Why French Postmodernists were Pro-Paedophilia in the 1970s
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In the wake of the Paris 1968 student protests, Le Monde published a petition from a group of French intellectuals including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and a number of future French ministers that argued for the rights of “12- and 13-year olds” “to have relations with whomever they choose”. In this episode I want to explore why these French intellectuals were on the side of Paedophilia, why the pro-paedophilia lobby was so strong at the time and what philosophical justification they had for this view. This will involve an exploration of what happened with the Paris 1968 student protests. _________________ 📚 Further Reading: • The original petition (in French): https://web.archive.org/web/20200125093636/http://www.dolto.fr/fd-code-penal-crp.html • The Atlantic’s article on the age of consent in France from which many quotes and context about 1968 in this video is derived: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/frances-existential-crisis-over-sexual-harassment-laws/550700/ • The Guardian’s article on this strange time in French intellectual history: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/feb/24/jonhenley#:~:text=The%20petitions%20were%20issued%20after,Kouchner%20and%20Mr%20Lang%2C%20said. • Wikipedia Article on the petition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_petition_against_age_of_consent_laws _________________ ⭐ Support the channel (thank you!) ▶ Patreon: https://patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy ▶ Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/thelivingphilosophy ________________ 🎶 Music Used: 1. Magnetic — CO.AG Music 2. Mesmerize — Kevin MacLeod 3. End of the Era — Kevin MacLeod 4. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod Subscribe to CO.AG Music https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav... Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic _________________ ⌛ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:08 1968 3:19 The Birth of Active Politics 5:30 Analysis _________________ #postmodernism #thelivingphilosophy #1968 #philosophy

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In 1977 several French intellectuals signed a petition calling for an end to the discrimination against gay men and to revise age of consent laws.

While the narrator in the video argues that this is likely due to the open-mindedness, yearning for freedom and skepticism of the status quo that was prominent among French intellectuals at the time, there is at least some evidence that Micheal Foucault may have been a MAP.

There is a paucity of evidence on any supposed relationship between attraction to minors and political ideology - yet both sides of the political spectrum are quick to throw accusations of “grooming” at the other based on anecdotes.

Regardless of what may be the current relationship between minor-attraction and politics, in my opinion it’s abundantly obvious that early efforts to normalize pedophilia came primarily from the left. Postmodernism and anti-establishment, anti-homophobia and pro-sexual-freedom sentiment went hand in hand with pro-MAP and anti-age-of-consent efforts.

It is for these reasons that it baffles me that there are any MAPs who lean to the right. I’ve seen plenty of transphobic, racist and hyperreligious remarks on darknet forums, so I can say that there are plenty of right-wing MAPs.

It’s the left who advocates for sexual freedom, who fights against homophobia and sexism, who pushes for sex education to be inclusive of queer topics, and who advocates for the rights of transgender children. It’s the right who opposes all of these things.

The trans movement is, in my opinion, one of the best avenues we have for possibly normalizing minor-attraction, as trans people and their supporters argue that it’s not only harmless, but good for children to discover and define their own identities, and that they should be able to seek the medical treatment necessary to affirm this identity.

If it can be argued that kids can consent to medical treatment, it can also be argued that they can consent to sexual activity as it doesn’t involve possible permanent changes and side effects. So the trans rights movement and pro-MAP movement go hand in hand, or at the very least they should.

As we see more people advocate for the acceptance of trans children and sexual liberation, and as dissatisfaction with the status quo increases across the world, I have hope that soon these sentiments will intertwine and we’ll start to see more and more people advocating for the sexual freedom of children and MAPs.