Nowadays children are increasingly dressed as mini-adults, perhaps with some childish countenance here or there. It is increasingly rare to see a child dressed as the girl on the left. And I was thinking about how this change in children's fashion would affect infantilism, which has as one of its parts the idealization of childhood, the idealization of the "childlike look".
What happens to the people who would be infantilist in the future, and who are children nowadays, and who were dressed as mini-adults in their childhood? How will this affect "the concept of the childlike look" in the infantilist community, since it is no longer particularly distinct from adult clothing? How will this affect infantilism as a whole?
Because, obviously, this is a fetish/way of life that is influenced by the existing concept of childhood. The clothes, for example, that many infantilist people idealize in their fantasies, like the other aspects, are the same ones that existed in the time when they were small.
And obviously we can extend this to other areas too, such as toys. Nowadays it is very common for children, even very young ones, to play with tablets, cell phones, etc… instead of more "traditional" toys.
The central point here is that our sexuality is affected by changes in society, both social and even technological.
In this context, more specifically, we can highlight the invention of the disposable diaper and its subsequent popularization, which became something that became a typical symbol of childhood and permeated an entire generation. A countenance that had not existed before.
Overall, also, our view of childhood in the West today - as a time for children to play and have fun and be free of responsibilities - is relatively recent. In the past it was common for children to work in factories from a young age, unfortunately, then, this simply was not part of the concept of childhood. In fact, even childrenswear is relatively new, in the Victorian era it was common for children to wear the same clothing as adults from a certain age, including a corset.