America’s New McCarthyism
85
The Language of Language
Language grows and evolves, leaving fossils behind.
—^Lewis Thomas
The clinical separation of homosexuality and child molesting began
with the appearance of the words “pedophilia” in 1906 and “pedophile” in 1927.
From the Oxford English Dictionary :
Paedophilia. An abnormal, esp. sexual, love of young children.
1906 H. ELLIS Stud Psychol Sex V. i. 11 Paidophilia or the
love of children. . . may be included under this head [sc.
abnormality]. 1926 Med. J m l & Rec. CXXIV. 161/1 One
must keep clearly in mind in dealing ^vith pedophilia the
distinction between that mediating homosexuality, and the
much more pure perversion wliich is our subject.. . .
Hence paedophiliac, -philic adjs., pertaining to or
characterized by paedophilia; also ^ n ., a paedophilic person.
1927 Psychoanal Review XIV. 191 It is only in rare cases that
one encounters an individual who has pedophilic predilections
and at the same time is suffering from venereal disease. Ibid,
Krafft-Ebing. . . in his attempt at psychological explanation
falls back on ‘a morbid disposition only’ on the part of the
pedophalic [^/c] as the motivating factor___ 1960 Spectator 8
July 69 The .... survey . . . shows the paedophiliac to be a type
altogether
distinct
from
the
adult-seeking
homosexual---- 1976 Publishers Weekly 26 Apr. 52/1 He
contacted fellow pedophiliacs and through them was able to
sample many kinds of young girls.
In reality, there are mentally ill heterosexuals who are child molesters
and there are mentally ill homosexuals v^iio are child molesters. The only role
sexual orientation plays seems to be in selecting the victim. Nevertheless, the
Christian Right persists in painting only gay men as crazed child molesters and
abusers. For example, the Traditional Values Coalition’s web site religiously
reports any story that allegedly involves a gay man and child molestation, but
has nothing to say about the pedophile scandal in the Roman Catholic Church,
nor do they report on cases involving heterosexual (or Christian) child
molesters. According to the Partnership Against Child Abuse, one in four girls is
abused before the age of eighteen. Those pedophile abusers and molesters are
not gay men. According to PACA, the figure for boys is one in seven. Excluding