Public version of this thread: https://girlsarethebe.st/forum/t...k4wsiy6iz/page/1 - feel free to adapt or paste your responses here.

I intentionally have not used the term "Minor Attracted Person" on this site, because I think that it misrepresents us as a group, and reinforces the misconceptions people have. Someone being classified as a "minor" is irrelevant to what we are attracted to and why, and focusing on it makes it sound like the orientation is caused by the legal power imbalance, which I reject. If laws changed tomorrow, and nobody were legally a "minor" anymore, we obviously would not suddenly be attracted to no one.

I think for many the idea of being a girl's protector or mentor is very appealing, but I don't think those feelings are about having more status or authority or power - they are about being able to give something of high and unique value to someone that you love.

To help people get a better idea of what this site is and who it is for, please answer:

What does "girl love" mean to you?

What is a "girl lover"?

Why is this community important to you?

To me girl love is the appreciation of everything that is beautiful about them.

Not just physical beauty, but everything on the inside too. Their imagination and creativity, the lack of judgement which isn't learned until later in life, the fun playful approach to life. The smiles and giggles that can't fail to put a grin on your own face.

Of course, these things can apply to boys too, but girls are just so much cuter.

A communtiy like GATB is important as it can provide support, information and maybe even advice from like minded individuals. It also provides a safe space to talk about things that couldn't normally be discused in other places without fear of retribution.

I think you're right Saltwater, ultimately I don't think it is ever really about the age as the number, or the "minor" status, but more about the things that come with it.

Things like a certain innocence, simplicity, a mind that looks at the world with fresh eyes untouched by cynicism, something that makes one want to share in that, admire it, return to that, and protect it. A "Beginners Mind" so to speak, that can marvel at a strange looking plant and be fully present in the moment.

Of course, the physical aesthetics are an aspect too, only reinforcing these things visually.

A community like this, I think, can enable people to get back in touch with that, to for a moment remember the simple, "childish" things in life, before we go back to paying rent, politics, and general adulting.

"Girl love" to me means my love for little girls. It also means treating little girls with respect and honour. It represents all my feelings toward little girls, which includes the sexual, romantic, and emotional components of my attraction. I think that it is a more accurate descriptor of my overall feelings, so it is my preferred term to identify myself. My attraction to little girls is not just about the raw sexual attraction, it is so much deeper than that.

"Girl-love" to me represents my desire to be friends with little girls, know what their favourite colour is and all the names their stuffed animals, my desire that they feel safe, happy, and comfortable, and so much more...

I often use "girl-lover" as a general descriptor for paedophiles that are attracted to little girls. However, I would also consider that "girl-lovers" must have some level of romantic or emotional attachment to little girls rather than just pure sexual attraction. That being said, everybody is welcome to join, nobody is a bad person for what they are most interested in.

In addition, I consider "girl-lover" to be a positive terms that represents the good qualities of a paedophilia, specifically most strongly the love and care for little girls. As such, I consider it a prerequisite that "girl-lovers" must treat little girls with respect and honour. This does not mean that a "girl-lover" cannot be a flawed person, all it takes to be a "girl-lover" is to be nice to little girls.

"Paedophile" is a neutral term that describes an individual that has a primary or exclusive attraction to children. I like this term and I do not think it is a bad, but "paedophile" generally refers only to the sexual attraction. As such, this is why I think a term like "girl-lover" is important.

"Girl-love" represents more than just that. It is the the butterflies in your stomach when see a cute little girl, your desire to play with her and be her new best friend, your wish to make her feel safe, happy, and comfortable. It is the depth of the love and feelings for the little girls that you cherish so deeply. Your heart screams that girls are the best and you want the best for them.

This community is important for me because it is the feeling of safety from the harsh and hateful judgemental world. Participating on this forum helps me feel better about my sexuality. I feel less alone, because I am with people that understand how I feel. I am with people that are like me, they feel the same love for little girls that I do.

It is difficult to be a paedophile. You are constantly reminded how much the world hates you and wants you dead. You are treated like you are a monster that is doomed to be evil and hurt children in the worst ways possible. On GATB, I do not have to feel like this. Because of my participation on GATB, I feel better about myself and feel like my attraction to little girls can be a good and positive thing. It keeps the unavoidable influence from the vicious societal hatred at bay. It is indispensable for my peace of mind and mental well-being.

This is one of the few places that I can express my love for little girls without feelings of judgement or hostility. In addition, I like the focus on security and the rules that keep this place safe and legal. I like the general atmosphere, it is friendly and positive. I like that it is casual and laid-back. Paedophile support does not have to be grave and serious, it can be light-hearted, friendly, and even silly. I laugh constantly when I am in chat, sometimes people are absolutely hilarious.

I like that everybody is welcome regardless whether they are pro-contact or anti-contact. There is a focus on friendliness and support rather than creating needless schisms and conflict. I am anti-contact myself, I feel like this community is very tolerant and inclusive of people with all manners of views and positions. I believe that this community can connect the "two sides" which up until know seemed completely hostile in a harmonious and cooperative manner.

You are touching on language, which itself can be a touchy subject today. I've never liked the term MAP either, just for the reason you stated. It sets the understanding of who you are attracted to in legal terms, and if that's not tacky enough, the term "minor" automatically evokes ideas about young people that stamp "vulnerable" onto their forehead, and therefore we must be imposing on that vulnerability. It's a stupid term. In my opinion.

When you get older, you start to remember what terms used to mean and how fairly recently the meaning is changed, either from non-offensive to offensive, or the other way, from offensive to non-offensive. Someone 19-years-old says to me, how can you use that term to describe someone? Why? Because the meaning of the word still means what it used to mean to me. It's you who have been taught to believe it has derision or hate behind it. Meanwhile, I hear some young girl of 12 or 13 dropping casual F-bombs to her friends in front of an elderly lady and I want to go off on her for it. Language has power and so do the terms we use.

Notice how the term "homeless" has been traded in for "un-housed" in some circles today. Can you see what that change does? It places the responsibility upon the community rather than the individual living on the street, but why? How do you know what caused that person to be in that situation? Oftentimes it's their own behaviors and refusal to accept help to correct it. That's not other people's responsibility.

I see the same sneakiness in the term MAP, but maybe it wasn't intentional. Defining the attraction that way puts you at a loss before the debate even begins though, and I don't like it.

I do like "girl lover" because it doesn't have any political or legal weight to it. It's pretty straighforward and covers it all pretty well, no matter what your personal limits may be. Meanwhile, a pedo just means a sexual attraction to kids. You don't have to be a girl lover to be a pedo, even though in some other places on the internet I see them used interchangably. You don't have to love girls at all to be a pedo. You can even hate them so long as you are sexually attracted to them in some warped negative kind of way. But you can be a girl loving pedo as well. This is obvious to many who've been around in this world for a time, but it's honestly not understood by everyone.

To me, girl love means something that is all-encompassing, with physical attraction being only one component. I love not just how they look, but the way they act, the way they think, they way they learn, the seemingly effortless way they can shower other people with love and how healing that love can feel when you are lucky to be on the receiving end of it. It's something that borders on the magical for me. They remind me of simple joys, honest expressions (usually), and the natural state of humanity to just be free and enjoy the experiences of life as they always do. I'm also watching the early stages of who knows what kind of adult she will be in the future. You can make general predictions and you can hope, but you never know for sure how they will turn out. Looking back though, you can see traits when they are older and say yes, she ALWAYS had that trait. It's a marvel to me. Like I said, it's magical. They are worth protecting and helping along the way more than anything else I have found in life. That's girl love to me.

A girl lover places the honest needs and well-being of girls before his own desires.

The girl lover community to me is important because it offers a place to be honest about my love of girls to a point that the general public demonizes in its wayward misunderstandings of who we really are. If you're lucky, you eventually discover a few people you trust and who share other interests that you have, and for those of us in padlocked closets, we would have no commeradery at all if not for these communities. I personally think it helps keep many of us sane and functional if not completely happy, and these self-imposed moral rules we follow help to keep girls safer too, compared to those who are merely pedo and never think beyond their urges.

We do a lot for one another. If not one another, then who?