstracts, volume 14‎, page 253:

Apart from his sexual behavior, the pedophile is typically law abiding. 1986, Patrick B. McGuigan & Jon S. Pascale, Crime and Punishment in Modern America‎, page 109:

The pedophile, a particular type of child molester, is an adult whose conscious sexual interests and overt sexual behavior are directly either partially or exclusively toward children." --PaulBustion88 (talk) 15:14, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

Good comment. I visited the page for "paedophile" to see if the word was applied to those who simply feel an attraction to children or to those who criminally molest them. The definition and supporting quotes contradict one another (as you say), so the whole entry is useless. (And no, I will not research a better one, only to have it reverted by one of the wikinteligensia.) Peter Nkosi (talk) 05:12, 24 July 2016 (UTC)

Isn't this an American spelling?

I'm not exactly sure, but the evidence I am able to gather from the Internet suggests that <pedophile> is an American English spelling. Why is there a British English pronunciation guide, and why doesn't the article specify that this is an American spelling? 88.112.130.243 17:58, 18 July 2015 (UTC)

This spelling is sometimes used in BrE too. Equinox ◑ 18:03, 18 July 2015 (UTC)

Besides which, there'd be a guide to how the word was pronounced by Brits even if it was just an American spelling (since the same [spoken] word is used by Brits, even if they spell it differently), and usually even if the word itself were found mostly in one national variety or the other (since the literature, major news, etc of both varieties is commonly read in both countries, etc). - -sche (discuss) 18:17, 18 July 2015 (UTC)

Pedo means using feet, not Boys.

It is worth mentioning that if spelled "pedophile", the meaning of the word is actually the attraction to using feet, not the attraction to boys. This is why pedometers do not count boys but paedometers do. 120.22.95.8 13:32, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

"Pedo-" can mean "feet" but it is also a valid alt spelling of "paedo-". This is true of many "ae/e" spellings. Equinox ◑ 13:34, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

"Pedo-" is from the word "pedo" which is "ped"+"o" which comes from "podia"(feet) while "paedo" is from "paidia"(children). While Webster changed the æ/se spellings in his dictionary to just e, so it is only a common phenomenon in American English. "Pedo" always means feet, even if people think it means children.

You use a PEDestal, walking people are PEDestrians, you sit things on a PODium, of you have two feet you are biPEDal. It's foot.

A children doctor is a paediatrician.

A foot doctor is a podiatrist.

It's fine if the US likes to be different, but dropping the A in this instance changes the meaning of the word.

Similar to people who say vini vidi vici instead of veni vidi vici. One letter changes the meaning.

You are simply wrong and misinformed. You are being proscriptive, which professional linguists frown upon. Check any professionally published British English dictionary. Webster is irrelevant here. Equinox ◑ 14:52, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Really, one wonders where British English got the a from: if we look at other instances of the ped(o)- (“child”) prefix, e.g. pedagogue (“teacher of children”), the original English form is pedagoge, borrowed in the Middle English period from Middle French pedagogue. The a must be a relatively recent change to mimic Latin.
I wonder whether the "foot lover" meaning is ever attested... I expect the other meaning makes it unusable. Any cites, IP?
In trying to find early attestations, I noticed pedophile listed as an epithet of Ceres in an 1829 A Commentary, Mythological, Historical, and Geographical on Pope's Homer, apparently without any of the negative / sexual connotations it has now (it's said to be "expressive of her love for children [...] emblematical of her being the mother of the human race"). - -sche (discuss) 23:02, 9 November 2022 (UTC)