The sexual fetishism was originally described by Alfred Binet, although, has been out there for a very long time. It’s a kind of paraphilia, where the emotional object is lifeless or is focused in a specific part of the body. The fetishism originates from the word “fetish” that originally referred to an object with supernatural power or an object created by human with power over other people.
As well as many people like the exotic food, in thematter of sex there are also unusual tastes. Among these tastes, some researches have proved that the attraction for the feet is the most popular, specially among men, followed by other fetishes such as shoes or be tied. I’ve talked about other fetishes on this post, check it HERE if you are curious about it. According to experts, fetishes are part of any person’ sexual life and there’s no problem with it. There are several theories about the origin of the foot fetish; one of them is related with the childhood’s experiences.
The foot fetish is a fascinating example of the human depravity.
Luis Buñuel
Against the psychological background of the foot fetish, several hypotheses have been considered. Freud said: “In many cultures, the experience of the child with his mother may involve worship for the foot. If this leaves it mark on the sexual behavior, can turn this part of the body into an erotic model, because in addition, the feet are the most viewed part for a kid when starts walking”. Jung claimed that: “The foot is the symbol of the soul because thanks to feet man can remain standing”. Neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran indicates: “May be due to the fact that the feet and genitals are connected due to its proximity in the brain”.
Sex is much more than genitality
“Doctor Ramachandran may have confused the touch feeling with the attraction of the sight”, affirms the profesor Oliver Turnbullm of the School Psychology from Bangor University. “Some people get a kick out of seeing feet on high heels but not get aroused touching them”.
We’re turning from childhood to adolescence period and the sexuality starts to bloom. According to Cristina Callao, sexologist and couples therapist, “the fetishism starts with the interest for sexuality, even before become a teenager. There’s a certain willingness to develop a sexual fetish in the puberty, where you can realize that some strange things turn you on. It’s during this period when the fetishist can feel rejection to his own sexuality”
“It hasn’t been properly studied, there has been no investment time nor money for a good scientific research. This creates a certain fear or rejection to considering the foot fetish as something good or normal, a practice that doesn’t hurt anyone”-says the expert.
This person who discover that is aroused by feet but this is a problem because, with who is going to share this feeling? With friends that would mock with it? Therefore, keeps the secret and looks out of the loop for support.
Cristina Callao, sexologist and couples therapist
But, how it feels when you have this fetish in front of you? Arola Poch, psychologist specializing in sex and with an extensive knowledge of foot fetish, explained that according to a research conducted few months ago, “there’s a genital response (erection or lubrication) in a very high percentage when some kind of fetish is practiced”. Maybe for this reason the fetishes are not accepted as a normal social behaviour. “We’re still keeping a closed mind in sex issues. The foot fetish has the appearance of something weird, but sex is much more than genitality” –explains Arola Poch.
Is the foot fetish more popular among men?
“There are no statistics about the subject” says the New York-based psychotherapist Dulcinea Pitagora AKA ‘The Kink Doctor’. “Personally, in my experience with my patients, feet and shoes fetishes are definitely the most common”. Pitagora explains that, for many, sexual fetishes are origined during the childhood when experienced touch and visual stimulus related with sexuality. Pitagora also indicates that childs ar more likely to develop attraction to the tickling than the adults.
According my psycologist experience, foot fetish and footwear fetish are the most popular among people.
Dulcinea Pitagora, psychotherapist
It’s commonly believed that the foot fetish is mainly a taste of men. Pitagora is not agree with that, “there are real fetishists of each gender and sexual orientation, but not all were well taught about sexual issues and many were raised to remain silent about their sexuality and everything else” –says.
Obsessive dependence
According the Doctor Fernando Rosero, sexual health specialist, must not be confused the taste for something with a fetish or paraphilia. In contrast to Dulcinea Pitagora, Rosero explains that generally paraphilias are more common in men than in women, in a ratio of 1:4. “One of the reasons that could explain that are the hormonal differences between men and women” -says Rosero.
Those who have a paraphilia sometimes depends obsessively on this fetish to feel pleasure and arousal.
Doctor Fernando Rosero, sexual health specialist
“Cannot be identified one single cause by which a person can develope podophilia. Could be caused by past experiences or by neurological causes.” –says Dr.Rosero. For the Doctor, the important think is knowing at which point a hobby or a particular taste becomes a problem. “If the person depends entirely on the fetish for feel pleasure, has remorse, and this remorse leads him to go back for the fetish, maybe are signs that professional help is needed”. “The important thing is to know that there are treatments for it, therapies and even medicines” –concludes Rosero.
The Foot Fetish: pleasure or disorder?
There are authors that avoid to use the word “fetishism” when are writing about sexual paraphilias. Some prefer to call it ‘partialism’, which is, essentially, a sexual interest with a focus on a specific part of the body. Others, specially in the case of feet, call it podophilia. Actually, it’s the same thing.
As I said, the partialism is a sexual interest of a specific body’s part. This can be any part of the body, such as the hair, breasts, or buttocks. As always, is believed that these fetishes are more popular among men than women, but this cannot be confirmed since there are no studies in this regard.
It is difficult, however, to establish the boundaries between a fetishism as a source of pleasure and an obsessive-compulsive disorder, but there are some guidelines that can help us to differentiate them. The help of a psychologist, pedagogue or other expert, if we think it could be somewhat troublesome four our daily life, can be very useful.
At first, we must consider that it’s about a paraphilia and not about a disorder; is not something you have to worry about and, with exceptions, does not require treatment. We talk about paraphilic disorders when this involves significant discomfort medically speaking, because of the person’s behavior; if the sexual desires are unchecked or if could cause functional deterioration for a long time. The treatment typically consists of psychotherapy, medication or a mixture of both.
So, what do you think? The foot fetish is a great pleasure or a mind disorder?
Greetings
The Feet Hunter