ABSTRACT
In Chapter 4 I raise questions about desires, in particular sexual desires, which become problematic for children who are sexually abused. Early and inappropriate exposure to sexual interaction may lead to the development of sexual desires in children which are likely to be seen as wrong or at least problematic, if not “unnatural”. I begin with a discussion of some recent literature on the nature and meaning of desire and some of the major distinctions made in that literature: desire as lack vs. desire as productive, for example. I use work from Laurence Thomas to help articulate what is wrong with desires adults have for sexual contact with children, and then reflect on the experience of being an object of wrong desire myself, and the kinds of questions such an experience raises about one’s own behavior and identity. A recent reading of Kant offers an explanation of why wrong desires seem so prevalent, as they are connected with the perceived need to experience oneself as imposing one’s will on others and the world. I use Sandra Bartky and a reading of Aristotle to show that desires once formed are intransigent, and that this is not simply a matter of weakness of will, but rather of a conditioned inability to take “proper” pleasure in “proper” activities.
