I recently decided that I've seen the term "pedophile" applied to Nephrite once too often. In fact, "Nephrite the Pedophile" has become one of those stupid Sailor Moon stereotypes, like "Nephrite the Alcoholic" (he's shown taking one drink! One little drink! Don't bad guys get to relax sometimes?) and "Zoisite the Cross-dresser" (he dressed up like Sailor Moon ONE TIME! And it was Kunzite's idea... Maybe it's Kunzite's psyche that ought to come into question here) that can on rare occasions be used to good effect in parodies and funfics, but have, disturbingly, also managed to insinuate themselves into canon. People take it for granted that Nephrite is one of those nasty creatures known as "pedophiles" simply because of his interactions with a fourteen-year-old girl.

So I've taken it upon myself to do what none of the people throwing the word "pedophile" around appear to have done. I actually *gasp* looked up the clinical definition of "Pedophilia." Here it is, from the online Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology:

The recurrent, intense presence of sexual urges and fantasies of at least six months' duration, involving sexual activity with prepubescent children.

Okay, so now we have a definition. Let's look at it closely in terms of Nephrite's behavior concerning Naru. First of all, there's no evidence that he is feeling any sort of sexual urge or fantasy, intense and recurrent or otherwise, towards her. His behavior is predatory, but is not sexually motivated. This will be covered in more detail further down. Second, it's hard to tell the time line of the Nephrite-Naru arc, but it looks to me as though it takes place over a month or possibly a couple of months in late summer/early fall. Definitely not a whole six months. Third, true pedophiles are attracted towards prepubescent children.

If these recurrent fantasies, urges, and behaviors involve sexual activities with prepubescent children (generally age 13 or younger), the main diagnostic criterion for pedophilia is met. (Gale Encyclopedia, article by Lauri R. Harding)

Looking at Naru, I'd have to say that that girl is well on the far side of puberty. Physically, she's definitely an adult. And she is over the age of 13. Therefore, Nephrite's behavior fails to meet the three parts of the definition of "pedophilia."

Now, the interesting thing is that through most of the story arc, Nephrite does display a lot of the typical behaviors of the pedophile, towards Naru and towards his other targets, most notably Mika and her mother, the dollmakers.

They [pedophiles] instead rely on guile, persuasion, and friendship, often displaying great tenderness and affection toward the child of their desire. (Article cited)

All this stops when Nephrite does finally begin to realize that he feels something for Naru. The lies, the smooth sweet-talk, the flirting, the leading-on, all stop. In the last short while of his life, he treats her with honesty, respect, and true protectiveness. It's ironic - when Nephrite does realize his attraction to Naru, that's when his predatory behavior ends. I'd say this is far from pedophilia.

Some people would still say that the fact that he has feelings of love or affection towards a young teenage girl qualifies him as a pedophile. Pedophilia is purely about sexual desire, and *news flash* love and lust are not the same thing!

There is one major difference between pedophilic behavior and Nephrite's predatory behavior. Pedophiles will usually deny to themselves and anyone else that what they are doing is harmful to the child. They are convinced (or pretend to be convinced) that they are showing love to the victim and giving him/her a valuable educational experience. (Article cited.) Nephrite never once pretends that what he is doing is of some benefit to Naru. Until the end, when he goes to rescue her from the abandoned bar where the youma are holding her captive, his sole motivations are to promote the Dark Kingdom's victory and to save himself from Beryl's displeasure, and he never pretends, to himself or anybody else, to have any consideration for anything else.

Now, Naru is very young. It can be socially inappropriate for a man appearing to be about in his mid-twenties or so to have romantic feelings towards a 14-year-old girl, depending on the society. Our late-twentieth-century industrialized-nation norm of women marrying in their mid-twenties is far from a universal standard. In many periods of history, in many societies, and still in some societies today, girls are considered perfectly marriageable once they've passed through puberty. In fact, in such a society, a girl Naru's age would be considered fortunate to marry, at age 14 or 15, a wealthy, prominent, older man. To do so would give her security and social standing and ensure that she will be able to help support her parents in their old age rather than becoming a burden on them. If the man cares for her, then so much the better.

A relationship between an older man and a young teenage girl can also be emotionally inappropriate, depending upon the individuals involved. If the man is really looking to exploit an immature, naïve girl for his own selfish purposes, this is very bad for the girl. But, as shown above, Nephrite stops his predatory, exploitive behavior once he begins to realize his feelings for Naru. And Naru, though still a schoolgirl, displays an impressive amount of maturity in her courage and loyalty as she defends Nephrite.

And what about the age difference? Aside from that thousand years or so in the Dark Kingdom, Nephrite appears to be somewhere in his twenties. Various artbooks and manga put his age at around 19 to 22, which, honestly, I think is way too young for a man with his degree of power and status. I tend to think he's somewhere in his mid- to late-twenties. So we're talking a ten-to-fifteen year age difference. That is a difference, a significant difference when talking about a 14-year-old girl, but not disturbing. After all, he isn't old enough to be her father (well, maybe, technically he is, but we're not counting those thousand years in the Dark Kingdom, when, apparently, no aging took place). I have several friends who are married to older men; the age differences range from eight to nineteen years, and the women were ages twenty through twenty-four when the marriages took place. An age difference is not inherently a bad thing, provided that the older party's intentions are based on real affection and not a desire to exploit the younger party.

I've also seen the term "statutory rape" (or "stagatory rape," as one site puts it) applied to Nephrite and Naru's relationship. Statutory rape is sexual intercourse (consensual or non-consensual) between a legal adult and a minor. Maybe I missed something, but Neph and Naru never had sex. (At least not until they got into the fanfics.) My research has failed to turn up whether or not Japan actually has a statutory rape law; in general, Asia has lagged behind other parts of the industrialized world in passing this sort of child protection legislation.

Sex between an adult and a minor is a bad thing (unless it's a young husband and wife who just happen to bridge the legal age). The younger the minor, the worse it is. True pedophiles are disturbed and dangerous people who need to be helped, and if they can't be helped, which is usually the case, they should be locked away where they can't prey upon our children. I have children, and one of my worst nightmares is that one of them should fall victim to one of these people. And in modern, industrialized society, where the norm is for later marriage, an adult who pursues a blatantly unconventional sexual/romantic relationship with a young minor, as in the case of the U.S. schoolteacher who had two children fathered by her junior-high-student lover, often does have a problem. As for sex, I don't think anyone ought to have sex with anyone, regardless of age or gender, except in a committed, long-term, monogamous relationship (preferably marriage) after they've taken a generous amount of time to get to know each other.

Nephrite did prey on Naru, but he was not a pedophile. He wanted the Silver Crystal and Sailor Moon's identity, not sex. He did fall in love with her, but love is not the same thing as lust, and he stopped his predatory behavior after he realized that he had feelings of affection for her. The application of the term "pedophile" to their situation is wrong in two ways. It misrepresents and trivializes the true nature and seriousness of the disorder known as "pedophilia," and it misrepresents and distorts the true nature of Nephrite and Naru's relationship. In short, if people are going to go throwing a word around, they should make sure they know what it really means.

(August 2001)