Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 02:31, 24 August 2011

Paraphilic infantilism, also known as autonepiophilia and adult baby syndrome is a sexual fetish that involves an individual acting like an infant and includes behaviors such as drinking from a bottle and wearing diapers. It can also role-playing where the individual may symbolically regress back to an infant like state. Masochism and humiliation is a common theme, though some infantilists focus on gentle and nurturing experiences instead of coercion or punishment. Within the community of diaper wearers, an individual who engages only in the erotic or sexual aspect of diaper wearing without experiencing any accompanying regression fantasies is commonly known as a diaper lover. An adult who only engages in the infantilistic play aspect is known as an adult baby. An adult who may experience both of these things is referred to as an AB/DL. When wearing diapers, infantilists may urinate or defecate in them.

Characteristics

Adult babies may roleplay as a baby or small child for erotic stimulation and this behavior is considered the signature expression of paraphilic infantilism. This may involve the use of adult-sized diapers and baby clothes or toys and furniture such as a crib to lend reality to the infantilist fantasy. If a partner is willing, adult babies may engage in parent-baby roleplay. A typical scenario might then involve being bathed, powdered and changed into diapers by one's partner, before being put to bed with a baby bottle. Thereafter the adult baby may be comforted and pampered by their partner in the role of the parent and their diapers might be changed if wet or dirty. For some infantilists, however, the ritual might instead involve being scolded, spanked or chastised for having wet dirtied their diapers. In this latter instance the mode of arousal is masochistic. The adult baby may choose not to engage in sex while engaged in a baby role, since it is not babylike, or may engage in limited sex play including masturbation. Indeed, the erotic pleasure derived from either of these forms of infantilism may often replace the need for sexual intercourse in reaching orgasm. Diaper lovers typically do not imagine themselves as babies. Rather, they more often see themselves as adults who are drawn to wearing diapers.

In practice, the boundary between the adult babies and diaper lovers is often fluid and both share a range of interests revolving around consensual adult diaper-play. Diaper lovers may sometimes enjoy engaging in infantilism while adult babies may find themselves sometimes wearing diapers purely for physical pleasure. It is common for adult babies and diaper lovers to describe themselves as 'mostly AB' or 'mostly DL,' based on which end of the spectrum of infantilist practices they engage in most frequently. Those with urophilia and coprophilia may also enjoy similar infantilist practices.

Being forced to wear diapers and be treated like an infant may also appear as a behavior among masochists.

Other contrasts

Pedophilia

Confusing infantilism with pedophilia is a common misunderstanding, though infantilists will exclusively engage in role-playing with other adults. Sexologist Gloria Brame states that "...infantilists who recognize and accept their sexuality - and its possible roots in infantile trauma - tend to be acutely protective of real children."

Other infantilisms

The term "paraphilic infantilism" is usually shortened to "infantilism". This can lead to some misunderstandings, since the term can also mean "lacking development". People with Mental retardation have never achieved average maturity, in contrast to adult babies, who actively set their maturity aside. In turn, the term psychosexual infantilism referred to those who had not "matured" through Freud's psychosexual stages into heterosexuality. Similarly, Wilhelm Stekel used "psychosexual infantilism" as a category, similar to paraphilia, including paraphilic infantilism as well as other paraphilias and sexual orientations.

Sissy babies, cross-dressing

A sissy baby is a male AB/DL who mixes gender play with infantilism. This cross-dressing might involve stereotypical or exaggerated "little girl" clothing, such as panties or dresses. Sissies are not necessarily transsexual in that, while some might be expressing an alter ego that is a baby girl, they might not wish to be an adult woman at other times. Alternatively, some transgender people simply participate in ageplay as their gender identity as an extension of their transgender life. Similarly, some sissy baby's partake in this activity as a means of humiliation, and have no desire to be a female or have such an alter ego.

Medical aspects

Infantilism, as with many other non-offending paraphilias, is scarcely represented within the medical literature. This has partly been attributed to the fact that the paraphilias, even when harmless, as with infantilsm, have generally been observed to be secretive or closeted behaviors. Thus, conditions that do not produce distress in self or others, that do not have any legal ramifications and that do not result in functional impairment may escape medical knowledge and systems of classifications. Similarly, many infantilists may not consider themselves as suffering from a medical condition and may not want to change their paraphilic behavior. This is a common issue among individuals with paraphilias. Individuals with paraphilic infantilism may seek therapy for other issues, or be encouraged or coerced to seek treatment if discovered by others. Given these issues, the potential of anonymous internet surveys for data collection on infantilist communities has been noted.

Classification

Infantilism is a diffuse phenomenon and different authorities have taken varied approaches to the question of the psychiatric classification of infantilism. Most notably the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders instances infantilism as a variant form of masochism. Support for this reading in considering infantilism solely as a form of masochism is widespread in published professional opinion. However, it has been queried as to whether the criteria for masochism are invariably met in instances of infantilism. Laws and O'Donohue argue that if infantile role playing does not include aspects of humiliation and degradation it is more appropriate to classify the condition as a "paraphilia not otherwise specified". The sexologist William B. Arndt considers paraphilic infantilism to combine forms of fetishism, tranvestism and masochism.

Causes

To date no known broad-based scientific studies have yet been made on the most probable causes, incidence and general impact of paraphilic infantilism on society at large. This may be due to both the relative rarity of the condition, and also to the fact that few paraphilic infantilists appear to seek professional mental health counseling, and that even fewer appear to require any type of pro-active mental health intervention in dealing with their condition. A 2002 case report by psychiatrists Jennifer Pate and Glen Goddard found little research on the topic, and they suggested the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lacked a category that captured their patient's disorder.

Lovemap theory

According to sexology researcher, John Money, normally by the age of 8, the human mind will have fully developed its lovemap, which will serve as a kind of sexual template through to the end of one's adult life. This lovemap is "a developmental representation or template in the mind and in the brain depicting the idealized lover and the idealized program of sexual and erotic activity projected in imagery or actually engaged in". Money equates all paraphilias with the formation of abnormal lovemaps during the preadolescent years. Such abnormal lovemaps can be formed by any number of contributing factors or stressors during this developmental period.

In 1984, Money coined the term "Autonepiophilia," meaning a "diaperism" or diaper fetishism.

History

The first public event for adult babies was "Baby Week", occurring in San Francisco in the early 1990's. Subsequently the internet became a major forum, with numerous websites offering books, magazines, audio and video tapes and related paraphanelia, as well as a 24-hour hotline. Paraphilic infantilism has appeared as an alternative lifestyle in numerous Western countries including the United States, England, Germany and Australia.

See also

• BDSM
• Erotic lactation

Notes

1. Corsini, Raymond J. (2002). The Dictionary of Psychology. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781583913284. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
2. ^ Russell, J (2008). Exploring Psychology As Studen Bk Aqa A. Folens Limited. pp. 200. ISBN 1850082588. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
3. Hickey, Eric W. (2006). Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. Pearson Education. p. 355. ISBN 9780131703506. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
4. ^ Speaker, TJ, Psychosexual Infantilism in Adults: The Eroticization of Regression, Sausalito, CA: Columbia Pacific University, p. 93
5. ^ Brame, GG (1996). Different Loving: An Exploration of the World of Sexual Dominance and Submission. Random House of Canada. pp. 137-40. ISBN 0679769560. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
6. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9783-8, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1007/s10508-011-9783-8 instead.
7. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 14594737 , please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid= 14594737 instead.
8. Watson, J (2005-06-09). "Baby Man". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
9. ^ Taormino, T (2002-08-13). "Still in Diapers". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
10. ^ Money 1986, p. 70.
11. Baumeister, RF (1989). Masochism and Self. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 159. ISBN 0-8058-0486-2.
12. ^ Stekel 1952, pp. 143–144.
13. Ditmore, MH (2006). Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work, Volume 1. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 238. ISBN 0313329680.
14. Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 5929499 , please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid= 5929499 instead.
15. ^ American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (IV-TR ed.). American Psychiatric Pub. pp. 572. ISBN 0890420254.
16. Arndt, WB Jr. (1991). Gender Disorders and the Paraphilias. International Universities Press. p. 394. ISBN 0-8236-2150-2.
17. Stekel 1952, p. vii.
18. ^ Pretlow, Robert A. "The internet can reveal previously unknown causes of medical conditions, such as attraction to diapers as a cause of enuresis and incontinence". Mednet 2002.
19. Cantor, James; Blanchard, Ray; Barbaree, Howard (2009). "Sexual Disorders". In Paul H. Blaney and Theodore Millon (ed.). Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology (2nd ed.). New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 535–6. ISBN 9780195374216.
20. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 2279218, please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid=2279218 instead.
21. See for example Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (2009). Catherine Harold (ed.). Professional Guide to Diseases (9th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 1341. ISBN 9780781778992.; Kring, Ann; Johnson, Sheri; Davison, Gerald C.; Neale, John M. (2009). Abnormal Psychology (11th ed.). John Wiley and Sons. p. 719. ISBN 9780470577127.; Becker, Judith V.; Stinson, Jill D. (2008). "Human sexuality and sexual dysfunctions". In Robert E. Hales, Stuart C. Yudofsky & Glen O. Gabbard (ed.). The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry (5th ed.). Arlington VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 738. ISBN 9781585622573.
22. Laws, D. Richard; O'Donohue, William T. (2008). Sexual Deviance: Theory, Assessment, Treatment. Guilford Press. p. 407. ISBN 9781593856052.
23. Arndt, William B. (1991). Gender Disorders and Paraphilias. International Universities Press. p. 394. ISBN 9780823621507.
24. Money 1986, p. 290.
25. Money 1986, p. 34.
26. Attention: This template ({{cite pmid}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by PMID 6234812 , please use {{cite journal}} with |pmid= 6234812 instead.
27. Kaufman, F (1997). "Our Binkies, Our Selves: The adult baby boom". Spin. 13 (7). SPIN Media LLC: 55. ISSN 0886-3032.

References

• Money, J (1986). Love Maps - Clinical Concepts of Sexual/Erotic Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition in Childhood, Adolescence, and Maturity. New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-8290-1589-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stekel, W (1952). Patterns of Psychosexual Infantilism. Washington Square Press. ISBN 0-87140-840-61952. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Love, B (1992). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. Barricade Books. ISBN 0-942637-64-X.

• Paraphilias
• Sexual fetishism
• Sexuality and age