Re: Wikipedia's strange definitions of 'philias'

"The DSM carries no more scientific weight than the Malleus Malleficarum, and likely much less.

Treat it like it deserves to be treated, please."

### Absolutely true, and sorry I didn't point this out in my post. The DSM is practically a politically represented/driven thing than it is 'scientific'.

"Also, while I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment of the ages, I do regard as different the attraction to the prepubescent, peripubescent and postpubescent, even though all might be present in the same person - much the same as I regard as different within the pre-pubescent palette the preference for the late pre-pubescent (pre-teen, usually but not always, as "pre-teen" tends to imply a number more than a stage) as different to the attraction to elem-schoolers, preschoolers, toddlers or infants... I would also regard as different a preference for high schoolers from a preference for college aged, twenties, thirties, forties or fifties, even admitting all belong within the adult palette."

### Concurred. But I do think that people tend to place too much emphasis and generalization on numerical age per se...as you said, it's more to do with STAGE rather than AGE. For example, one person at say 40 might look about as old as another person at 20-- there's a continuum of variety in how different people age and develop. There are many people out there that fall into the "ambiguous or indeterminable age". As for the expression 'pre-teen', I tend to think of it in a sense of pre TEN. There's single figure ages, ten agers, twenty agers, thirty agers etc).It also fits in more aptly in terms of sexual development too. Many people seem to equate "pre-teen" with pre-pubescent, which from my own personal experience I don't see as generally true. I remember when I was at school, most girls were showing clear signs of pubescence by the time they were 9 or 10, rather than 13. In my area it was virtually unheard of to encounter 12 yo prepubescents. So that's why I personally do not equate pre TEEN with pre-pubescent.