The Babies [Hardcover]

Susan Sontag (Author), Polly Borland (Photographer), Mark Holborn (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000

As perversions go, infantilism is little known, and even less understood. Imagine fully grown men wanting to revive their earliest days--dressed in diapers, dipped in baths, and "fed" from breasts--as a means to sexual stimulation or familial comfort. Now imagine trying to document this--yes, the thought that just popped into your head is right--and you have an idea of the Herculean effort Borland went through to grapple with and understand people with this type of fetish. Portrait-photographer-by-trade Polly Borland compassionately explores this surreal world, artfully framing the inner lives of adult babies alongside their outer manifestations. Many of these men, who function in society as truck drivers, accountants, and teachers, suffered as children and were left obsessed with the warmth and care experienced by other infants and toddlers. So they dress up in adult-sized baby clothes, powder their own bottoms, and...do what babies do, all in an attempt to recreate that lost attachment. And sometimes to get aroused. Accompanying these Arbus-like photographs are interviews with the babies themselves. The book, expertly sequenced by famed editor Mark Holborn, begins like the sweetest of lullabies, seducing us into a sense of lovely baby life... until about page 12.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: powerHouse Books; 1 edition (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576870839
• ISBN-13: 978-1576870839
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Sex
  • #32 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Culture
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Art > Art History > Criticism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Babies" is another link to my own secret, shuuuuu!, February 19, 2009

By 

Big Cry Baby Warren "aka: Diaper Boy" (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babies (Hardcover)

As someone who has struggled most of my life with my own infantilism, it strikes a very deep cord to see such an affirmative piece of photographic work as Polly Borland's "The Babies." Susan's essay as well as Mark's introduction articulate that struggle in such a way that raises it above the usual terms of perversion and fetish onto a plain that makes those applications trivial.

As one who dares to strip away the other labels that many of us aggressively strive for a men in this society including gender and sexuality, Adult Babies, rightly or wrongly, are striving to place it all in perspective. Comfort, security, and the desire for love are basic to human nature, something that so many of us are unwilling to give or even receive from others without assessing what their motives might be. Why should this be so?

My Wittle Sissy Sisters and Brudders on those pages have exposed our greatest vulnerability, that fear of detection and rejection that underlies too many of everyone's actions today if they knew who "WE" really are. Took a great deal of courage even though there are thousands of Adult Babies and Diaper Lovers out there.

Looking through any AB/DL roster of members shows you that less than ten percent actually engage in dialogue while the rest only come to read the words or view the photographs of others, so many faceless shots.

Yes, it took a mountain of courage to waddle out from behind that computer screen into the light.

Diaper Boy and Jambo salute you!

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AB LIFESTYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIGHLY SEXUALLY AROUSING!!!!!!!!!!, August 12, 2004

By 

Max Retro "Kev" (Wellesley, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Babies (Hardcover)

I found this review very helpful! You won't believe it, but I have the same fetish as the men in this book do! To back that up, I, when I get access to them, wear adult diapers and sometimes suck my thumb and drool! I am going to have a very happy AB/DL lifestyle forever and 24/7! I can't wait to get baby toys and be breastfed, diapered, etc.! I love it! ANYONE WHO ALSO HAS MY FETISH SHOULD DEFINITELY GET THIS BOOK! READ IT FROM THE FRONT TO BACK COVER! I STRONGLY RECCOMMEND IT!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Didn't look carefully at what it was, June 10, 2009

By 

J. Basile (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Babies (Hardcover)

I made another mistake. I ordered this book before and didn't remember. I also didn't read the discription. I thought it was a regular book with stories. It's ALL pictures. Again my mistake. If I could return it I would.