ABSTRACT

Societal constructions of childhood sexuality influence legal understandings of children. Most minors cannot legally consent to sex. They may engage in sex voluntarily, but sometimes the law classifies voluntary sex as rape rather than consensual sex. One legal premise for prosecuting child pornography is the government’s perception that children are vulnerable, forced, or violated victims of sexual abuse rather than willing participants in pornography. Children’s alleged sexual purity and naïveté provide rationales for the government’s prohibition against children possessing pornography.