Should Pedophili Can It Be Considered A Sexual Orientation?

“...an individual with [pedophilia] has the same ingrained attraction that a heterosexual female may feel towards a male, or a homosexual feels towards their same gender.” (Johnston, Pg. 1). Pedophilia - “the fantasy or act of sexual activity with children who are generally age 13 years or younger” (American Psychiatric Association, p.1) - a word that holds multiple negative connotations, is often seen as aberrant thought process or behavior, and is under debate as to whether or not it’s a sexual orientation. But can it be considered a sexual orientation? As a member of the LGBT community, this issue has surfaced among us and shocked the majority. Pedophilia is under consideration for being a sexual orientation, however, it completely

It may relate to the gender of a said child, but, it’s going beyond the meaning of sexual orientation. The pedophilic person in question may be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual but that doesn’t correspond to the person's sexual interest being solely in children. As the person under observation would be attracted to a male, female, or non-binary genders, going into the depths of what age group or the features they’re attracted to would be under the category of a fixation or fetish rather than a sexual orientation. A fetish - “Something, such as a material object or nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification” (The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary) - relates more to the specific item or characteristic under the sexual

In other words, an individual with [pedophilia] has the same ingrained attraction that a heterosexual female may feel towards a male, or a homosexual feels towards their same gender.” (Johnston, Pg. 1). This argument suggests that in the same way that a homosexual is attracted to the same gender and cannot change it, that a pedophile goes under the same category within sexual orientation. However, I strongly disagree. The reason being for my disagreement is that using sexual orientation to describe something has to do with what’s between that person's legs, NOT the features they are attracted