Several of the essays are geared to assisting readers to “gain an understanding of childhood sexualities.” A chapter by Professor Ken Plummer claims to draw upon the theoretical work of the new social historians, the socialist feminists, the Foucauldians, and “constructionist” sociologists in order to build what he calls a “new and more fruitful approach to sexuality and children.” Plummer writes, “Rather than viewing sex as a unitary essence with a common meaning, it searches for the multi-layered complexity, historical diversity and situational ambiguity of ‘sex.’ ”ĭrawing upon the language of postmodern theory, Plummer maintains that we should no longer assume that childhood is a time of innocence simply because of chronological age. The book, according to one of its blurbs, “goes beyond the usual narrow views to shed critical light on the broad spectrum of man-boy love and its place in ancient and contemporary societies.” The collection of essays by American, Dutch, German, and English scholars - many with university teaching positions, argues strongly for male adult–child sex. While readers may be forgiven for thinking that Amazon is violating its own rules by allowing a book that promotes adult–child sex on its site, the truth is that Male Intergenerational Intimacy, as a work of gay scholarly literature, is in a protected category and is thus allowed to be sold. The current content guidelines for books at state clearly that the site will not include content that promotes pedophilia or the abuse or sexual exploitation of children: “We don’t sell certain content including content that we determine is hate speech, promotes the abuse or sexual exploitation of children, contains pornography, glorifies rape or pedophilia, advocates terrorism, or other material we deem inappropriate or offensive.”

One of the most often-cited sources justifying the relaxation of negative sanctions against male adult–child sex - or what the authors call “intergenerational intimacy” - this collection of essays was published in 1991 and has been sold on Amazon since it first began selling books. As a prime example, for decades it has sold Male Intergenerational Intimacy: Historical, Socio-Psychological, and Legal Perspectives - which attempts to normalize pedophilia - the ultimate in childhood sexual abuse.

Yet even before Amazon banned the sale of Anderson’s book - which attempts to invite readers to debate whether it is appropriate for children as young as five years old to “transition” to a different gender - the company had long been facilitating the sale of books on “taboo” subjects surrounding sexuality.

When harry became sally anderson