Pedojacketing and its overhead term predatorjacketing describe the process of trying to portray someone as a child molester or an abuser of some sort. This is often done through misrepresenting their interests or actions, spreading rumours or actively manufacturing evidence. A lot of times it amounts to nothing more than gesturing at literally anything the subject says and going "that's what a nonce would say", but in fandom a lot of times it takes the form of "can you believe they ship X/Y when Y is literally a minor" and other classic antishipper talking points.
It's different from false accusations in that often there isn't even an actual victim anyone can point to, and the people spreading the rumours are unrelated to the accusation itself. The intent is to ruin someone's reputation before they've done anything actually objectionable, by constantly portraying their motivations as suspect, and render the subject unable to defend themselves because both ignoring and responding to false rumours being spread about them can be used to strengthen the narrative.
Transphobia and homophobia both often contain a component of predatorjacketing, and the implication that the subject is a danger to the people around them -- especially children. The canard about the child-molesting queer is the driving force behind why people use predatorjacketing techniques against queer people so much.
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Pedojacketing and its overhead term predatorjacketing describe the process of trying to portray someone as a child molester or an abuser of some sort. This is often done through misrepresenting their interests or actions, spreading rumours or actively manufacturing evidence. A lot of times it amounts to nothing more than gesturing at literally anything the subject says and going "that's what a nonce would say", but in fandom a lot of times it takes the form of "can you believe they ship X/Y when Y is literally a minor" and other classic antishipper talking points.
It's different from false accusations in that often there isn't even an actual victim anyone can point to, and the people spreading the rumours are unrelated to the accusation itself. The intent is to ruin someone's reputation before they've done anything actually objectionable, by constantly portraying their motivations as suspect, and render the subject unable to defend themselves because both ignoring and responding to false rumours being spread about them can be used to strengthen the narrative.
Transphobia and homophobia both often contain a component of predatorjacketing, and the implication that the subject is a danger to the people around them -- especially children. The canard about the child-molesting queer is the driving force behind why people use predatorjacketing techniques against queer people so much.