Had an interesting experience over the weekend

[eastcoastdl]

Met up with some great friends this weekend, people I've know long before I became IC and needed to wear diapers, and certainly before I came to enjoy it. Of course I've not told them any of this, because other people don't need to know the underwear I (have to) wear.

We were all sitting around a table having finished dinner, had just seen our friends' newborn for the first time and people were taking turns holding him. The topic came up that he's been going through a lot of diapers that current day, and his father joked "maybe he's just a diaper fetishist", everyone chuckled but then a couple other friends took off with the topic. "I can see how people get into other fetishes but I just don't understand diapers", said one, "Yeah it's weird", said another. I've sat through this before and just generally quietly agree - I'm at peace with my kink but c'mon, you gotta agree it is weird lol (though becoming incontinent is a great way to understand it haha). At that point the father who had made the joke interrupted everyone and said "Guys, guys... Now, we don't know who at the table is into what, and we shouldn't be judging others like that". Everyone agreed, and we moved on. Whereas we have known each other for close to 20 years, we don't often (if ever) talk about sex lives, so it was really encouraging to hear but THAT did embarrass me!

I'm sure a lot of people here have had occasions where the topic comes up amongst unknowing friends, but this was something else. Got me wondering if it was merely kink-friendly outlook, or if it was something else...

 

[babyp]

...that would've been a little tough to sit through.

 

[Sealander]

The weird thing, if you think about it, is that people find it surprising. It’s not surprising at all that people get diaper fetishes. Diapers engage the senses of touch and smell in early childhood, when people are especially impressionable, and they’re associated with shame and humiliation and power which are huge kink dynamics.

 

[Subtlerustle]

It was an interesting interjection by that friend of yours. Do you think he knows about you or was he just being a good guy?

 

[sbmccue]

I guess my view is exactly the opposite: If anything becomes a fetish, it probably ought to be a diaper. I think most of us are imprinted in some way very early on, well before we have contact with shoes, gloves, or other fetish items. I imagine the problem people have with diaper attraction is with someone who's been potty-trained actually using the diaper.

 

[LiddleBigBoy]

Met up with some great friends this weekend, people I've know long before I became IC and needed to wear diapers, and certainly before I came to enjoy it. Of course I've not told them any of this, because other people don't need to know the underwear I (have to) wear.

We were all sitting around a table having finished dinner, had just seen our friends' newborn for the first time and people were taking turns holding him. The topic came up that he's been going through a lot of diapers that current day, and his father joked "maybe he's just a diaper fetishist", everyone chuckled but then a couple other friends took off with the topic. "I can see how people get into other fetishes but I just don't understand diapers", said one, "Yeah it's weird", said another. I've sat through this before and just generally quietly agree - I'm at peace with my kink but c'mon, you gotta agree it is weird lol (though becoming incontinent is a great way to understand it haha). At that point the father who had made the joke interrupted everyone and said "Guys, guys... Now, we don't know who at the table is into what, and we shouldn't be judging others like that". Everyone agreed, and we moved on. Whereas we have known each other for close to 20 years, we don't often (if ever) talk about sex lives, so it was really encouraging to hear but THAT did embarrass me!

I'm sure a lot of people here have had occasions where the topic comes up amongst unknowing friends, but this was something else. Got me wondering if it was merely kink-friendly outlook, or if it was something else...

One time my booking manager showed me the Jerry Springer Adult Baby clip and went on about how weird it was for a solid 20 minutes. Agreeing a few times to make it pass is hard, but by the 10th time it burns.

 

[AsherDearing]

one of my most vivid collage memories was me sitting with a bunch of friends in the canteen. Somebody brought up the topic of adult babies and kept going on about how weird they were, eventually the word freak was used. Everyone just agreed, I purged immediately after and spent about 3 years hating myself for being ABDL. .

Feeling much better about myself now though .

 

[GaruDL]

I think media is very much responsible on how people perceive ABDL. I remember few years ago I was visiting my wifes cousin and she mentioned that she saw a news about adult babies, and according to her she couldn't understand how weird it was someone wanting to wear diapers and baby stuff. I felt super awkward and my wife gave me this complice look as she is super supportive of my DL preferences.

I don't care what anyone thinks about ABDL but I wish people were more open minded.

 

[AsherDearing]

I think media is very much responsible on how people perceive ABDL. I remember few years ago I was visiting my wifes cousin and she mentioned that she saw a news about adult babies, and according to her she couldn't understand how weird it was someone wanting to wear diapers and baby stuff. I felt super awkward and my wife gave me this complice look as she is super supportive of my DL preferences.

I don't care what anyone thinks about ABDL but I wish people were more open minded.

There is an awful little show called ‘my strange addiction’ that is responsible for a lot of public perception of ABDL, there are also a few others that did the same around the early 2010s. Simply put, being ABDL is weird and people can make money off of the shock factor.

 

[littlemoosey]

There is an awful little show called ‘my strange addiction’ that is responsible for a lot of public perception of ABDL, there are also a few others that did the same around the early 2010s. Simply put, being ABDL is weird and people can make money off of the shock factor.

Just did a web-search of that show. I had never heard of it. ABDL did not even crack the top 15. I'm feeling pretty good about myself after seeing the top 15. And HOW does ABDL rank higher than drinking your own urine, I would say that one is top 3 material, cant believe it came in at 25. https://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/the-most-memorable-my-strange-addiction-episodes

 

[AsherDearing]

Its probably the ‘hey this person probably has untoward motives regarding children’ angle, plus the social expectation of growing up in one direction.

The other awful thing is from what I remember, was that they tried to make it seem like Riley Kilo’s transgenderism was the cause for her ABDL in an attempt to discredit trans people as well.

 

[sissybaby34]

Back in my youth I spent 9 months at a training school for my career living 5 days a week away from home, this was early 70s. A group of us used to at least once a week go and see the latest films that had come out. That was when the B horror movie "The Baby" came out in the cinema. Its very dated now but will appeal to some I am sure. After the film and for a few days after people were still talking about it. I joined in and agreed with the consensus that it was very "odd" little did they know I liked it better than they knew.

 

[eastcoastdl]

It was an interesting interjection by that friend of yours. Do you think he knows about you or was he just being a good guy?

I do think he was just being a good guy BUT at the beginning of my IC journey, when I had first started to need diapers and was uneasy about needing to wear them (and not a DL), we were joking around and he slapped my ass the way that football players do. We'd never done anything before like that, and have never since, but the diaper under my jeans made a different noise than underwear would have. I acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, and so did he so I don't think he noticed anything out of the ordinary, but it's a good thing I wasn't wearing anything thin like shorts!

 

[JDCH]

I am clearly not impartial but I believe most fetishes are generally harmless. Even those they stray into a grey area are pretty benign for the most part. But . . . I also agree that being an ABDL is strange. I can’t deny it. To someone on the outside looking in, it must seem absolutely bizarre.

From early childhood, parents focus on getting their kids potty trained and out of diapers. I definitely did. As children we’re rewarded for staying dry and given great encouragement for being “such a big girl/boy” when we got it right. For most, the idea of having to wear something that harkens back to a time when we were helpless is mystifying at best, horrifying at worst.

My father was diagnosed with cancer in his early 70s. Between chemo and radiation, he was told he ran the risk of incontinence, just as my mother had years before. Once he finished treatment, he made a comment that he was so glad he didn’t have to wear diapers. In his mind, cancer wasn’t the greatest fear, but wearing diapers was.

Ten years later, he was diagnosed again and things went very differently. The chemo and radiation messed with his bowels and he had no control. He went from being (as far as I know) 100% continent to 100% fecally incontinent within a week or so. He was obviously diapered and it did not seem to bother him. Even though he maintained his urinary continence, because he was at significant risk of falling, and already diapered, medical staff instructed him to pee in his diaper rather than risk another fall.

Back to your situation, it might be a good idea to remind your friends that many people who are not elderly, sick or disabled have incontinence issues and that retailers provide a great deal of shelf space for incon products, from pads to briefs. Someone is buying them.

 

[MiddleMommy95]

Oh my gosh this would be scary!!

 

[eastcoastdl]

Back to your situation, it might be a good idea to remind your friends that many people who are not elderly, sick or disabled have incontinence issues and that retailers provide a great deal of shelf space for incon products, from pads to briefs. Someone is buying them.

I absolutely agree, but I haven't mentioned my need for IC products to any of my friends (and really only told one of my closest friends when I was first struggling with IC, and left the need for products as a homework exercise which he apparently never connected the dots with, lol).

Sometimes I get frustrated and just want to tell people for the sake of having no secrets, but the truth is that nobody really cares as long as it helps you live a better life, and telling people likely will only complicate situations when either them or you feels awkward about something in the future. Just my $0.02 there.

 

[TigerDL]

I think media is very much responsible on how people perceive ABDL.

There is an awful little show called ‘my strange addiction’ that is responsible for a lot of public perception of ABDL, there are also a few others that did the same around the early 2010s. Simply put, being ABDL is weird and people can make money off of the shock factor.

Riley Kilo actually posted a video on her YouTube channel reflecting upon that "My Strange Addiction" appearance 10 years out (posted a few years ago in 2021). It was interesting to hear her perspective on how she was treated and portrayed, and her other thoughts on the topic. I recommend giving it a watch.

 

[AttilaThePun]

It was an interesting interjection by that friend of yours. Do you think he knows about you or was he just being a good guy?

Maybe he himself is into it?

 

[AttilaThePun]

one of my most vivid collage memories was me sitting with a bunch of friends in the canteen. Somebody brought up the topic of adult babies and kept going on about how weird they were, eventually the word freak was used. Everyone just agreed, I purged immediately after and spent about 3 years hating myself for being ABDL. .

Feeling much better about myself now though .

I wonder what *that* person was into, that they had to focus that much judgment on adult babies? I hear skeletons rattling in that person's closet, big time!

 

[AsherDearing]

I wonder what *that* person was into, that they had to focus that much judgment on adult babies? I hear skeletons rattling in that person's closet, big time!

I have pondered that for some time, cause it’s something I’ve been close to doing before. Bringing it up out of anxiety and saying “hey look at these weirdos” as a way try and deflect suspicion that was never there in the first place .

If they were ABDL, I hope they accepted themselves and are happy. If they weren’t, I hope they became more accepting. But I haven’t spoken or seen them in a long time.