thread: could pedophiles appear on stage?

## thread: could pedophiles appear on stage?

#### 26 April 2020
from twitter and bluesky threads

### bly

| Representation for us is very difficult in film or using our own identities. Could theatre have a solution? For some of us, it's a big risk to appear in audio using our own voices (which is why though I was desperate to appear on @Preventionintvn's podcast, I had to rely on the voice and generously given time of an advocate. Other people use voice > > modification instead but this is (a) potentially vulnerable to reverse engineering and (b) makes our voices sound weird and distorted, like we're not quite human. The problem: It's really hard for people to recognise our humanity when we have to dehumanise ourselves > > and I wonder if there could be another way. Some people are enormously brave, like Todd Nickerson, appearing as himself on camera with @LAHWF https://youtube.com/watch?v=GOb493ued-g - but I doubt too many of us are going to follow suit... There is one other approach, though, > > (which has been around quite a while) called #verbatimtheatre in which actors read out the words, exactly as spoken, of someone interviewed beforehand. It's used for all kinds of purposes, but one of the most effective is in giving a human physical presence and a voice to > > people whose voice cannot easily be heard, and who might otherwise be invisible. This is exactly the situation of most MAPs. There are some of us, maybe, who have offended and thereby lost their employability and safety who perhaps (perhaps!) have less reason to care > > about the world being able to link their real identity with their MAPness. But non-offending MAPs have that thing of being able to remain anonymous in the world. It's obviously helpful in some ways to be invisible, but in other ways it's a deep well of loneliness. > > I am hoping that some verbatim theatre makers with a platform might take a look at our situation, consider whether they can do anything with our voices, and whether there's a human story there that they would consider representing, in whatever way they think is balanced. :: About the author: I have been writing and talking about the experience of being a pedophile since 2017. Once on twitter until my account was banned in 2020, I co-led Virtuous Pedophiles from 2021 to 2025. I now continue to look for ways to improve the lives of pedophiles, but never at the expense of harming children. I have never viewed illegal material, and never sought or engaged in sexual activity with any child. The rest of my life is countryside walking, friends, Radio 3 and feeling doleful about ageing. |

tags for this item

tags for this item

censorship36
public perception40
social media37

other relevant items

other relevant items

map fallacy 10: blind gatekeeper fallacy |  | seto on cp |  | thread: window shoppers and thieves
bly Why do people talk as if they have the tools to exclude MAPs from society? |  | ethan edwards Police take some pains to make sure you really are a pedophile before they prosecute. |  | bly People say that all we want to do is rape children. But this doesn't describe us well.

map fallacy 10: blind gatekeeper fallacy bly Why do people talk as if they have the tools to exclude MAPs from society?
seto on cp ethan edwards Police take some pains to make sure you really are a pedophile before they prosecute.
thread: window shoppers and thieves bly People say that all we want to do is rape children. But this doesn't describe us well.