Diaper fetishism, nappy fetishism, or diaperism is a type of garment fetish in which a person derives pleasure from wearing or using a diaper. Though separate and distinct, diaper fetishism can also be used as a component of various other kinks, such as ageplay or paraphilic infantilism, which together form a spectrum of practices colloquially referred to as "adult baby/diaper lover" or "AB/DL".
Generally speaking, people who choose to wear diapers for recreational purposes (as opposed to medical need or situational convenience) may informally classify themselves as "diaper lovers" (DLs), yet vary widely in their motivation, interest and focus of attention.[1]
While some use diapers to achieve or enhance sexual pleasure as part of a kink or fetish, others find diapers to be a source of non-sexual positive feelings, such as comfort, relaxation, nostalgia, as well as being loved or cared for. This is not a dichotomy, however, as many DLs experience both sexual and non-sexual gratification. (Strictly speaking, the term "diaper fetishism" may only apply to those who derive at least some degree of sexual arousal from the activity.) In other words, there is no singular or archetypal behavior and a wide range of thought patterns and activities exist, but all tend to be harmless forms of self-expression and/or an efficacious release from some kind of pressure.[citation needed]
Whether motivated mainly by sexual pleasure or feelings of comfort, many DLs find wearing diapers to be an intense multisensory experience in which touch (the soft, bulky or squishy feeling of wearing a diaper), sight (seeing themselves or another adult in a diaper), sound (the crinkle of the material), and in some cases smell (baby powder, wet wipes, urine or feces) are all stimulated. For some people with a diaper fetish, any one of these sensations may be enough stimulus to derive some level of erotic pleasure or sexual arousal, and may or may not represent a connection or overlap with other paraphilias.[citation needed]
While some DLs prefer to simply wear diapers without using them at all, others may experience increased arousal from "wetting" and/or "messing" in their diapers.[2] Others still may prefer to "simulate" the feeling of a used diaper by saturating the polymer gel core with water, other liquids, blood, semen, or soft solids. Additionally, some people may choose to primarily stick within their particular comfort zone, while others may feel the occasional desire to explore or experiment with various types of play.[citation needed]
Like many other forms of sexual expression, diaper play can be performed either solo or with one or more consenting partners. Further, while some participants only wear diapers in certain private settings or for limited amounts of time, others might endeavor to "go 24/7" by wearing diapers under their clothes during the course of their daily lives and for a longer period of time. Crucially, because most in the broader AB/DL community subscribe to the notion of "safe, sane and consensual" expression of their kink, exposing others to unwanted sights or smells is highly frowned upon and most intentionally explore their fantasies in a way that would likely not be visible to or noticed by passersby on the street.[citation needed]
Diaper lovers (DLs), including those with a diaper fetish, are often associated with adult babies (ABs) and referred to under the umbrella term, "AB/DL".
While both may wear diapers for sexual arousal and positive feelings, a DL is someone whose interest lies mainly in the diaper itself, while an AB will use the diaper mainly as an element of ageplay; a prop which helps the person roleplay and imagine themselves as a child. In practice, however, AB/DL represents an entire spectrum of interests and behaviors, with some who might classify themselves as DLs being open to some degree of ageplay, and some who might classify themselves as ABs (or maybe "littles" or "middles", depending on their age roleplaying preference) being only marginally interested in diapers.
Over time, as ageplay in general has become more popular, better understood, and less stigmatized, an entire industry has developed around the production of goods for the community. Today, a wide variety of adult diapers (including cloth diapers and disposables with elaborate and colorful designs), cute or childish clothing in adult sizes, and other ageplay accessories are sold to members of the AB/DL community around the world. Furthermore, AB/DL products are becoming increasingly available at sex shops and even mainstream online retailers.
Finally, though less common, diapers may also be used as a prop during ageplay scenes in which a participant is playing as an older adult.
The Japanese-language term omorashi (オモラシ / おもらし / お漏らし), which means "to wet oneself", has become a common colloquial term for the sub-genre of urolagnia involving the need to urinate, urinary desperation, and potentially wetting ones clothes or bed. While sexual interests in urine, desperation and incontinence are neither new nor exclusively Japanese, the categorization of "omorashi" as a specific fetish sub-culture in Japan has allowed the term to gain global recognition and predominance in the kink space. The word "omorashi" is also commonly shorted to just "omo" by people in the community.
For some people with an omorashi fetish, sexual climax may coincide with the moment of intense relief and embarrassment experienced when the desperate individual eventually loses bladder control.
Certain subsets of omorashi fandom utilize diapers, in which case it is referred to as "omutsu omorashi (おむつお漏らし)", or less commonly, "oshime omorashi (襁褓お漏らし)", both of which translate as "to wet oneself in a diaper."
Diapers can also play a part in a variety of BDSM scenes, whether as a passive convenience during long bondage sessions where the bound participant may not be able to express or act upon their need to visit a toilet, or as an active element and focal point during a scene involving power dynamics like movement modification, bathroom restriction, diaper punishment, or humiliation.
Another dynamic that blends BDSM with ageplay is called "caregiver/little" (CG/L), in which one participant takes on the role of a caregiver (CG) or parental figure (often called "daddy", "mommy", etc.), and another participants takes on the childlike role of a "little". In some variations of this dynamic, CG/L can overlap significantly with AB/DL play, and diapers may be used.
Some rubber and plastic fetishists have an affinity for diapers and rubber pants. In the case of disposable diapers, this attraction would be to their crinkly plastic backing. In the case of cloth diapers, it would be towards the latex or PVC of the pants worn over them.
Fetish diapers
Over time, many companies that make and sell adult diapers have begun to take notice of the fetish audience, creating new diapers and other products designed to appeal to kink community.
Also commonly called "ABDL diapers", adult diapers that primarily target the kink community often have increased absorbency as well as vibrant, cute or playful designs. While diapers marketed towards people with incontinence increasingly opt for "pull-up" designs and materials that prioritize discretion and mimic the look and feel of briefs, diapers made for the fetish community are typical "tape/tab" style and prioritize absorbency, aesthetics, feel, sound, eroticism and nostalgia. ABDL diapers may also have features like plastic backing material (popular for its distinctive crinkling sound), hook-and-loop tapes (allowing for improved fit and multiple adjustments), external wetness indicators, added scents, etc.
Though less popular than tabbed disposable diapers, adult cloth diapers, diaper covers and training pants designed and marketed towards the ABDL community also exist.
Finally, while medical diapers can be found at many supermarkets and drug stores, fetish diapers are typically only found online, at kink lifestyle conventions and specialty stores, or in some sex shops.
Clinical significance
Like all kinks, diaper fetishism can be considered an atypical sexual interest, but that alone is neither problematic nor indicative of poor mental health.[3]
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) which, among other things, draws a clear distinction between "atypical sexual interests" (otherwise known as kinks, fetishes, or paraphilias) and "paraphilic disorders". The APA states that "most people with atypical sexual interests do not have a mental disorder"[3] and as such, in the vast majority of cases, kinks like diaper fetishism can simply be considered valid and harmless forms of human sexual expression.
However, it is possible for any fetish to become associated with a "paraphilic disorder", in which the behavior or underlying desire causes someone to "feel personal distress about their interest, [and] not merely distress resulting from society's disapproval".[3]
While being forced to wear diapers as a form of humiliation was previously mentioned in the DSM-IV as an expression of sexual masochism,[4] any reference to diaper fetishism has since been removed in the DSM-5 due to the declassification and depathologization of paraphilias (fetishes) in general.
An examination of changes in the DSM-5 discovered that it “distinguishes paraphilias from paraphilic disorders (allowing unusual sexual interests to be studied by researchers but only regarded as disorders when they cause distress or dysfunction)”.[5]
Cultural views
In September 2015, Huffington Post Arts & Culture published an interview on diaper fetishes. While this clothing fetish is obscure, diaper fetishists engage in the behavior privately or with a partner who shares a mutual interest in the fetish (sexual acts).[6][7]
The South Korean public often views diaper fetishism in a negative light. A Naver cafe (similar to the Yahoo! Groups service) that is devoted to diaper fetishism was closed around September 2010 as the South Korean media outlets portrayed it negatively to the general public.[8][9][10] Another incident occurred when a South Korean girl group, Girl's Day, were accused of wearing costumes that looked like oversized diapers, dubbed diaper fashion.[11]
A paraphilia is an experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, places, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a legally consenting human partner. Paraphilias are contrasted with normophilic ("normal") sexual interests, though the definition of what makes a sexual interest normal or atypical remains controversial.
Urolagnia is a paraphilia in which sexual excitement is associated with the sight or thought of urine or urination. The term has origins in the Greek language. Golden shower is slang for the practice of urinating on another person for sexual pleasure.
Ageplay or age play is a form of roleplaying in which an individual acts or treats another as if they are a different age. Ageplay is roleplaying between adults, and involves consent from all parties. Ageplay is not necessarily sexual, but can be. Portraying any age can be the goal of ageplay, from babies to a child to the elderly. Usually this involves someone pretending to be younger than they actually are, but more rarely can involve assuming an older role.
Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a non-pathological aid to sexual excitement, or as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism.
Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to men who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entertainment or other purposes that do not involve sexual arousal. Under the name transvestic disorder, it is categorized as a paraphilia in the DSM-5.
The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is an American sex-positive advocacy and educational organization founded in 1997. NCSF has over one hundred coalition partners, and over sixty supporting members. NCSF advocates on behalf of adults involved in alternative lifestyles with respect to sexuality and relationship composition, specifically for tolerance and non-discrimination of those so identified, as well as education for adults involved in such lifestyles. The organization's main office is in Baltimore, Maryland.
Salirophilia is a sexual fetish or paraphilia that involves deriving erotic pleasure from soiling or disheveling the object of one's desire, usually an attractive person. It may involve tearing or damaging their clothing, covering them in mud or filth, or messing their hair or makeup. The fetish does not involve harming or injuring the subject, only their appearance.
In human sexuality, kinkiness is the use of non-conventional sexual practices, concepts or fantasies. The term derives from the idea of a "bend" in one's sexual behaviour, to contrast such behaviour with "straight" or "vanilla" sexual mores and proclivities. It is thus a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behaviour. The term "kink" has been claimed by some who practice sexual fetishism as a term or synonym for their practices, indicating a range of sexual and sexualistic practices from playful to sexual objectification and certain paraphilias. In the 21st century the term "kink", along with expressions like BDSM, leather and fetish, has become more commonly used than the term paraphilia. Some universities also feature student organizations focused on kinks, within the context of wider LGBTQ concerns.
Paraphilic infantilism, also known as autonepiophilia and adult baby, is a sexual fetish or non-sexual fetish that may involve role-playing a regression to an infant-like state. Paraphilic infantilism is a form of ageplay. People who practice paraphilic infantilism are often colloquially referred to as "adult babies", or "ABs".
Ray Milton Blanchard is an American-Canadian sexologist who researches pedophilia, sexual orientation and gender identity. He has found that men with more older brothers are more likely to be gay than men with fewer older brothers, a phenomenon he attributes to the reaction of the mother's immune system to male fetuses. Blanchard has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilias, including autoerotic asphyxia. Blanchard also proposed a typology of transsexualism.
Attraction to disability is a sexualised interest in the appearance, sensation and experience of disability. It may extend from normal human sexuality into a type of sexual fetishism. Sexologically, the pathological end of the attraction tends to be classified as a paraphilia. Other researchers have approached it as a form of identity disorder. The most common interests are towards amputations, prosthesis, and crutches. As a sexual fetish, attraction to disability is known as devotism, and those with the fetish are known as devotees.
Omorashi, sometimes abbreviated as simply "omo", is a form of fetish subculture first categorized and predominately recognized in Japan, in which a person experiences arousal from the idea or feeling of having a full bladder and potentially wetting themselves, or from witnessing another person in that situation.
Clothing fetishism or garment fetishism is a sexual fetish that revolves around a fixation upon a particular article or type of clothing, a particular fashion or uniform, or a person dressed in such a style.
Infantilism may refer to:
Courtship disorder is a theoretical construct in sexology developed by Kurt Freund in which a certain set of paraphilias are seen as specific instances of anomalous courtship instincts in humans. The specific paraphilias are biastophilia, exhibitionism, frotteurism, telephone scatologia, and voyeurism. According to the courtship disorder hypothesis, there is a species-typical courtship process in humans consisting of four phases, and anomalies in different phases result in one of these paraphilic sexual interests. According to the theory, instead of being independent paraphilias, these sexual interests are individual symptoms of a single underlying disorder.
Erotic target location error (ETLE) is a hypothesized dimension for paraphilias, defined by having a sexual preference or strong sexual interest in features that are somewhere other than on one's sexual partners. When one's sexual arousal is based on imagining oneself in another physical form the erotic target is said to be one's self, or erotic target identity inversion (ETII).
Other specified paraphilic disorder is the term used by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to refer to any of the many other paraphilic disorders that are not explicitly named in the manual. Along with unspecified paraphilic disorder, it replaced the DSM-IV-TR category paraphilia not otherwise specified (PNOS). In the revised DSM-5-TR published in 2022 no changes have been made regarding Other specified paraphilic disorder.
Sexual sadism disorder is the condition of experiencing sexual arousal in response to the involuntary extreme pain, suffering or humiliation of other people. Several other terms have been used to describe the condition, and the condition may overlap with other conditions that involve inflicting pain. It is distinct from situations in which consenting individuals use mild or simulated pain or humiliation for sexual excitement. The words sadism and sadist are derived from the French writer and libertine Marquis de Sade, who wrote several novels depicting sexualized torture and violence.
Sexual masochism disorder (SMD) is the condition of experiencing recurring and intense sexual arousal in response to enduring moderate or extreme pain, suffering, or humiliation. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association indicates that a person may have a masochistic sexual interest but that the diagnosis of sexual masochism disorder would only apply to individuals who also report psychosocial difficulties because of it.
↑ Malitz, S (1966). "Another report on the wearing of diapers and rubber pants by an adult male". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 122 (12): 1435–7. doi:10.1176/ajp.122.12.1435. PMID5929499.
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