American intellectuals have mixed record on sexual exploitation of children
December 20, 2011
While pundits today are unanimous in condemning sexual abuse of children--especially by Catholic priests--the record was not always so clear, notes Anne Hendershott. In recent decades one scholarly book--with a foreword by Jocelyn Elders, the former Surgeon General of the US--blamed religious conservatives for policies "that would deny minors access to sexual expression." The Journal of Homosexuality published a special issue in 1990 dedicated to "inter-generational intimacy." And to this date the Vagina Monologues, featuring a sexual liaison between a 13-year-old girl and an adult woman, remains popular on college campuses.
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