Everything You Need to Know about Sexual Fetishes

22.12.2017

In our days, when open sexual desire is no longer considered reprehensible, it's hard to imagine that we don’t know something about sex and its aspects. And such type of sexual behavior as fetishism is known to us since ancient times. Who hasn’t heard of the irresistible attraction to women's legs or shoes, underwear, and even uniforms? We collected everything you need to know about sexual fetishes.

What is a sexual fetish and how it works: psychological insight

So, what is a sexual fetish? It’s a subject, action, or part of the body, the involvement of which in the sexual act is necessary to satisfy sexual needs.

In fact, in its original meaning, fetishism was considered a non-standard and unconventional form of sex. Officially, fetishism is “a form of perversion, according to which sexual arousal arises and is satisfied only in the presence of an inadequate physical stimulus - a fetish.” But in the modern world, the boundaries of sexual fetish definition have become blurred. What is a fetish today? Most people call their sexual fantasies a fetish. For example, a lot of men get sexually excited when looking at women's stockings, high-heeled shoes, the smell of hair, or a special voice timbre. And no one even thinks about calling such man a pervert. Moreover, all men, in one way or another, have their own sexual preferences.

Nowadays, fetishism is considered pathology only if a person is obsessed with a fetish so much that he/she is ready to commit illegal and dangerous actions and harm themselves or others or if their obsession with a fetish significantly reduces the quality of a person's social and sexual life. Fetishism can become a problem only if a man is no longer able to feel sexual excitement and have sex without a fetish. Yet in many cases, a fetish is just an additional stimulating factor, and not a necessary attribute, without which a person cannot experience physical attraction. If a sexual preference doesn’t go beyond the bounds of reasonable behavior, it can be a wonderful and pleasant addition to your foreplay and sex. And there are a lot of sexual fetish stories to prove it.

When talking about the most common types of sexual fetish, it’s impossible not to include foot fetishism, underwear fetishism, wetlook fetishism (when a person experiences sexual excitement when looking at female a body in wet clothes), body worship (when a person’s physical strength serves as an object of fetish) and medical fetishism (sexual arousal that occurs during a medical-themed sexual roleplay). There are also less common types of fetishes.

Given the blurred boundaries of the definition, we can say with certainty that fetishism is present in almost every one of us. You can easily “wake it up;” all you need is to understand that it can serve as an endless source of pleasure. After all, fetishism is the basis of all sexy role plays, and it’s this attribute that makes them so exciting and arousing. Some pieces of clothes that aren’t designed for wearing everyday create a sense of novelty which spices up romantic relationships. For example, games like nurse-patient or teacher-student put you in non-trivial situations, and this revives sexual life.

Most common fetishes

So, what are the most popular fetishes for guys?

High-heeled shoes

This is the most common sexual fetish. The absolute majority of men, foot fetishists, who love women's feet, BDSM-boys, and just aesthetes, who like the sexual gait, adore this part of women's wardrobe. By the way, thanks to this fetish, Marilyn Monroe got her first good role. She just came to audition in her shoes with one heel cut off a bit. As a result, while walking, the actress sexually wagged her hips and got a role.

Leather, latex, and other BDSM attributes

You don’t need to be a sadomasochist to be sexually aroused from looking at a lady who plays an aggressive dominant. The image of a cat woman, dressed in leather and latex, is not new. But, nevertheless, most men still love it. Psychologists say that only people who want to hide their mental softness and sensitivity like to dress in leather. Whatever the true reason is, this “innocent” sexual fetish leaves almost no one indifferent.

Lips, red lipstick

Perhaps female lips make men think of kisses, or maybe they awaken some sexual fantasies about oral sex. In any case, a woman with beautiful lips always attracts attention. Sexologists say that men can subconsciously associate female lips with sex organs.

Hair

We don’t need a sexual fetish survey to know that a lot of men are aroused by the look and smell of women's hair. This fetish is quite understandable, and it’s easy to satisfy. Besides, hair preserves different odors for a long time, and this can also be used.

Piercing, tattoos

It’s a slightly less common fetish, which, nevertheless, attracts many men. The only thing is that piercings and tattoos don’t suit all girls. That’s why if your girlfriend doesn’t want to decorate her body with a bizarre ornament, you shouldn’t insist on doing that. In the end, sexuality lies in the natural look of the image.

Lingerie

That’s another top sexual fetish. As a rule, objects related to persons of the opposite sex, like panties, stockings, bras, and shoes, often become fetishes. The most popular fetishes are women's panties, and this has been turned into the real business: girls sell their panties to special shops, where fetishists can buy them later. Fetishistic transvestism, when a person not only experiences sexual interest in underwear but also feels the need to put on women’s panties, is often associated with underwear fetishism.

Body parts (arms, feet, buttocks, breasts, etc.)

This one should probably be the first on the list of sexual fetish. There’s not a single heterosexual guy in the world who wouldn’t feel sexual arousal when looking at a naked woman's body. Breasts and buttocks are very common fetishes. However, there are men who prefer other parts of the body: for example, hands, feet, legs, neck, etc. In countries where women are forced to close their faces, a girl can sometimes arouse a man just by baring her wrist.

Nails

This fetish is difficult to explain from the point of view of psychology, but it’s easy to satisfy. A beautiful manicure can attract some men’s attention.

Water

Water often serves as an additional means of receiving sexual pleasure. Maybe that’s because we’re always naked when we take a bath. Or maybe because water is a natural remedy for stress relief. But whatever the reason is, sex on the beach, in the pool, in a shower, or in the Jacuzzi is one of the most popular sexual fantasies.

Water is also closely connected with wetlook fetishism (getting sexually aroused by looking at the body in wet clothes). This one is almost always associated with a fetish for a certain type of clothing - sports, military, business suits, and other types of clothing in which a wetlook fetishist prefers to get wet. To get sexually excited, a person walks in the rain without an umbrella, swims in a fountain, takes a bath or shower in clothes, etc.

Miniskirts

Even if all designers and fashion critics of the world declare miniskirts vulgar, men are unlikely to stop loving this piece of clothing. And that’s great because most modern girls don’t want to hide their beauty.

Feederism

This list wouldn’t be complete without a sexual food fetish. There’s nothing wrong with gaining a couple of extra pounds, but there are fetishists, who receive sexual pleasure by overfeeding their sexual partners. Feeders specifically choose high-calorie food and enjoy each pound their partners gain.

Rare and strange sexual fetishes

Here are a few fetishes you didn’t know existed.

Fetish for balloons

People with a passion for balloons experience sexual pleasure from touching them, and some even reach orgasm when the balloon explodes. This probably happens because our body develops adrenaline when we hear loud sounds, and together with excitement from expectation, this brings double pleasure.

Forniphilia

Have you ever wanted to become a piece of furniture? Forniphiles want. Some, on the contrary, would love to have someone who would act as furniture for them. This fetish is one of the traditions of the BDSM subculture. It became especially popular in the 1970s after the exhibition of artist Allen Jones.

Plushophilia

That’s probably the cutest strange sexual fetish. Just forget that such people experience sexual attraction to soft toys.

Formicophilia

This is a kind of zoophilia, but formicophiles get sexually aroused when something creepy, like insects, crawls on their body. The most common animals in this type of fetish are ants, although some are excited from contact with snails, frogs, bees, or worms. All people who suffer from this sexual deviation feel sexual pleasure when these insects or small animals crawl, bite, or sting certain body parts (this can also cause injuries) or make any other movement, thereby creating sexual stimulation.

Hierophilia

This is sexual arousal from different religious attributes, like sacred books, icons, reading prayers, or just staying inside a church. Perhaps, it’s this fetish that explains the popularity of the image of a “sexy nun.”

Pygmalionism

Pygmalionism is truly a creepy sexual fetish. As you may have guessed, it’s named after the mythological sculptor, who fell in love with his creation. Such fetishists are attracted to an image of the human body - sculpture, photo, portrait, whatever. If the pygmalionist can’t keep a work of art that arouses them, they can even destroy it.

Crash-fetish

This is a kind of sexual pleasure a person gets when someone crushes any object, food, or even small animals with legs (and this is already crossing the boundaries of a funny sexual addiction). This also applies to viewing the so-called crash videos.

Kleptolagnia

Have you ever wanted to be robbed? If not, then you definitely don’t have a fetish called kleptolagnia. It’s when people get sexually excited by fear when they’re robbed, and if they’re also pinned to the wall, they feel even more pleasure.

Maskalania

This is a sexual attraction to armpits when a person enjoys touching this part of the body and fantasies about it and its smell.

Symphorophilia

And this one’s perhaps is the most dangerous sexual attraction. A person with symphorophilia experiences sexual satisfaction from witnessing the tragedy. And this concept covers such examples as a road accident, fires, bridge destructions, and even a tsunami.

Mechanophilia

That’s a really weird sexual fetish. Everyone loves cars, especially men, but someone loves them too much. Mechanophilia involves attraction not only to cars, but also to motorcycles, trucks, helicopters, and even aircraft. One guy once admitted that he had sex with more than a hundred cars. We don’t even want to know what it means.