Today I want to illustrate how a single labeled fetish is never really single. A fetish contains multitudes of differences, nuances, and outcomes, from sensual pleasure to dizzying ecstasy.
Upon hearing the term “foot fetishism,” most people have no idea the label is merely an umbrella for hundreds of varied characteristics and erotic wants that center on feet, legs, and footwear.
Clinically labeled podophilia (love of feet), it is the most common fetish.
Foot Fetish Science Unlocked
A 2007 Italian study led by C. Scorolli offers the best prevalence data, showing us how many people commonly share some aspect of foot fetishism. They may not prefer the same foot or shoe appearances, but they are united in their fascination with feet and legs.
In Scorolli’s project, researchers analyzed 381 online fetish discussion groups and sorted them by category. Within the groups devoted to body parts, 47% were about feet. The next categories, body fluids and body size, came in at 9% each. Hair was 7%. Muscles were 5%.
The study is almost 20 years old; nonetheless, it is still the largest systematic count of fetish prevalence ever published. (Scorolli, C., Ghirlanda, S., Enquist, M., Zattoni, S., & Jannini, E. A. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17304204.)
A decade later, sex researcher Justin Lehmiller surveyed over 4,000 Americans for his book Tell Me What You Want (2018) and found that roughly one in seven people had experienced a foot-related sexual fantasy, the highest rate tied to any single body part.
And Then There Was Freud
No history of fetish theory is complete without mentioning Sigmund Freud, whose shadow loomed over fetishism and sadomasochism throughout the 20th century. His work became a bible for psychologists and psychiatrists alike. Clinicians built entire treatment models without questioning his assumptions.
In 1927, Freud framed a fetish as a substitute for the mother’s imagined missing penis. The field accepted it as gospel. It was a debacle for the future treatment of fetishists.
Neo-Freudian Negativity
Freud’s peculiar theory dominated clinical thinking for decades! So-called “cures” included aversion therapy, psychotropic drugs, and institutionalization. Absolutely none of those treatments worked.
Some of this thinking hasn’t gone away. A decade ago, a forensic psychiatrist in Massachusetts diagnosed a client with an AB/DL interest (adult babies and diaper lovers) as a potential child predator. It nearly ruined his life. By conflating two completely different sets of needs, one sees the neo-Freudian legacy is still doing damage.
We know now that fetishes in general are normal, harmless desires. Most foot fetishists are private people who explore their fetish for the joys it brings them. Society directs a lot of negativity at them for their personal pleasure. It can be an enormous burden that they often carry alone.
Fetish Impulse v. Fetish Characteristics
While fetish desires may be universal, the specific shape and form of a fetish range from person to person and also change with the culture they inhabit.
We know of two women who documented boot fetishism early: Hannah Cullwick and Hermine Hug-Hellmuth. Cullwick’s diaries, describing her own fascination with boots, span the Victorian and Edwardian periods, ending with her death in 1909. In 1915, psychoanalyst Hermine Hug-Hellmuth wrote one of the first clinical case studies of a woman with a boot fetish. Other fastenings and shapes replaced button boots by the 1920s.
Time and place shape the specific features of garment, footwear, and object fetishes. Fashion historian Valerie Steele documented this pattern across centuries in Fetish: Fashion, Sex, and Power (Oxford University Press, 1996). She asserts that human sexuality is never simply a matter of doing what comes naturally, and that fantasy always plays a role. Her history of footwear and eroticism reaches back to Renaissance Venice.
Fetish is Functional
A fetish isn’t defined by what the object is. It’s defined by function. Something is fetishistic when it becomes a fixed, specific requirement for arousal, not one option on a menu. Most kink and BDSM interests work like a menu. Someone who enjoys impact play can be satisfied by a flogger, a paddle, or a hand, and by bondage or D/s dynamics instead, if the mood calls for it. Swap one activity for another and the person is still content.
A fetish requires a specific object or act. That’s what separates a fetishist – who needs a specific object or action – from someone who enjoys fetish play as one erotic element in a full repertoire of kink. They can be fully satisfied by different types of fun.
Fetish and Sex Negativity
Compare someone who collects leather boots, as so many of us do, to someone who collects beer cans.
Structurally, they’re doing the same thing: intensely focusing on one class of object and finding endless, specific joy in its variations. The biggest difference is that one hobby is socially accepted and the other gets sent to a therapist.
Next, ask yourself why breasts get all the support in the world. Yet we dress feet in expensive footwear but won’t kiss or lick them.
As I see it, any passion that touches on sex for pleasure (as opposed to sex for reproduction) is frowned on. I see sex as one of the saving graces of human existence itself. Isn’t it beautiful to have a sexual imagination? To be able to experience endless thrills and tingles from touching, embracing, and just messing around? Why limit oneself to just 1 or 2 places to receive or give pleasure when you’ve got nerve endings all over the place that could experience positive sensations?
The vintage French film, Claire’s Knee, is a strange yet inoffensive tale about a man who becomes obsessed with the charms of a young woman’s knee. He does not act on it. The film makes you uncomfortable and yet, to a fetishist like me, it’s also delightful to see the psychological power of fetish in action.
Count the Variables
Shoe type: sandal, boot, sneaker, stiletto, loafer, Mary Jane, ballet boot. Covering: bare, stockings, pantyhose, socks, shoe only. But wait: type of stockings matters, as does type of socks or pantyhose. I had a client who fetishized black-fishnet stockings above all else. I had a client who believed old-fashioned stockings worn with garters were the ultimate thrill. Some fans demand white cotton socks; others require wool. And, contrary to assumptions about foot fetish, ALL humans may have them, not just cis-men. The gender of the foot owner is crucial to most foot fetishists, and often the size, shape, and odors of the foot are vital to a person’s pleasure.
Most fetishists don’t explain the complexity of their most secret desires unless their partner is eager to find out. For example, a person who loves Mary Jane shoes may not understand why someone would prefer sneakers, and vice versa. They perceive beauty according to their individual needs and preferences, both of which evolve invisibly from puberty to old age.
What a Dominatrix Knows
Research describes the pattern from an ivory tower. In real life, we never know what kind of a foot fetish a person really has until we partner with them. “Foot fetish” just doesn’t cover it!
I wrote a scene about this in my novel Amazon Hammer, where a young dominatrix named Jax gets schooled by Fedora, the house fetish queen, between sessions.
Fedora’s Lesson
“For a typical shoe slave, the type of shoe matters,” she told Jax as they rested between sessions in the Lounge one day. “You can’t assume they’re going to like your shoes or even your feet until you know what really turns them on.”
“Oooh, yeah, Lilith mentioned that once. Can you tell me more?”
“Only if you get me a cruller,” she sat on a couch and kicked off her shoes. “I’m starved.”
There were two in the donut box. Jax brought them both back, along with a Boston Cream for herself, and sat down beside Fedora.
“OK, good, so, like, if a guy likes an open-toed sandal, then a boot might turn him off, well, unless he’s versatile and has fetishes for a few different styles. Like, he could have a sneaker fetish, right? That’s totally different from a stiletto freak. Right? So, imagine this, a loafer-lover could hate high heels and a heel lover could hate loafers, but some loafer lovers love high heels and vice versa, so I guess you could say they are versatile, but it still doesn’t mean they like mary janes for example or ballet boots, so you still have to ask.”
Jax stopped chewing her donut to listen closer.
“You ever hear the expression ‘knowledge is power’?” Fedora didn’t wait for her to answer. “So, some guys want bare feet only, some want shoes only, others want stockings or pantihose or socks, right? Some want little feet, some like big feet, sometimes they want them smelly, sometimes they want them fresh. You never know with fetishists,” she said. She lowered her voice confidentially, “One of my clients asked me for male feet.”
“What did you do?”
“That’s where Felix comes in handy,” Fedora smirked.
“Really!” Jax could imagine Felix peeling off his socks and obligingly grinding the sole of his foot into a customer’s face, treating it as just another day on the job.
“Anyways, like I was saying, once you figure out his exact fetish, once you have that knowledge, you have power over him. He’ll keep coming back for more.” — from Amazon Hammer, https://amzn.to/44TNUiQ
It’s a Fetishy Summer
I think I have a fetish for fetishes! After my book Fetish Uncensored publishes in August, I’ll expand this essay and reissue it as a standalone PDF. Keep an eye on my bookshop.
If any of this stirred up questions or made you feel it’s time to feel better, go to my contact form and let’s change your life together.
photo credit: Fiona Chen @ https://unsplash.com/@fionachenarts
