age regression is something that i have done throughout my life, even before i knew there was a medical term for it. it's something i still do now, mostly involuntarily. its not something that i want to will away (and can't really to begin with). i used to be in the "agere" community, because i wanted to find a space with likeminded people also coping with this mechanism. and unfortunately, that wasn't the right space for that.
throughout my years of being in the agere community, there was a certain sentiment spread around by many of its members, especially the more popular ones. that anyone who participates in kink are bad and that certain fetishes (such as ABDL, DDLG, ageplay, etc.) make you a pedophile. i tried to ignore that part as long as i could since i really wanted to be in this community. but i just couldn't any longer.
it'd be one thing if it was just a few people saying it, but its one of the key things that community was built on. they wanted to separate themselves from said adult communities and make it "safer" and "more socially acceptable". i wouldn't have an issue if they were simply just trying to make a strictly kid friendly space for anyone who age regresses. that's what i thought this whole community was when i first entered it. but they built it upon these harmful ideas and thats just not something that i can support.
to clarify, not every single person in the agere community has these same ideals. i've met some, including my own boyfriend, who do not share these sentiments against kinksters so i am not against people from the agere community as a whole. i've seen some label themselves as "non-community age regressors" because of the ideas the agere community pushes.
it just baffles me how much these people want to distance themselves from kink communities yet they stole their very terms and have the same dynamics as them. they want age regression to be socially accepted so they throw kinksters under the bus and accuse them of serious crimes all so that they are "not like those freaks".
i'd also like to bring up as a bonus the other ways that the agere community has shunned people. it was very common for "impure regression" to be treated as sinful. those who didn't adhere to the "cutesy, cozy, innocent" image. like people who experienced a lot of negative emotions or breakdowns during their regression. the whole point of age regression is to cope, and yet that doesn't fit their "perfect image".
even regressors who didn't follow the norms were treated differently, such as those who engaged with horror media or more adult topics when little. the whole claim of "age regression is purely non-sexual" always bothered me too. it makes those who might feel have sexual feelings during their regression (as a result of trauma or other reasons) feel like they're wrong.
also, as much as they claim this community is strictly "kid-friendly" they're very open about talking about and name dropping kinks everywhere. if you were so concerned about your child audience you wouldn't be exposing them to or even mentioning said content in the first place.
being in the agere community really fucked with my mental health. i joined it during a time when i was having conflicts with accepting parts of myself, namely coming to terms with being a kinkster. and this community was telling me that all these aspects of myself were bad, dangerous even, so i locked all these parts of myself away. and that really fucked me up. i felt like i was a monster for being into kink, for even daring to take interest in stuff such as ABDL.
I was against everything these people stood for. I regressed while engaging with horror and adult media. Most of my regression has been impure and painful and depressing. heck, i've done sexual stuff while regressed. i kept seeing call-out posts left and right of new people that were getting exposed for being kinksters in private. and it made me paranoied of "would i be next?".
it's funny, cuz i've found solace in the very same communities the agere community demonizes. i've taken to identifying more as an "ABDL", and being in that community has been really healing. there's no judgement there, everyone is free to regress and engage with kink however they choose. some are just into it for the comfort, some for the sexual aspect, and some are there for both. everyone regresses in their own unique ways, and there aren't any rules for how to do it.