The emergence of the paedophile in the late twentieth century

Abstract

This article explores the cultural and historical conditions structuring the emergence of the category of the ‘paedophile’ in Western discourse in the latter part of the twentieth century. It argues not only that the ‘paedophile’ was an outgrowth of social and political power struggles around questions of normative masculinity and male sexuality, but also that homophobia played a central role in its formation. In addition to regulating social and intimate relations between men, women and children, the category of the ‘paedophile’ was homosexualised in order to demarcate ‘normal’ from ‘pathological’ masculinities.