“Fetish” and “kink” are sometimes used interchangeably,
but there are some key differences that are important to discuss when we’re
talking about the psychology of a specific sexual desire.
A fetish is a sexual fixation on a specific object,
activity, or body part that becomes absolutely necessary to a person’s sexual
satisfaction. A kink is a broad term that is used to describe many different
“alternative” sexual interests, preferences, and/or fantasies.
A fetish will oftentimes be psychologically ingrained in
our desires – it becomes almost impossible to feel sexual pleasure without
including this particular thing in your sex life.
Sometimes a fetish is a kink that has become
psychologically essential to sexual gratification. For some, participating in a
specific BDSM activity may start as a fantasy and eventually lead to something
they need in order to feel arousal, pleasure, and sexual release.
How are fetishes formed?
The idea of how fetishes are formed has been a question
of intrigue for a long time. However, there is still very little research
available on the subject. Perhaps this is because of the complexities of sexual
psychology — after all, sometimes it’s difficult to explain why our brain
reacts the way it does to certain stimulation.
The most common answer to the question of
how fetishes are formed is that a fetish is a learned response. For example,
when a neutral item (such as a shoe, for example) is paired with something
arousing (a nude photo, for example), the previously neutral item is eventually
associated with arousal and sexual excitement, eventually becoming a trigger
for arousal.
This theory was proven in 1966, with a study performed by
Stanley Rachman, where colored photographic slides of naked women
were projected onto a screen for 15 seconds, followed by another image of a
pair of black, knee-length women’s boots projected for 30 seconds.
Sexual arousal was successfully conditioned in this
study, meaning that the participants eventually became aroused when looking at
the image of the black boot.
There is another theory surrounding fetishism that
suggests there are prerequisite personality traits that enable us to become
more or less likely to develop certain fetishes.
According to psychologist Dr. Justin
Lehmiller, who is currently a research fellow at the Kinsey
Institute, the idea that people are “born with” fetishes likely won’t be proven
– but there is merit to the idea people may be born with a generalized
predisposition to developing fetishes.
“Although personality is undoubtedly influenced by
environmental factors, several studies have suggested that a number of
personality traits are heritable to some degree,” Lehmiller explains. “So, to
the extent that individuals are born with tendencies towards certain
personality traits could explain why some people are more likely to develop
fetishes than others.”
1 in 7 people have had a sexual fantasy about feet.Photo by Martin
Carlsson on Shutterstock
The fetish for feet has been labeled as many things:
foot fetishism, foot worship, foot partialism (where you are sexually aroused
by a certain body part).
Foot fetishism has also been deemed a paraphilia (a
condition where the individual’s sexual arousal and satisfaction depend on
fantasizing over a specific thing), with people who have a distinct interest in
feet noted as having “podophilia”, which is described as a
pronounced sexual interest in feet (or shoes).
How popular are foot fetishes?
According to Justin Lehmiller, who collected
data on this topic for his book “Tell Me What You Want”,
reported that 1 in 7 people have reported having a foot-related sexual fantasy
before. However, he explains the number of people who have a true fetish for
feet is likely to be much smaller than that.
It’s important to note, according to Lehmiller, that
just because someone has fantasized about feet in a sexual capacity, this
doesn’t mean they have a fetish for feet – simply, they have been sexually
aroused by the idea of feet in the past.
Lehmiller even went as far as breaking down the sexual
orientation of his participants, explaining that 18% of heterosexual men have fantasized
about feet before, compared to a very small 5% of heterosexual women.
Twenty-one percent of gay or bisexual identifying men and 11% of lesbian or
bisexual women also shared their experiences with foot-related sexual
fantasies.
The “body image map” known as the Penfield Homunculus explains why
people can be sexually aroused by feet.Photo by sergey karabanov on Shutterstock
Dr. Vilayanur
Ramachandran, a neurologist and professor of neuroscience and
psychology at the University of California, San Diego, has spent years studying
and analyzing the neural mechanisms that cause human behaviors.
Wilder Penfield established the “body
image map” (referred to as The Penfield homunculus) which found that
sensations in the body directly correlated to stimulations in various parts of
our brain. The sensory perception for our feet is located directly adjacent to
the sensory perception area for our genitalia – perfectly explaining the
normalcy behind foot fetishism.