Pederasty in VERBATIM

[Ron Butters]

Am I the only person who is troubled by the following passage in "Assing
Around" (by Jessy Randall and Wendy Woloson; VERBATIM, vol 22, no. 2, Spring
1999): ". . . a male pederast . . . is . . . in search of _a piece of ass_.
(In prison slang, a _butt pussy_ is an anus" (p8).
     It seems to me that this confuses anal intercourse, homosexual acts, and
child molestation! In fact, the use of the term _a piece of ass_ in the sense
'anal sexual penetration' is neither necessarily nor sufficiently related to
pederasty (the sexual molestation of children). Pederasty may involve any one
of several sexual acts that do not necessarily implicate the anus at all.
Likewise, anal sexual penetration is practiced by many couples, not just
"male pederasts." The phrases _taking it up the ass_ and _taking it in the
ass_ (both of which the authors inexplicably overlook) are frequently
employed to describe this widespread sexual practice.