(Long theoretical post)
This is a "win" topic, insofar as the theory about fetishes is accepted -- that fetishes are caused by unprocessed childhood pain. It's just so much better to see SOMEONE ELSE suffering the pain of being locked up in a play-pen, having messy diapers, having to submit to a medical exam, etc., than to have it happen to one's self. The greater the pain and embarrassment, the stronger the fetish-charge, and since being examined, especially past puberty, by a parent is about as embarrassing as I can imagine, it makes sense that this topic would get a strong response.
On the other hand, this is a "lose" topic for the board, in that a lot of bad buttons are getting pushed: pedophilia, incest, mandatory reporting, child abuse, etc.
My mother's behavior towards me was such that I had to sit her down for an incest intervention, years ago. . She had various boundary-violation patterns, and no insight into them, and you couldn't meaningfully ask her to stop, as there was no "mind" in her that was aware of what she was doing. If you had shown her video of her doing such-and-such a behavior, she would have denied it. The intervention didn't stop her, so finally I hard to sit down with my dad and explain that I was adopting a "no contact" stance with her. Not going to be in the same house, car church, family gathering, etc. Since her boundary-violations were what was fueling the sense of boundary-violations as a "hot topic" in my own mind, the "De-FOOing" process, while painful, put a stop to a lot of the trouble I was having. Honestly, it was like somebody pulled the plug on the energizer bunny. Suddenly the compulsive character of that sort of material was gone. Now I work in evictions, helping tenants set proper boundaries with each other, as this enables them to live together without trouble. That's how important boundary-setting has become for me. (FOO - family of origin. Defoo = cut ties with family of origin.) Talking about this is not a happy place for me, so don't ask for details. On the other hand, I live with the uncomfortable knowledge that her "phallic mother" "I'm in charge here, I'm in charge of you" attitude colors my adult sexual life. It's bad enough to live with this with my eyes open. I'm very glad I am no longer allowing those attitudes to control me, and to set the tone for my relationships.
So, to the end of helping everyone get the maximum hygienic benefit out of this thread / topic, I would like to offer the following sketch of the territory: I don't think anyone is at the Maximum Fetish Loser position or the Maximum Fetish Winner position, I think we're all in the middle somewhere. But it might help people to have a map, so they have some idea of where the GOOD BEANS are buried and where the BAD BEANS are buried.
Maximum Loser Position:
I have no conscious understanding of my own parent-child dynamic operative in my own fetish life, so I spend a lot of time trying to get into the parent-child dynamics of other people by asking intrusive questions, and I am driven to try to reestablish abusive relationships along the lines laid down in my childhood, with anyone I can find who is vulnerable enough to play along with me. They don't get any say in the scene - - - it's all about me acting out my most-charged scenes from 30 years ago, with the partner as silent meat-pupet. I'm totally demanding and precise about this, and yet I have no idea what I'm doing or why, and no idea or concern that this might not be meeting the other person's needs, or even being really damaging to them. I have been doing this for years, and have no interest in learning or changing.
Maximum WINNER position:
I totally understand the good and bad erotics of the parent-child dynamic operating in my own fetish life, and I am free to play all the positions: good daddy, bad daddy, good mommy, bad mommy, horny kid, prim kid, etc. When I engage other people in this sort of play, I do so based on consent negotiations, constantly checking back with my partners to see how their needs are being met, as well as giving them good feedback on how my needs are getting met. There is good-natured give and take in the role-playing: on Tuesday night we do YOUR favorite thing, on Thursday night, we do MY favorite thing. At every point, I'm open to learning more about the uncomfortable material driving my fetishes, although the pain makes it hard to process more than a little at a time. I'm willing to make allowances, in the larger life of the fetish community, for people who have less understanding of their issues, and thus less freedom to go off-script, and for people who have more understanding of their issues, and are able to go places where I can't go.
Sorry to go Psychology Corner here, but I think this is a topic where it's good to have a YARD-DUTY watching out for people's safety. If you hang out with ME, you'll end up sitting down for a reader's theater performance of Sophocles's Oidopous Tyrannos in Ancient Greek. That's how I roll...
---1970sboy.