Tanner staging

@JakeNewYork You are correct full body exams probably did contribute to my current sexual interests. That doesn't mean it is wrong to speak out against them in today's world. What we might enjoy sexually is likely humiliating for today's children causing them to avoid medics when they do actually need them.

And that is all fine, but this isn't a forum for and about public health policy or for administrators, medical professionals, and parents to hash out concerns. The handwringing is out of place here or, at the very least, there is too much of it and throws a wet blanket on the topic -- which is the main reason I don't talk about my own experience in open forums. I don't need the lecture about something embarrassing but totally benign that I can look back on and thing, "huh. In hindsight, that was kind of cool."

So, go ahead and make the thread a soapbox if you want, you or whoever else. I'm done with this one and if people have a real, honest interest, then they and I can chat privately. But this tendency for threads like this to become deadly earnest and leaden with finger-wagging concern is not fun, so since the people who don't have an interest won't move on, I will. No worries.

there is too much of it and throws a wet blanket on the topic

Agreed. I have half a mind to wander over to the watersports topics (not my thing, but apparently someone else's here) and stop the conversation with a lecture about how bad diapers are for the environment.

Let's not yuck others' yum here. Please just skip the topic if you disagree with the premise.

Please dial down the snark and vitriol everyone.

Apologies if any of my posts offended anyone They weren't intended that way.

In my defense, a great deal of discussion on this board does seem to describe the embarrassment felt at the time. While it may be a source of titillation for us as adults looking back, it without doubt did a lot of harm to children at the time. Being made to become semi dressed or naked in school was mortifying, especially at a time when being body conscious is at it's greatest. Even worse is the fact results of the exam became the knowledge of the teaching staff. I don't for one second believe that the PE teacher kept it all to him or herself while gossiping in the staff room.

I am pleased to see these types of medicals are being phased out and the more sensible self reporting taking it's place.

Apologies if any of my posts offended anyone They weren't intended that way.

In my defense, a great deal of discussion on this board does seem to describe the embarrassment felt at the time. While it may be a source of titillation for us as adults looking back, it without doubt did a lot of harm to children at the time. Being made to become semi dressed or naked in school was mortifying, especially at a time when being body conscious is at it's greatest. Even worse is the fact results of the exam became the knowledge of the teaching staff. I don't for one second believe that the PE teacher kept it all to him or herself while gossiping in the staff room.

I am pleased to see these types of medicals are being phased out and the more sensible self reporting taking it's place.

I was not going to come back to this thread but since you explained yourself, I will explain myself in good faith. In all honesty, I was offended, yes. I had a few physical exams many years ago that included tanner staging and while I think I would have had a medical fetish regardless, that experience really fueled it. In no way have I ever felt bad about or mistreated, even though, sure, it was embarrassing. A LOT of things are embarrassing at puberty and always will be. I rarely discuss, and never in detail, my tanner staging experience in open forums because (1) most people just don't know what it is - they often assume the orchidometer in my photo is anal beads - and I don't want to have to explain something so totally alien to them; and (2) I have learned the hard way that too many responses are along the lines of "that shouldn't have happened!" "No one should do that!" which is a fine opinion to have about it in plenty of contexts but in the context of a medical fetish thread where we try to be open with others who share this admittedly uncommon and benign fetish and the experiences that led us to it, it feels scolding and leaden. It suddenly heaps weight on something that I have always been lighthearted about. It makes me feel like, wow. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Maybe I am wrong for not feeling bad about this having happened to me. No one wants to feel like that. So, yeah. It was upsetting and offensive in that now I have to be mindful that even here, in the one medfet site I know about, I need to withhold rather than share. And that is what I will try to do from now on because it is never, ever my intention that my fetish or my experiences should upset anyone else.

Tanner staging remains a recognized, clinically relevant assessment in 2026, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and relies on the provider's clinical judgment regarding frequency; it is particularly relevant for patient management when abnormalities are present, such as precocious or delayed puberty. I recall having the assessment done on me when I was a child but did not view it as embarrassing or invasive at all; I mostly just viewed it as a trip to the doc. 😃