Do you want to be a sassy schoolchild or a baby again? For an hour or maybe longer? Ageplay, or role-playing focused on being a different age, is one way to have fun and express yourself. Whether emotionally satisfying, sexually satisfying, or both, this type of role-playing is fun and evocative. This book will guide you through the different aspects of ageplay. Sections include describing and choosing roles, setting up scenes and interactions, and finding other people to connect and play with. Included are quotes from ageplayers, describing their interactions and feelings, as well as a list of scene possibilities.
Review
While I was doing research for my article about resources for littles, I stumbled across this book and noticed that it’s one of only a small handful of non-fiction books that I found written about the little dynamic. I had heard about it before in passing, but hadn’t given it much thought until I had stumbled across it again a second time. Instead of allowing it to once again be a fleeting thought, I one clicked and instantly dived in.
Ageplay: From Diapers to Diplomas is written by Paul Rulof, who is a daddy dominant and is extremely active in the Chicago alternative sex scene and also does a lot of work focusing on bringing attention and acceptance to the age play and little dynamics. He has degrees in psychology and sociology and his education really shows throughout the book with the massive amounts of research that Rulof has done.
There are a lot of topics covered in this book from what is age play to the history, the stigma of age playing, as well as how to deal with aftercare and drop, and etiquette and sample contracts and scenes. I know for a lot of adult babies and other littles, the term age player can be a bit off-putting because there is a huge difference between the two(that’s a whole separate article), but as a little if you can overlook the use of the terms age playing and age player, I think you would enjoy reading the book.
While there is a lot of valuable information in this book, I have to honestly say that my favorite chapter of this book is the one that covers the stigmas that are involved when it comes to age playing or being a little. The biggest one that Rulof touches on is one of the biggest misconceptions in the age play and little dynamic, and probably even more so for the males who are involved in the dynamic and that is pedophilia. This is a common misconception that comes up when people who are unfamiliar with the dynamic hear about it. This quote about the topic really spoke a lot to me:
The purpose of pedophilia is not to celebrate childhood or display its virtues. Ageplay celebrates childhood and the activities, dress, and rites of passage. Ageplay also celebrates childhood virtues as well: innocence, delightedness, and many others. In ageplay, all activities are consensual and scenes are constructed to provide participants with pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment.
I really feel this is the perfect quote to sum up exactly what the age play and little dynamic is about and how in no way is it anything close to pedophilia.
Another thing that I really love from this book are the quotes from people who are age players or participate in the little dynamic. You will see these quotes throughout the entire book on various topics and I really like this because it helps to make the book more relatable. While there are a lot of facts and statistics, which my geeky self-loves, the facts can get a bit overwhelming and the quotes, to me anyways, helps to connect the reader to what is being discussed.
I also love the broad range of topics that are written about because there are so many things that take place within a little or adult baby. The emotional connection, power dynamics, types of both littles and caregivers, stigmas that we have to deal with from people who don’t understand the dynamic, and educational resources such as a negotiation form, glossary, and a sample contract. I feel there’s a lot of beneficial information in the book and it’s worth the read.