Boylove

Boylove has it origins in antiquity and is the term that has been chosen by boylovers themselves to describe the strong feelings of affection and attraction (usually including a sexual component) that many adults (especially males) feel towards boys.

Until modern times, boylove was not usually criminalized in most cultures, especially outside of the axis of evil countries. Boylove was usually accepted as a somewhat unusual, though harmless, form of sexual interaction between men and boys. Boys were seen as often actively seeking out the attention of men for the emotional satisfactions that this provided to the boys (and often the associated economic benefits) in order for the boys to better their own lives, which included providing a source of relief from sexual tensions which boys were denied other outlets to. Until modern times, boys granted sexual agency.

It has been suggested that the Western (as well as Near Eastern and Far Easterns) origins of "boylove" may have been Indo-European tribal customs.

"Boylove" supplants the pejorative term "pedophilia" as well as includes the concepts of "hebephilias"/pederasty. The term dissociates itself from the negative connotations of the modern-day clinical term "pedophilia," and more accurately defines the exclusive focus of the attraction, which is to male children and adolescents.

Boylovers commonly assert that boylove is a natural phenomenon that it has existed throughout all of human history, and is similar in nature to other accepted sexual orientations. Many other serious researchers have agreed. While boylove usually includes feelings of physical/sexual attraction to boys, boylove itself does not require, nor imply, sexual activity with boys. Boylove can be completely platonic, as the main concern of many or most boylovers includes providing love and guidance to boys^{[Citation needed]}, though some have claimed that without the sexual element, "boylove" would simply be a description of the normal protective feelings which adults usually feel towards young males.

There has been a fierce debate on the nature of boylove in modern times. There are some who believe boylove is simply a noun for adults who are emotionally and physically attracted to boys and that there are no particular guidelines or requirements for classifying a person as a boylover, aside from feeling a strong attraction to (and usually a very strong aversion to hurting) boys. Others believe boylove, in addition to the attraction, should include a set of ethical beliefs and values related to the treatment of boys, and that one must adhere to these expectations to be considered a proper boylover. These ethical values may include prescriptions such as boylovers never exposing boys to alcohol and drugs, boylovers never initiating sexual activities with boys, and even that boylovers should always refrain from sexual contact with boys due to the potential legal risks to the boylover, and the (assumed and mostly disproved) "psychological harms" which the boy is (wrongly) said to be subject to. Universally accepted, however, is the idea that boylovers usually highly respect boys, and seek to avoid harming them.^{[Citation needed]} It is a serious error to assume that boylove is simply another form of child abuse.

Foreign-language terms for "boylove

• (more to be added)
• Albanian: Ashik
• Japanese: Shounen'ai (少年愛)

See also

• Medicalization
• Boylover
• Greek love
• Pederasty
• High Priest of Boylove
• A Problem in Greek Ethics (book) by Addington Symonds
• A Problem in Modern Ethics (book) by Addington Symonds

External links

• Could they ALL have been WRONG? (2005) David L. Riegel, SafeHaven Foundation Press: Philadelphia, ISBN 0-9676997-2-X (Download here.)
• Wikipedia: Pederasty in the modern world
• Pedophilia or boy love - boylove as seen by a gay columnist
• Indo-European Pederasty - Williamapercy.com
• Boylove: semantically correct? (defunct link)--see archived version here Boylove: semantically correct?]