Understanding Infantilism (.org)
Section 5 of Thomas John Speaker's Doctoral dissertation "Psychosexual Infantilism in Adults: The eroticization of regression"
Virtually every infantilist interviewed said they "felt they were the only one who was into this scene", until they made contact with another. infantilist. The most common method of discovering another person sharing the same fetish was through soft-core pornography, particularly those publishing letters in which their readers detail their experiences. An example from Forum magazine:
Feminine Infantilism
I am a 24 year `old woman who is really into diapers, baby clothes and being treated like a baby. In other words, infantilism. For me, it is a fantastic release. If I experience a bad day my boyfriend will put me in diapers and plastic panties (incontinence pants and adult diapers purchased from a hospital supply store), give me a bottle or pacifier to suck on and talk baby talk to me. After my bottom is oiled and powered and my nice, soft diaper is pinned on me, my troubles disappear and believe it or not, I feel very secure and loved. And what is more, it's a real turn-on for my boyfriend.
Sometimes I wear a short baby-doll nighty so the crotch of my diapers and plastic panties show. I put little ribbons in my hair and walk up to my boyfriend sucking my thumb. This always turns him on. He then picks me up and carries me into the bedroom, unpins my diapers and plunges himself into me. After some torrid loving, he powders me, re-pins my diapers, and snaps on my plastic panties. Sometimes when I have to pee, I'll hold it as long as I can and really soak my diapers. As I wet, I usually play with my nipples; it's really an erotic feeling! When I'm done, I masturbate through the hot, wet diapers. If I'm wet and my boyfriend is over, he'll clean me up with a baby-wipe, powder me and pin on a fresh, clean diaper on me. I really love it!
There are a few drawbacks to being an adult baby, though. I live in an apartment building and must share a laundry room with the other residents. A couple of times, my diapers and plastic panties were finished before I got back to the laundry room and another resident, anxious to get her laundry done, began to unload them. I'll have to admit I was plenty embarrassed when I walked in to put my baby things in the dryer. She just looked at me and smiled a confused smile.
Also, I have to take care to avoid vaginal infections because sometimes I'll sleep in my wet diapers all night. In my opinion though, the good points outnumber the bad ones. For instance, while everyone around me seems to be going crazy, I'm happily regressing in my diapers and plastic panties, sucking on a pacifier or a baby bottle, snuggling with a teddy bear or just being pampered by my boyfriend. He just loves taking care of his helpless little baby girl.
I would like to read more about infantilism in Forum. You can't tell me there aren't millions of adults out there who would just love to crawl back into a comforting crib with diapers and a pacifier every once in awhile. Ms. L.S., California (Ms. L.S., 1979, pp. 104-105).
Letters such as this one have appeared in print since at least the 1960's (e.g. "Diapered, Dominated Husband", 1965, pp. 10-16). Magazines such as Forum, Letters, Digest, Turn-on, Variations, etc., cover a wide range of variations as content substantially depends upon which topics readers are writing about. In these magazines infantilism gets no more or less coverage than other topics. Letters on infantilism are more frequently found in 2 other more general publications: The Fetish Times, a monthly soft-core newspaper (which irregularly publishes a column called "Baby Talk"), and Finger .
Glossy magazines (both soft- and hard-core pornography) featuring 'authoritative' articles on infantilism, sometimes including photographs of adult models in diapers, vary in focus on infantilism from Nugget (where articles appear a few times per year) to Rubber Life (now defunct, but formerly published by House of Milan) where about 50% of the content related to infantilism to Platinum Press's magazines with a total infantilism focus: Dominated and Diapered, Baby Letters and Naughty Babies (all periodicals). As infantilism often involves a polymorphous sexuality, one can occasionally find it mentioned in publications for rubber fetishists (Rubber Life ), those with interest in bondage and discipline (Centurian ), dominance and submission (Madame, Jennifer Jordan's Contacts ) and enema enthusiasts (Water and Power ).
The next development in fetish support systems was the use of correspondence networks. Contact was originally made through personal ads in sexually oriented newspapers and magazines. Sonny claims to have placed the first ads of this kind in 1971. The correspondence networks often connect hundreds of infantilists over several years. Informal networks continue today but there are at least 6 formal networks run by infantilism publishers: Infantae Press, Amber E., DPF, Adult Baby World, ABC Designs and Bladder Chatter.
The next development was the creation of an infantilism industry:
... one indication that there are certainly more adult infants than we might think is the existence of a small industry catering its special needs: magazines, newsletters, boutiques and "therapists" servicing Big Babies are flourishing nationwide (Heinisch & Oliver, 1984, p. 60).
The earliest publication focusing exclusively on infantilism was Playpen by Amber E. in the early 1970's. (Playpen is now published by Infantae Press; Amber E. publishes Crib Sheet ). Publications solely for infantilists today include newsletters like Bladder Chatter, Adult Baby World, and Diaperland Reporter, story magazines like Playpen, Crib Sheet, Tales from the Crib and recent glossy publications like Dominated and Diapered . Infantilist publishers often carry catalogs of fantasy books and stories covering the range of the fetish (gay and straight, male dominant, female dominant, transvestitism, etc.). Titles include: Linda Latex 's Case Histories (Incon Group), Husband in Rompers (Amber E.) and Forever in Diapers (Infantae Press). Publishers also sell photographs of models in diapers (Incon), cassette tapes of stories (lnfantae) and for hypnotherapy purposes (Incon, DPF)*, contact lists and artwork (Amber E.) (see also fig. 9).
* See also L'lemart, 1985, #1, pp. 1-4
Infantilists often create fantasies to give to correspondents in their networks. Some of these are later published, others are not. (Three survey respondents reported writing for these consumers; some of them (e.g. Bobby with 104 stories) are prolific writers).
The most recent development is the organized support group for infantilists. The earliest, and largest, group of this type is DPF, the Diaper Pail Fraternity. In an introductory newsletter, the clubs organizer describes its purpose:
DPF is dedicated to helping people meet and/or correspond with each other to share mutual interests and needs. Since 1980 over 1000 people have joined DPF, including men and women from if every state in the Union plus Canada, Australia, Germany, Greece, England, Scotland, Switzerland and many other countries. We're the fastest growing organization of its type in the world.
DPF appeals to a broad spectrum of people, with many and varied interests - but especially diapers, bedwetting, infantilism, little boy and little girl fantasies, humiliation, discipline, punishment, spanking, enemas, catheters, W/S ["water sports" i.e. urolognia], cross-dressing, S/M [sadomasochism], B/D [bondage and discipline] and much more. DPF's members are both gay and straight, mommies and daddies, submissives and dominants, and especially people who like to fantasize or act like babies, little boys or little girls (DPF, 1985, p. 1).
An annual membership fee entitles one to a subscription to a monthly newsletter containing a listing of new members names, addresses and interests, "articles of interest, letters from members and product reviews, articles on hypnotism, views on domination, exciting true stories, information about other organizations, movies and book reviews... information about DPF parties and more" (Ibid. p. 2). DPF publishes books (Bedtime Stories, DPF Letters, Baby Week 1984 ), holds parties and conducts an annual convention, Baby Week. Membership includes several hundred people at any time.
Infantilists are not the only fetishists forming support groups:
In England, the Mackintosh Society, named for rubberized raincoats, has over 1000 members. The group has social functions and serves as reassurance for those who feel embarrassed or isolated by their sexual interests (Sarason & Sarason, p. 203).
Changes occurred in attitudes among homosexual groups as well as heterosexual groups during the 1970's regarding the acceptability of infantilism. Bobby states:
Before Stonewall [riots of 1969] and the blossoming of gay pride and gay rights... being gay was a major social stigma.... Certainly most homosexual professionals were "in the closet". But being gay and into diapers or infantilism was a major double whammy. There was no support even within the rather prudish confines of the "quiet" gay community.
But the gay revolution of the 60's and 70's changed all of that radically in two very important ways. First, it diminished the stigma of being gay. A community evolved that was no longer under siege. People became publicly gay and social support of "community" was there. This reduced dramatically the burden on the infantilist of being gay or bisexual. Second, and perhaps even more important, as the sexual revolution moved forward and sexual mores loosened, tolerance grew. In the gay community this meant that if you were into 'fisting', watersports, bondage and discipline, sadism and masochism, drag, rubber, etc., you might be "a little weird" but you weren't wacko. The attitude became much, more "whatever turns on". This resulted in a radical move in the gay diaper society - along with other, fetishes, diaper ads began to appear in gay newspapers in the personals section. Prior to the creation of DPF, I would guess that 75% of gay infantilists first discovered they were not alone when they found an ad. The largest number found it in The Advocate (the nation's largest gay newspaper).... The role of The Advocate and other local gay publications should not be overlooked.
...[I]t probably should [also] be noted that DPF started as almost exclusively a gay club. It may not have been the intent, but 90% of the early joiners were gay. It appears to be the first club to jump sexual barriers and become all encompassing - men/women, gay/bi/straight, etc. (personal correspondence, 25 October, 1985).
Any description of 'infantilist industries' must also include manufacturers and distributers of the 'props' used in infantilism. These include both fetish suppliers (e.g. DPF provides product reviews on diapers, plastic pants and other infantilist paraphernalia; ABC Designs markets a complete line of adult size baby clothes) and "straight" market usually medical supply houses). In order to completely act out the fantasy, an infantilist might purchase diapers (cloth or disposable), waterproof pants (rubber or plastic), baby clothes (rompers, sunsuits, bonnets, booties, etc.), toilet articles (powder, oil, lotion, shampoo, diaper rash ointments), furniture (cribs, high chairs, strollers) and feeding supplies (baby bottles, feeding dish, silverware, bibs, formula). An infantilist might also purchase props for other variant scripts: restraints for bondage, enema or catheter equipment, latex clothing or "little girl" type clothing (dresses, lacy panties, Mary Jane shoes). A recent "Adult Infantilist World Resource Directory" listed 265 separate suppliers of infantilist materials (Chesher, 1985). Note that the average infantilist surveyed spent $325 per year on the fetish.
One can only guess how many people practice infantilism "because of the stigma attached to [it]" (Heinisch & Oliver, p. 60). DPF reports 1000 members and one fetish publisher, Platinum Press, estimates "3,000 customers in the past year" (personal correspondence, September 24, 1985. DPF's members are those infantilists willing to take at least a step 'out of the closet' and admit their preferences to other infantilists. Platinum's customers have more anonymity but these publications are sold in adult bookstores where the anonymous customer must at least admit his interests to an anonymous clerk. One could guess that there are perhaps, 5,000 to 10,000 infantilists in the United States.
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