I focused more on the social aspect mainly because that is easier to define than the harm man/boy sex can do to the boy in and of itself without regard to the social norms. I'm not a psychologist. And besides, many boylovers already insist that ALL the harm comes from the social taboos associated with it, Frankly, that's hard to disprove because you can't separate the two. But I CAN tell you that when I was molested as a boy (or you can say I was made love to if you don't like that word) I DID NOT like it even though physically it felt good. In my situation the social norms never came into play, but it HAS affected me, even to this day. I don't believe this was why I became sexually attracted to boys, and I really can't say for sure HOW it has affected me, but it has, and not in a good way. The fact that this is something I'm still dealing with even after all these years was brought back to me a few months ago. My sister came back to town to go to her class reunion. While interacting with her old school chums from our old neighborhood, she heard all the latest news about what happened to who. When she was telling me all about it, she mentioned that a certain man who we both knew from the old neighborhood had died. My sister didn't know it, but this was my molester. I hadn't thought about him in many years. But just hearing his name really sent me into a funk for a few days. I'm not really sure why. No, I wasn't glad he was dead, and I don't really hate him. I just wish it had never happened. My emotional reaction to hearing about him surprised me. I thought I had handled what happened a long time ago and "put it to rest" so to speak. Apparently not. I obviously still have issues with it.

Please don't ask me to go into detail about our relationship or what specifically happened. I don't want to dredge it up any more than I already have, and I don't want what happened dissected by a bunch of people from every conceivable angle. I only mention it because I don't have any data or studies to illustrate that it's more than social norms that can cause harm. Even if I could quote studies and expert opinions, there are those who would debunk it all anyway saying it's all tainted by one thing or another. Some people believe whatever makes them most comfortable. Come to think of it, some people will probably debunk what happened to me and why I was affected in a negative way. I anticipate that some may be thinking that it must not have been a loving relationship, or that it really was the social norms that caused me harm, I just don't realize it, or whatever. People are free to believe whatever they want, and I don't really care about that. What I care about is that whatever people believe, I hope they refrain from being sexual with a boy. That's why I've spent so much time on this subject. I'm not necessarily trying to make anyone believe as I do. I'm just trying to give people some things to think about, so that if anyone is ever in the situation where he has to decide about being sexual with his YF, maybe what I've written might give him pause, and hopefully he'll choose to keep it platonic. Cat, I know you and Blackstone and most others here wouldn't cross that line. But this board is read by many.

Thanks for replying. After I saw how long my post was, I wasn't sure if anyone would even read the whole thing. :)

Dakota