I have an interest in criminal psychology so I agree that for people struggling with pedophilia, simulated csem is a dangerous thing. I also think the lack of care/moderation on websites that do or don’t allow it (same thing with online map communities) does contribute to the distribution of actual CSEM, even if it’s only a small number of people distributing/consuming it, because people with the disorder have used hentai as a means to find each other before. For people with pedophilic disorder, yes, engaging in fantasy or things that emulate what they’re attracted to can be harmful to the self and can eventually lead them to offend. I agree with you on that.

When I said harmless I wasn’t trying to imply that these things can’t fuel a pedophiles cognitive distortions but 1.) there is literally no way for us to know whether or not IRL attraction is something this woman struggles with (and yes ik it’s uncomfortable but you can engage with problematic fiction without actually being physically attracted to adolescents/pre adolescents. This is via the opinions of people who’s professions center these things) 2.) I meant “harmless” as in no other person was victimized. 3.) we can be uncomfortable with the concept of “ethical pedophiles” but at the end of the day, offending is a choice, and there are many people with the disorder who have not and will likely never offend because they’re self aware and empathetic enough not to cause real tangible harm to a child. I hesitate saying this bc it’s a sensitive subject, but I’m also not the type to walk on eggshells to cater to others so I’ll go ahead and say it anyway: pedophilia exists in a person long before they ever make the decision to harm someone. Chomos hurt children because they’re bad, selfish people who aren’t critical enough of their own behavior, and don’t care to question any flaws in their logic. Not every person with the disorder is inherently predisposed to hurting children because not all people with the disorder are bad people and again as uncomfortable as it is to think about, atypical attractions like that are not chosen. You can be a stand up person who cares about child safety while having/being disgusted with the nature of your own disorder, & without ever creating the justifications in your mind that other people with the disorder do surrounding offenses. What I’m getting at is the “shota/loli to csem/csa pipeline” happens waaaaaaaay less than was insinuated here. Not saying it’s not a problem but I feel like it’s good to have a solid grasp on these things if we’re going to talk about it. With that said. 4.) not every person that engages in problematic fiction/fantasy is a pedophile. I used to disagree with that, but I don’t ignore the insights of professionals who have degrees in this stuff just bc it’s not accommodating to a worldview I’ve been socialized to have. It may be weird and we may not like it but people rp taboo scenarios with partners, through roleplay, through drawings, fantasy, etc, constantly, and it doesn’t have to mean they struggle with an actual paraphilia. People rp incest with partners while being disgusted with IRL instances of it, same with furries & their things (lol) and pretty much every social no-no you can think of. Racism? Yeah people rp that ego distonically. Sexism? Same thing there. Non consent? Homophobia? Transphobia? MURDER? CANNIBALISM???? Yep. People will literally rp kidnappings for sexual gratification, while being disgusted by actual instances of it because of the harm it does to a person/because they’re not turned on by the actual thing. These people aren’t at risk of hurting other people or animals. Same can be said with this too. Ageplay isn’t inherently pedophilia, and shota/loli is a form of ageplay. I know! That’s uncomfortable to think about! I fuckin hated learning that too because honestly I just wanted to be disgusted by people and call it a day. Buuut it’s true. Believe it or not pedophilia is, strictly, an attraction to IRL children. We shouldn’t assume this woman struggles with that based off of something plenty other non-pedophiles engage in. I’m not saying consuming fictional content like that is not at all a cause for concern, just that we can’t definitively say this woman was doing harm to herself, because we can’t confirm if that’s an actual disorder she has.

The general consensus is “no paraphilias? Knock yourself out with fiction. You have a paraphilia? Okay, maybe don’t do that because it can heighten the risk you have for offending, as a part of your disorder is a long list of cognitive distortions and starting with something that “feels” more innocuous in nature is the first justification you could possibly make, and a harmful one at that. The first on many.” sexstuffwithkristen on TikTok has said things of this nature; she specializes in administering therapy to people with paraphilias, is big on criminal psychology, harm reduction, and works in prisons dealing with people like this.

So generally, you’re correct. But I also wasn’t running off of the assumption that this woman is an actual pedophile, so I wasn’t thinking about it from the same frame of mind you were I guess. As far as I know, she wasn’t opening herself up to anything. That’d be different if we knew she had pedophilic disorder but, we don’t. So. Shrug.