We’ve always heard narratives about people who feel particularly attracted
by feet, or aroused by the sight and texture of leather and rubber,
or just like to have sex out of the so-called normal societal standards.
There are innumerous attires and accessories in sex-shops, designed
with sexuality enhancement in mind. Assorted devices usually described
as being fetish-like.
The fetishism today is an important aspect for many people when it
comes to sexuality. Initially the word fetish was used to name
religious or magic devices found in some African and non-western cultures.
Later, there used to be employed as objects or state of affairs that
provoke sexual arousal, including clothes, body parts, or even scents
and sounds.
None of us would regard a man who feel aroused by some woman’s breasts
as fetishism, but to certain cultures around the world, the only people
interested in breasts are children when go hungry. So, a fetish can
be described as any sexual behavior that’s uncommon or unusual to
one’s own social and cultural standards.
Recently, sexologists started to separate some behaviors previously
considered fetishes into partialism and fetishism. Partialism would
be a sexual interest in specific parts of the body, while fetishism
refers only to objects and inanimate things. In some cases, fetishism
and partialism are combined. A person might have a fetish for shoes,
or be interest in feet, what characterizes partialism. But it’s not
uncommon to find a person having an interest for both feet and shoes.
In fact, for some people anything feet and shoe, or sock related or
the feet’s peculiar smell or taste might stimulate sexuality.
A fetish usually has no connection with shape or function of an object,
but what it’s made of and the way it feels. That’s why materials such
as leather, and rubber or latex, vinyl, or fur and silk or other similar
textures are commonly associated to fetishism. A naked woman is surely
very attractive, but for some men, a naked woman draped with nothing
but a fur coat may be a total blast. It’s the tenderness of the woman’s
skin combined with the softness of the fur coat, and other factors
such as aroma, hair, and the mystery revolving a seducing woman wearing
furs and so on. Everything combined results in fetish.
Both fetishism and partialism are basically men’s interest. There
rarely to be found a woman who in fact has a fetish, since women who
get into fetishism are trying to spice up their relationships or to
please their partners. Fetishist women are few and far between every
culture. The reasons that explain fetishes as being kind of a “man’s
thing” are not quite clear. Some researcher point that men feel more
connected to sex than women, because they are taught to enjoy sex
from childhood, whereas most cultures tend to teach girls to see their
sexuality as prohibitive or impure. Other scientists point to the
fact that boys are more likely to think about sex without the presence
of women, while masturbating enjoying pornography for instance, so
later in life they might easily feel aroused by images.
Some other fetishes are least common, but by no means less interesting.
Transvestitism (cross-dressing) is another form of fetish. It’s when
people get their kicks wearing clothes of the opposite gender. A variation
of such fetish is the Cisvestism, which is the fetish of wearing clothes
that seem inappropriate to age or occupation, as a baby, nurse or
an officer, for instance. Sometimes this fetish may include body modifications,
such as tattoos or body piercing (sometimes even in the genital area).
It’s hard to our culture define whether a particular fetish is unhealthy
or unsuitable, for concepts may vary. As long as parts involved agree
on what goes on and it doesn’t include any severe physical harm,
fetishes are just people expressing their sexuality in different ways.
Sexuall.org
Editors |
