Editing Ageplay (section)

==Characteristics and variations==
Ageplay is a form of roleplay between one or more consenting adults.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bauer |first=Robin |date=2021 |title=Queering consent: Negotiating critical consent in les-bi-trans-queer BDSM contexts |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460720973902 |journal=Sexualities |language=en |volume=24 |issue=5–6 |pages=767–783 |doi=10.1177/1363460720973902 |s2cid=229433950 |issn=1363-4607}}</ref> Within [[Dominance and submission|dominant/submissive relationships]], ageplay can enhance power dynamics, and allow a partner to feel more comfortable with their dominance or submission.

A common myth is that caregiver dynamics (caregiver/little, daddy/little, mommy/little) all involve ageplay. However, these dynamics are more about caring for one another than re-enacting an incest fantasy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caregiving Dynamics and DDlg/CGl |url=https://kynk101.com/kink-bdsm-facts/caregivers-ddlg |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=KYNK 101 |language=en-US}}</ref> Research shows that there is an interest in this kind of "intergenerational play" that is distinct from incest—or kinship—play.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Bauer |first=Robin |date=2018 |title=Bois and grrrls meet their daddies and mommies on gender playgrounds: Gendered age play in the les-bi-trans-queer BDSM communities |journal=Sexualities |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1–2 |pages=139–155 |doi=10.1177/1363460716676987 |issn=1363-4607|doi-access=free }}</ref>

According to forensic psychologist Annil Aggrawal, ageplay is not related to pedophilia or any form of sex abuse.<ref>{{Harvp|Aggrawal|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uNkNhPZQprcC&pg=PA147 147]}}</ref> Individuals who engage in ageplay are consenting adults who enjoy imagining or portraying themselves as children, or merely enjoy childlike elements typical of children present in [[adult]]s.

===Paraphilic infantilism===
{{Main|Paraphilic infantilism}}

Paraphilic infantilism, colloquially known as "adult baby" play, is a specific form of ageplay which involves one or more consenting adults role-playing an age regression to an infant-like state. "Adult baby" play can be an expression of a fetish (or, more accurately, [[paraphilia]]) or simply as a non-sexual form of recreational adult role-play. 

Behaviors may include things such as wearing childish clothes, wearing or using [[Diaper|diapers]], cuddling with [[Stuffed toy|stuffed animals]], drinking from a [[Baby bottle|bottle]] or sucking on a [[pacifier]], and (when done with others) engaging in gentle and nurturing experiences, [[baby talk]], or [[BDSM]] power dynamics involving [[Sadomasochism|masochism]], coercion, punishment or humiliation. People who participate in paraphilic infantilism are often referred to as "adult babies" or "ABs".

Though distinct, within the [[Kink (sexuality)|kink]] community paraphilic infantilism is often associated with [[diaper fetishism]] under the umbrella term, "adult baby/diaper lover" or "AB/DL".

Some research has aimed to separate ageplay from the pathologized framing of paraphilic infantilism, noting in part that paraphilic infantilism is not listed within the DSM-V.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tiidenberg |first1=Katrin |last2=Paasonen |first2=Susanna |date=2019-06-01 |title=Littles: Affects and Aesthetics in Sexual Age-Play |journal=Sexuality & Culture |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=375–393 |doi=10.1007/s12119-018-09580-5 |issn=1936-4822|doi-access=free }}</ref> This research also discourages thinking of ageplay in terms of discrete pathologized identity categories, but rather as a spectrum of intersecting identities, behaviors, and/or power dynamics.