Anecdotal: I don’t remember having the slightest concept of sexual interest in anything before puberty.
Anyone got trustworthy better data, go ahead (but we have reason to suspect political interference, which is why I go so far as to cite my own anecdotal memory).
I personally know one girl whom, when she was 8, actively went into sex chat rooms and flirted with older men (anywhere from 16 to 40). I don’t think she actually had physical sexual experiences with anyone, though.
I personally know two girls who have had sexual intercourse with adults, one when she was aged 5, the other 8. It was rape in the sense that they were explicitly nonconsentual (they explicitly said didn’t want to do it), but it didn’t traumatized them. One theory might be that “doing stuff you don’t want to do, but adults tell you to do, so you do them anyway” is pretty common at that age (e.g. being forced to clean your room).
I suspect the sex act itself isn’t “pleasurable” for them, but having “sexual relationships” with adults may be pleasurable (since the first-mentioned 8 year old sought it out). It may be seen by many of them as a neutral act (like the 5 and second-mentioned 8 year old) and a form of curious exploration.
This is assuming, for lack of a better term, “gentle loving pedophilia”. The way pedophilia is often portrayed by mainstream media is violent rape, with screaming, kicking and blood. While I don’t personally know of any girl who actually experienced “violent rape pedophilia”, I think it’s safe to assume that they don’t find this pleasurable at all.
Personally, there’s a certain fetish that I have, and I remember it causing me erections even before puberty. However, as far as I can recall, the experience didn’t feel like anything that I’d call sexual these days. It was something that was pleasant to think about, and it caused physical reactions, but the actual sexual tension wasn’t there.
I also recall a friend mentioning a pre-pubescent boy who’d had a habit of masturbating when there was snow outside, because he thought the snow was beautiful. (I’m not sure if she’d known the boy herself or if she’d heard it from someone else, so this may be an unreliable fifth-hand account.) If it was true, then it sounds (like my experience) that part of the hardware was in place, but not the parts that would make it sexual in the adult sense of the word.
The staff caring for 251 children aged two to six of both sexes observed the children’s behaviour and then answered a questionnaire on the behaviours they had observed. … A total of 6% of the children had at some time been seen to masturbate and this usually occurred during rests. Masturbation took place “often/daily” in only 2% of the children. In almost every case the staff judged the masturbation to be associated with desire and relaxation on the part of the child and not in any case as painful, while one child was considered to masturbate compulsively.
It does, however, also remark that child sexual abuse often causes sexualized behavior in children, and that very little is known about what is actually normal child sexuality. Interestingly, as it relates to the original topic, it also mentions a study that found one third of abuse victims to show no symptoms at all.
I wonder what kind of controls they had (ha, ha) that let them say that it caused the sexualized behavior, rather than just letting the children know about sex. I mean I was entirely ignorant of sex until I was 12. I knew it existed by reading and hearing references to it, and I had seen Playboys and the like, but I didn’t have any idea of what sex was.
Mostly the same here. I didn’t have any arousal-like physical reactions, though. It was mostly like the tension of roller coasters and scary stories, not sexual tension. Then, a couple years after puberty, my sex drive kicked in (in the space of days), the fetish was found impossible to handle and promptly repressed until a few years later when it could merge normally with my general libido.
From personal experience (which I am unfortunately too nervous about to go into detail about), pre-pubescent sexuality is primarily based on exposure and knowledge of sexuality. Puberty simply forces one to become aware of sex, rather than being a prerequisite for it. Similarly, sexual reactions (erections, orgasm, etc.) are definitely possible pre-pubescence, simply different. This may be an anomaly in my case, I do not have any non-personal data to share.
Although I do know that Alfred Kinsey compiled an extensive body of research on child sexuality obtained from the interview of pedophiles, in particular one pedophile who was highly active and documented his explorations extensively. I have never read this body of research myself, but I thought its existence might be worth pointing out.
Maybe no interest in anything in particular, but what of the sexual gratification itself ? Children do masturbate, it’s a known fact. Though maybe it’s not universal. But the brain-specific hardware seems to be in place already at any rate.
Anecdotal also, I clearly remember watching the same movie (Star Wars) before and after teenage—the sexual tension passed me by completely as a child but was obvious a few years later.
However, I don’t have evidence that I’d not have enjoyed sex. The desire instinct was offline, that’s all I could swear to.
Anecdotal: I don’t remember having the slightest concept of sexual interest in anything before puberty.
Anyone got trustworthy better data, go ahead (but we have reason to suspect political interference, which is why I go so far as to cite my own anecdotal memory).
I personally know one girl whom, when she was 8, actively went into sex chat rooms and flirted with older men (anywhere from 16 to 40). I don’t think she actually had physical sexual experiences with anyone, though.
I personally know two girls who have had sexual intercourse with adults, one when she was aged 5, the other 8. It was rape in the sense that they were explicitly nonconsentual (they explicitly said didn’t want to do it), but it didn’t traumatized them. One theory might be that “doing stuff you don’t want to do, but adults tell you to do, so you do them anyway” is pretty common at that age (e.g. being forced to clean your room).
I suspect the sex act itself isn’t “pleasurable” for them, but having “sexual relationships” with adults may be pleasurable (since the first-mentioned 8 year old sought it out). It may be seen by many of them as a neutral act (like the 5 and second-mentioned 8 year old) and a form of curious exploration.
This is assuming, for lack of a better term, “gentle loving pedophilia”. The way pedophilia is often portrayed by mainstream media is violent rape, with screaming, kicking and blood. While I don’t personally know of any girl who actually experienced “violent rape pedophilia”, I think it’s safe to assume that they don’t find this pleasurable at all.
Personally, there’s a certain fetish that I have, and I remember it causing me erections even before puberty. However, as far as I can recall, the experience didn’t feel like anything that I’d call sexual these days. It was something that was pleasant to think about, and it caused physical reactions, but the actual sexual tension wasn’t there.
I also recall a friend mentioning a pre-pubescent boy who’d had a habit of masturbating when there was snow outside, because he thought the snow was beautiful. (I’m not sure if she’d known the boy herself or if she’d heard it from someone else, so this may be an unreliable fifth-hand account.) If it was true, then it sounds (like my experience) that part of the hardware was in place, but not the parts that would make it sexual in the adult sense of the word.
Googling for “child sexuality” gives me a report from Linköping University which states on page 17:
It does, however, also remark that child sexual abuse often causes sexualized behavior in children, and that very little is known about what is actually normal child sexuality. Interestingly, as it relates to the original topic, it also mentions a study that found one third of abuse victims to show no symptoms at all.
I wonder what kind of controls they had (ha, ha) that let them say that it caused the sexualized behavior, rather than just letting the children know about sex. I mean I was entirely ignorant of sex until I was 12. I knew it existed by reading and hearing references to it, and I had seen Playboys and the like, but I didn’t have any idea of what sex was.
Mostly the same here. I didn’t have any arousal-like physical reactions, though. It was mostly like the tension of roller coasters and scary stories, not sexual tension. Then, a couple years after puberty, my sex drive kicked in (in the space of days), the fetish was found impossible to handle and promptly repressed until a few years later when it could merge normally with my general libido.
From personal experience (which I am unfortunately too nervous about to go into detail about), pre-pubescent sexuality is primarily based on exposure and knowledge of sexuality. Puberty simply forces one to become aware of sex, rather than being a prerequisite for it. Similarly, sexual reactions (erections, orgasm, etc.) are definitely possible pre-pubescence, simply different. This may be an anomaly in my case, I do not have any non-personal data to share.
Although I do know that Alfred Kinsey compiled an extensive body of research on child sexuality obtained from the interview of pedophiles, in particular one pedophile who was highly active and documented his explorations extensively. I have never read this body of research myself, but I thought its existence might be worth pointing out.
Maybe no interest in anything in particular, but what of the sexual gratification itself ? Children do masturbate, it’s a known fact. Though maybe it’s not universal. But the brain-specific hardware seems to be in place already at any rate.
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_bmasturb_hhg.htm
Anecdotal also, I clearly remember watching the same movie (Star Wars) before and after teenage—the sexual tension passed me by completely as a child but was obvious a few years later.
However, I don’t have evidence that I’d not have enjoyed sex. The desire instinct was offline, that’s all I could swear to.
Also anecdotal: I have liked girls continuously since the age of 4. I do not recommend this....
This is also my experience.