Sex and Candy

By Crispin Sartwell

The timing could not be better, and it could not be worse.

Judith Levine's book "Harmful to Minors," which argues that sex among children or even in some circumstances between children and adults, is normal and positive, has caused a firestorm of controversy.

The sexual abuse of minors seems to be the theme of the moment. Samantha Runnion. Elizabeth Smart. Catholic priests. R. Kelly.

Even before the latest round of sensational stories, Levine was having trouble getting her book published. And after the book's appearance was roundly condemned, the book's publisher (the University of Minnesota Press) promised a review of its acquisition policies, even while continuing to promote the book heavily.

Let me say one thing from the getgo: the book absolutely warranted publication. It is in many ways an exemplary work of reportage: Levine has spent many years on the issue, and is a master of all the relevant data. And her arguments are often compelling, as when she shows about as clearly as possible that the conservative approach to sex education - teaching abstinence exclusively - is unrealistic and ineffective in the prevention of teen pregnancy and disease.

Nevertheless, I disagree with the basic thesis of the book: that the sexual abuse of children is extremely unusual and that focusing on it constitutes a kind of public hysteria, a delusory witch-hunt.

I myself was sexually abused by a male relative. And more to the point, I was continually approached by "chicken-hawks" - gay men who focus on adolescents - throughout my teen years: on buses, in stores, on the street. I never told anyone about any of these experiences, and it seems likely to me that the problem is still very much under-reported. In my opinion, there are many adults whose sexuality focuses on children.

Levine makes the following very simple error: she argues that the lack of evidence that the sexual abuse of children is common shows that it is in fact uncommon, and that the lack of evidence that it is traumatic is evidence that it is not.

Here the scandal in the priesthood should give us pause. As soon as the stories began to trickle out, they became a flood. As soon as the stigma surrounding such experiences began to dissipate, many people began to come forward.

It seems to me that the stigma surrounding the experience of being abused by men is particularly strong among boys, and that we are only beginning to find out how common it is, and how damaging.

Now Levine might perhaps respond that I am working from my own experiences, which have no real weight as evidence of a widespread problem. Indeed, she roundly condemns the use of anecdotal evidence, and the media obsession to which unusual cases such as that of Elizabeth Smart give rise.

But there is, we might say, also no very good evidence that child sexual abuse is not common, and Levine herself continually argues from anecdotes and unusual cases, discussing at length individual situations in which, for example, a thirteen-year-old girl enthusiastically participated in a relationship with a twenty-one-year old man who is now serving ten to twenty years for "raping" her.

Levine's logic is often inferior to her information. The book is nothing if not tendentious: it grabs at every scrap of information that can be twisted toward its argument. For example, she reports a study of Bryn Mawr students: "The young women wrote about thrilling games of porn star, prostitute, rape, and slave girl, all at ages in the single digits, indicating that the pairing of sex and aggression or sex and power differences, too, may be 'normal.'"

If my kids were playing porn star, not to speak of rape, at ages in the single digits, I would be upset and concerned.

But Levine opens a debate that we must have. And we need to have it in as calm and open a way as we can. So "Harmful to Minors," despite what I regard as its problems, is an important book that deserves a wide audience.

The impulse to suppress it is wrong and counter-productive. The proper response is to take its arguments with the seriousness they deserve, and , where necessary, to answer them.

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Crispin Sartwell writes from Railroad, PA. Contact him through www.crispinsartwell.com