In the long term, shifting societal views on pedophilia to be more in line with reality would have a powerful positive impact. As people's views change and they begin to realize that we are not the monsters that the media portrays, it opens the door to significant change that will benefit many generations of BLs.

In the short term, changing views are detrimental to us. The view of the pedophile as a soulless, selfish monster who views children as sexual objects to be abused for his own pleasure works wonders for us. As long as people have a view of pedophiles that is so far removed from reality, they remain blind to the pedophiles living in their midst and befriending their children. As long as they believe the pedophile caricature the media pushes, they are unable to fathom the fact that we might be pedophiles. The modern view of the pedophile works in our favor by eliminating us as possible pedophiles in the eyes of the public. As long as we do not fit that fantastical image of the psychopathic pedophile that people believe to be accurate, we can easily remain unsuspected; people will actually go through mental acrobatics to explain away obvious signs because they know in their heart that you are not like those evil pedophiles so you can't possibly be one. Thus the fact that society has a view of pedophiles that is so grossly misinformed works in our favor by keeping them from realizing that we are pedophiles.

Therein lies the paradox. Do we sacrifice our own safety, bring more suspicion to ourselves, by destroying the caricature of the evil pedo? Do we give up our own safety so that future generations of pedophiles might have the opportunity to live their lives in harmony with society? Chances are that we will never reap the rewards of such a sacrifice, we will merely reap the consequences. So, is it really worth it? Is living as social outcasts so terrible that we would be willing to sacrifice our own safety to save future generations from that fate? I would argue no. We have our own society, our own subculture, a place where we are free to be ourselves even as we live an undercover lifestyle within ordinary society. With little to no chance of being accepted into society at large within our lifetime, I would argue that the sacrifices that come with pushing for change are not worth it.