Well in my case, as I've said, I'm referring to the literal definition of "pervert," in which people view our fetish as something unacceptable to society. Kinky, deviant, yes, that's what our fetish is, and I recognize and embrace that. That's what makes us what we are, and we shouldn't be considering it a bad thing...I agree with you on that one.
But indulging in "perverted" acts, true to the definition, in which it directly influences other people in a negative light and the one indulging has no understanding of the consequences of such an action...that's when I personally believe it could cause such negative feelings to fester within the vanilla community.
Control is key.
Okay, if you must split literal hairs.
🙂 While the term "pervert" may indeed be a somewhat more pejorative term in its literal sense, and may as well frequently be meant that way by those who might apply it to others in a serious way, I'm not sure it's quite that "cut and dry" even in it's most literal usage. For example, one source shown at the dictionary.com site lists these definitions for the
verb "pervert":
per·vert /v. pərˈvɜrt; n. ˈpɜrvərt/
Pronunciation[v. per-vurt; n. pur-vert] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object)
1. to affect with perversion.
2. to lead astray morally.
3. to turn away from the right course.
4. to lead into mental error or false judgment.
5. to turn to an improper use; misapply.
6. to misconstrue or misinterpret, esp. deliberately; distort: to pervert someone's statement.
7. to bring to a less excellent state; vitiate; debase.
8. Pathology. to change to what is unnatural or abnormal.
9. to convert or persuade to a religious belief regarded as false or wrong.
–noun
10. a person who practices sexual perversion.
11. Pathology. a person affected with perversion.
12. a person who has been perverted, esp. to a religious belief regarded as erroneous.
Note that of these 12 definitions, only one makes an explicit sexual reference. Then there's this definition for the noun form:
pervert
noun
1. a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
(Note the verb form of "deviates.")
Then there's this, from the same page:
pervert (v.)
c.1300 (trans.), "to turn someone aside from a right religious belief to a false or erroneous one," from O.Fr. pervertir, from L. pervertere "corrupt, turn the wrong way, turn about," from per- "away" + vertere "to turn" (see versus). The noun is 1661, from the verb. Replaced native froward, which embodies the same image. The noun is attested from 1661, "one who has forsaken a doctrine or system regarded as true, apostate;" psychological sense of
"one who has a perversion of the sexual instinct" is attested from 1897 (Havelock Ellis), originally esp. of homosexuals. Perv, short for sexual pervert (n.), is first recorded 1944.
These references suggest that the term relates to the "acceptability", or lack thereof, of sexual behavior. Note specifically the reference to homosexuality, which was once widely regarded, at least "publicly" as
unacceptable, but, if anything, today it might be widely considered "politically
incorrect" to regard it as such.
So, while at one time homosexuality was the act of a "pervert", and while it may still be so regarded by some, as homosexuality has become more "more acceptable" to many, in a manner of speaking homosexuality has become
less the act of a "pervert" than it once was.
So, it might seem that whether or not a person "is" a pervert has as much to do with what is considered "acceptable" by others as it does with the person's behavior itself. Since its definition obviously has this "relative" component, I have no problem accepting its application to myself. That is, I'm no more and no less a "pervert" than any homosexual is or
used to be.
😉
