I think OP is painting with a broad brush. However, he probably has a point that social attitudes end up shaping the experience itself. Similar to the above poster talking about age gaps or miscarriages.
A problem in your objection, as well as any rebuttal to it, is how would we separate social contagion from the data? It seems that if OP is right, we wouldn’t have the data to say he’s right or wrong. If he’s wrong, the data wouldn’t really show that or not either. Embedded social attitudes are a matter of the fish not knowing the water in which it swims.
If indeed, that water is so think that OP (as well as several others who have responded) feels it is even taboo to admit their own experience was not traumatizing, then such a deep social fact is also likely to permeate all the data.
Now, in defense of the taboo (like all taboos), sexual molestation is basically such a bad thing in some sense that we don’t want to allow any talk that would make this bad thing potentially happen more. The taboo is like a field around a Schelling fence that is trying to innoculate everyone against walking even within 200m of that fence. For whatever reason, the taboo also has some utility that should not be dismissed until it is also understood carefully.
In other words, it is taboo specifically because his talking about it risks pushing us deep into nuances that are risky. In fact, even assuming OPs position in a broad and hard form is fully correct, then it wouldn’t undo the damage that people felt from being molested, and talking about it could hurt more. So, the entire topic is likely to be an infohazard, actually regardless of the truth value of OP’s comment.
I think OP is painting with a broad brush. However, he probably has a point that social attitudes end up shaping the experience itself. Similar to the above poster talking about age gaps or miscarriages.
A problem in your objection, as well as any rebuttal to it, is how would we separate social contagion from the data? It seems that if OP is right, we wouldn’t have the data to say he’s right or wrong. If he’s wrong, the data wouldn’t really show that or not either. Embedded social attitudes are a matter of the fish not knowing the water in which it swims.
If indeed, that water is so think that OP (as well as several others who have responded) feels it is even taboo to admit their own experience was not traumatizing, then such a deep social fact is also likely to permeate all the data.
Now, in defense of the taboo (like all taboos), sexual molestation is basically such a bad thing in some sense that we don’t want to allow any talk that would make this bad thing potentially happen more. The taboo is like a field around a Schelling fence that is trying to innoculate everyone against walking even within 200m of that fence. For whatever reason, the taboo also has some utility that should not be dismissed until it is also understood carefully.
In other words, it is taboo specifically because his talking about it risks pushing us deep into nuances that are risky. In fact, even assuming OPs position in a broad and hard form is fully correct, then it wouldn’t undo the damage that people felt from being molested, and talking about it could hurt more. So, the entire topic is likely to be an infohazard, actually regardless of the truth value of OP’s comment.