Part III of Daniel Bergner's masterpiece The Other Side of Desire left me with unanswered questions: Is the desire to be with the underage instilled at birth or is it learned through behavior or sexual abuse? Can someone truly change and completely dismiss their attractions or are they simply being repressed?
The case study of Roy seems to suggest that the pedophilia desires never disappears.
Roy's story was fascinating. At some points, I found myself empathetic for him and at points I was utterly disgusted with his behaviors. This book argues that a person can not control their desires. Roy was described as a loyal, hard working man. Joan Tabachnick states, "They are not monsters. They are us." (p.120) Can these desires be controlled? I am still not sure.
Roy knew what he did was not morally correct, but he could not help it. He was sexually attracted to his twelve year old daughter and attempted to have sexual relations with her. This would seem disgusting and wrong to any "normal" individual, but what if Roy simply could not help himself? I am not in any way justifying his actions, but what if he is simply only attracted to younger children?
One could make a parallel argument to the idea that homosexuality is instilled from birth. A person's sexual desires and attractions can be tamed but never fully repressed. Roy's struggle to fit into society's norms was very hard to read. He simply could not get over the fact that he was always going to desires younger women.
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