>>17843832
>Many boys said the men understood them and that they could talk with the man about everything—their worries and problems—and receive emotional support. One boy described his relationship as a "special bond." The boys also felt they could learn from the men—develop a skill or talent, learn about society and life, or learn about sex. A few boys said they felt neglected by their parents, but most described positive relationships with parents, saying they got along well with them and could talk with them about their problems. Thus, the author concluded that it is incorrect to assume that all children who enter into pedophile relationships do so due to neglect or other problems with parents. However, there were a few situations where parents were divorced, unwed, or unable or unwilling to provide for their children's material or emotional needs, and the man provided "a welcome supplement….In such relationships the dependence of the younger partner is greater. As a result a strong interpersonal bond can develop between the two." On the other hand, in the homes where the environment seemed more positive, there was more chance that the parents were aware of the sexual aspect of their son's relationship, which thus became more integrated into the boy's home life. In these cases, the relationship had “a kind of 'surplus' significance.”

>The ancient Greeks practiced an institutionalized form of pederasty where men were paired with boys in a sexualized, pedagogical relationship
>In Rome it was common for men to have sexual relations with boys, including various emperors; although later laws prohibited sex with freeborn boys, these laws were rarely enforced
>The majority of men in Renaissance Florence according to court records were implicated in sodomy with boys
>In Japan both Buddhist monks and Samurai practiced ritualized pederasty, these relationships were characterized by intense, mutual love; the practice continued until the Meiji era
>The Chinese practiced it for millennia, only gave it up in the 19th century due to upsetting Westerners
>Accepted practice in Korea for millennia, kings and nobility openly kept "boy-wives"
>The ancient Celts practiced pederasty according to various Greek and Roman sources
>Until the 19th century, it was common in Muslim societies; attraction to boys was viewed as common and comparable to attraction to women; although technically forbidden by the law, men still had sexual relations with boys
>Various tribes in Papua New Guinea believe pairing a man with a boy to anally or orally "inseminate" them is necessary for their development
>During the Nazi expedition to Tibet, it was discovered that pederasty was widespread among the monks
>Missionaries during the sixteenth and seventeenth century noted that pederasty was common among the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incans
>Countless other societies and many tribes around the world are noted by ethnographers to practice or have practiced pederasty

Yet today, the practice is universally abhorred, the attraction viewed as aberrant, and instead of being viewed as a positive relationship which is conducive to a boy's development, pederastic relationships are invariably viewed as corruptive.

Why was this so common in the past? Why did people believe that these relationships were somehow beneficial to a boy's development?