Do you think public perception is getting better?

I would like to think that some day public perception of ABDL would become more positive, but I think it's an uphill battle and may possibly be decades before we see widespread acceptance.

2 things have happened within a few weeks that caused me to feel inspired to ask this question.

1st I saw a tweet about an AB/DL getting kicked out by his parents after they opened his mail; hopefully he is getting some help getting situated with a place to stay because this is one of the worse things that can happen to any of us.

2nd, I saw another tweet asking about the legality of an employer asking questions about an employee of theirs being ABDL; because this person's Ex (as far as anybody knows it's probably them) told the person's employer about this.

Thankfully I have a pretty good thing in that I'm not getting kicked out and details of my ABDL side are not being leaked to anybody in real life.

I believe it isn't just our perception getting better, it's getting more accurate. Take 50 years ago, abdl was though of as a sexual deviation that needed to be treated. Today, that same abdl is though of as paraphilic infantilism, and categorized as a mental disorder that should be nurtured and directed in a positive way. It's still not quite right, but getting more accurate by the decade.

Slomo said:

I believe it isn't just our perception getting better, it's getting more accurate. Take 50 years ago, abdl was though of as a sexual deviation that needed to be treated. Today, that same abdl is though of as paraphilic infantilism, and categorized as a mental disorder that should be nurtured and directed in a positive way. It's still not quite right, but getting more accurate by the decade.

Click to expand...

Well that is way better and definitely a better mental disorder than something like BiPolar (Which I do deal with and I usually manage just fine after having had therapy and being on medication) or something even more severe.

I think we're becoming less obscure. This gives others more opportunity to make informed judgments about us but I think it also means that more judgments are being made. No one was talking about this when I was a kid. It was still exceedingly rare in any media other than as a joke (like cartoons with characters getting put in diapers) when I was a young adult. Now there are numerous examples of it turning up in news, documentaries (of whatever value), talk shows, and the old standby lurid presentations.

I don't expect to see widespread acceptance in my lifetime. I'm not even sure I'd like that. Toleration strikes me as more than enough for anyone who doesn't know me personally. I do want acceptance from anyone I'd be in a relationship with but I don't need random strangers checking me for leaks to be happy as an ABDL.

I don't think it's getting any better and sadly I think it never will (here in europe) An article was published a few days ago where they described abdl lifestyle. I have to give a credit to the writer because he/she was truly unbiased and was not judging. However coments were terrible. From my personal experience with fellow 'comrades' I'm not even suprised...

They have already written about some lifestyles like puppies and kittens but this was the first time I have seen an article about us ever(in my native language)

I think public perception is getting worse but only because people are finding out about it. That I would put down to the rising popularity of DDLG and those within that that like to wear diapers. I think within the public, the perception will not get much better in the future unless some film that captured the public's imagination like 50 shades did. That helped the BDSM community as much as it hindered it though.

I definitely think ABDL is no longer as underground as it once was, though it's far from mainstream or common knowledge. There was a time growing up where no one knew or talked about this or any other kinks for that matter, a time where such interests were kept private and obscure.

I didn't know of the term ABDL until I was 14 in 2005, though I had wanted to regress and wear diapers well before that and for years afterwards, ABDL was something that only I knew about, you never saw it on TV or talked about on mainstream websites, people rarely brought it up in conversation, the only kink I remember being referred to throughout high-school was crossdressing and swinging and those have been talked about for ages.

Nowadays, there is usually at least one talk show that brings ABDL to light every year, there are a ton of websites that have written stories and articles about ABDL and with the advent of social media and social networking people are more apt to stumble upon members of the community on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. So, I think ABDL is certainly a little more well known, heck, I know it is, since entering University, it's customary for at least one person a year to bring up "those guys who wear diapers and act like babies".

Public perception of ABDL on the other hand, well it's always gonna be polarizing, anything that goes against the norm is. Let us not forget, that there was a time when being gay was a major taboo, it took years, decades for that to become socially accepted and in some circles, it will never be accepted even though it really should be. Being an AB, objectively speaking, is out there and a bit of a tough sell, I would argue that improved awareness is the best we can hope for, perception will always be split, there will be people open minded enough to understand or who at least make an attempt to understand and then there will be others who view it as wrong or gross or just plain weird and who won't even try to educate themselves further. Once again, I have heard a bunch of my peers or class mates over the last few years bring up AB's in random conversation, some of them thought it was cute and interesting others singled it out as the only kink/alternative lifestyle worth shaming. Perception of us ABDL's will always be mixed, we just have to surround ourselves with those who are open and understanding.

I think a lot of people are just finding out it even exists, I know I am...and I am one. I never knew there was a name for it, I just knew snuggling my bunny, occasionally sucking a pacifiers, watching cartoons and pretending to be young again was soothing to me. I just thought I was weird. I felt so alone. I am so grateful to know I'm not. But I still think people on the outside judge it harshley, once they do find out...so it is important that any publicity we get be good publicity....but even then people are gonna think what they wanna think...

I think the worst thing is when the public takes up torches and pitchforks (Not literally); like when Tykables opened up a physical location

I didn't know there is a term for it , i only know i liked wearing diapers. It wasn't till i joined ADISC and explored on the net when i realized i am not alone , even with twitter and tumblr etc i find that public perception of AB/DL are not in good light , perhaps they didn't know what it is or why we do it.

Well, just when I have come to accept this in myself; this thread has magnified the reality that I have always been aware of and has dragged me back to it. That is, for a long time I thought I had to be the most bizarre person in the world. It appears despite any inroads to understanding in 2018, it will be a long time until others don't think that, "I am the most bizarre person in the world".

Its not like I wanted every person in the world to know about this side of me anyways, but the secrecy is tedious, and it would be nice to be accepted by family and close friends.

Unfortunately in my profession and close circles of relationships this would not go over well.

So as LavendarLime said, this community needs to insure that publicity is positive. A difficult task at best where sensationalism rules the media world.

I look at it as a two way street. Before the internet became mainstream; things were more hidden (in the figurative sense) simply because you couldn't really hop on a chat room or forum and speak to others sharing the same views or bring yourself up to speed. Now though people can simply type words into a search engine and almost instantly connect with people in the same boat. Its the same with those accepting and judging.

Being a kid who liked odd things was torture; you had to live in your own bubble. When I was in elementary school if you told someone you liked something less 'main stream' then you were either judged or accepted based on what the person readily knew or was willing to know. Now, if someone is so inclined they can do a bit of research easily and become at least a bit more educated before outright blasting someone. Its the ability to access information in my opinion; not so much more accepting society.

I dont see anything relating to any real sexual fetishes and the like as being wholly accepted. Opinions are a dime a dozen and you will always get people who use anything different to deflect, but it is what it is.

:twocents:
We are living in an age of worldwide, instantaneous misinformation. We have a greater awareness of our human diversity, which creates the illusion that we have become more diverse. When you combine all that with our sacred right to publicly vent our diverse opinions on the way things "should" be, I think ABDLs were better off in earlier times when it was easier to keep it secret. ABDLs would still have been looked at as suspicious perverts if outed, but common decency would have prevented most people from outing them and making a public spectacle of it.

This is the first I've heard that there is a public perception of ABDLs. In forty years, I've only ever had the topic of ABDLs come up once in conversation (apart from on ADISC!).

I still think the public aren't really aware we exist, or if they are, they think of it like any other weird fetish -- they laugh, cringe, and don't give it any further thought.

If there are non-ABDLs expressing their perceptions of ABDL-ism then they I doubt they're the kind of people who represent the public.

Personally the sexual fetish side doesn’t apply to me and I think that because it is almost always classified as a sexual fetish or kink that it is actually a setback for many of us. Granted, I understand that it is sexual for some. For me I was either born this way, or more likely, I developed this as an infant in diapers. I have memories of stealing a diaper from my babysitter when I was around 6 or 7. One of the first things you do to a baby after birth is wrap him or her up in a diaper where they will remain for a couple to few years. This warm comfy security blanket remains a huge part of your life while the brain is imprinting. To me it’s not a crazy concept that some of us have never truly left diapers. That’s how I classify myself. I never really mentally or emotionally left diapers. I only physically left for a few years until I was old enough and had enough self awareness and acceptance to put myself back in them. Personally, being ABDL is closer to being LGBTQ in concept as in, I’m just born (or shortly after) this way. I realize it’s not this way for everyone, but seems like there are many out there who feel the same way I do.

I am not looking to walk around diapered in baby clothes in public. But hopefully some day I can say, “yea I’m ABDL and have been since I was a baby” and the reply will be, “cool, I’ve never met an ABDL before, what’s it like?”. And that will happen without judgement or disgust. We are far far far from that point.

I think we will become more understood if not more accepted as the population ages and either by desire or necessity is exposed to IC issues. The tolerance will grow from that or as a previous poster noted a movie that portrays us in a somewhat positive light. I agree with everyone who thinks we are born this way.

I have absolutely no doubt that I was born this way, and has been a part, albeit a secret part of me since I was aware of it at about 4, until I was 57.

The perception of diaper wearers of all stripes has gotten significantly worse in Portland Oregon

http://www.koin.com/news/crime/bestiality-claims-results-in-child-porn-arrest/1001499287

https://fetlife.com/users/5273655/posts/4940060. Saw this on Fetlife earlier: it’s a post discussing the rising popularity and therefore perception of littles and ABDLs in the kink community. It’s inviting ABDLs to comment which I did stating that little and middle weren’t terms in wide use ten years ago and that what defines an ABDL compared to a little is the wearing of diapers.

If I may share an out of the box opinion. I was thrown in to the world of incontinence about 10 years ago and a few short years later into diapers by necessity. At the time, I knew that there were people out there that dressed up and acted like babies. With no farther exposure then that I found it odd and disturbing but because it didn't effect ME I never bothered to learn more about it by any source, even with the aid of the internet. The only exposure I really had was the shock value tv, movies and even video games had. I remember in one of the Grand Theft Auto games you had a mission where you had to get pictures of a public official dressed in a diaper and when you find him he is chasing a woman around wanting to brestfeed. Point is the only exposure the lay person has have to this is for shock and taken in a very negative way.
Another example of what little exposure there is, is the taboo TV show that had a few episodes on ABDL. They did a good job of not demonizing the person but let's be honest, it was filmed for the shock value, not to be informative.
Point is unless people have a stake in it, they will not take the time to put a lot of understanding into something they don't get. When I became incontinent, I had to turn to the Internet to find answers I was too ashamed to ask anyone about, even my doctors. Heck, it was my wife that had to first suggest using pads and then got me panty liners in the beginning and later suggested diapers when it was bad enough. I was so fixed on how diapers were for babies and nursing homes. When I continued my research into diapers is when I found how large this culture was but I was no where in the mindset to be "understanding" and one of my first interactions with the ABDL community was some a**hole telling me I was lucky I had an excuse to wear.
I later joined another online forum that was STRICTLY fetish free with people with the same views I had and for a time it did help me to cope with incontinence. Problem there was we would have people join that would pretend to be IC and would later slip up and out themselves causing more hatred and distrust of the community. You guys have an up hill fight if you want to be accepted for the good and (mostly normal )people you are. Your biggest obstacle is the media and those with little to no respect for boundaries. Like many other things out there, one or two bad apples are ruining it for the whole bunch.

One little ray of hope though, I hope that I can be proof that people can change. I began to have a change of heart, got out of my own protective bubble and join here to learn more and get out of my comfort zone. I have learned the are a lot of ABDLs out there with good hearts an a good moral compass. In fact there are more of you out there then bad apples and I don't have to hate a group. Don't get me wrong, I still see some of what I learned to hate here but it is still much smaller of a problem then I spent years believing.

Sorry for the long rant

RW