Foot fetishes: how common are they?

Foot fetishism is one of the most common of all fetishes. Although generally associated with male sexuality and male preferences, women can also exhibit a sexual fetish, although the focus and object would be different, for example a fetish for women’s shoes.

Wikipedia defines sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, as the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object. The object of interest is called a fetish, the fetishist person having a fetish for that object…Arousal of a particular body part should not be confused with fetishism because it is classified as bias.”

The amazing fact about fetishes is that if it exists, there is someone out there who is attracted to it. And with the advent of the web, there’s probably a special club dedicated to that specific fetish. Some common fetishes focus on body parts, such as feet, breasts, breast implants, legs, or buttocks. Other fetishes focus on bodily functions, such as sneezing, urinating, or defecating. Then there are clothing-focused fetishes like women’s underwear, leather ensembles, or baby diapers. And some fetishes require specific treatment, such as receiving enemas, nursing a woman’s breasts, or being spanked or tickled.

I recently searched online to find research and statistics on the prevalence of fetishes, specifically foot fetishes. One parent listed 34 Yahoo and 6 MSN Foot Fetish Groups, some targeting lesbians, indicating that it’s not just men who have foot fetishes.

In August 2006, AOL evaluated search terms used by its subscribers that included the word “fetish.” At that time, the most searched “fetish” was “feet”. Another study conducted in 2007 at the University of Bologna examined 381 Internet discussions about fetishes involving some 5,000 participants. They found that the largest number of discussion groups and the largest number of written messages focused on body parts. And interestingly, the most mentioned body parts were the feet and toes. In a focus group, some people cited statistics as high as 20-40%.

However, to put things in perspective, as a practicing sex therapist and marriage counselor for over 25 years, I have only worked with “TWO” men who had true foot fetishes. There has to be a distinction between “partialism”, a focus on a part of the body that is considered more arousing versus “fetishism”, a focus on a part of the body that is often the ONLY means of sexual arousal.

Men or women with a true foot fetish usually CANNOT get aroused without totally focusing on their partner’s feet. Men or women with a preference for feet may enjoy their partner wearing high heels, their toes appearing perfectly aligned, or some other aspect they prefer, but they may also be aroused by the touch and other aspects of the feet’s appearance. His couple. or presence.

There don’t seem to be any valid statistics on the prevalence of foot fetishes, but in my work experience the prevalence is quite low. Of course, this could mean that some people with extreme foot fetishes have not sought therapy because their fetish doesn’t seem to harm anyone and they don’t feel the need or desire to change.

If you know someone who has a foot fetish or if you have a foot fetish yourself, you probably need to understand that this is not an easily “cured” pattern of sexual arousal. Brain stimulation and association was probably formed at a very young age, possibly even in a preverbal age, in early childhood or early adolescence. And often the person with a fetish doesn’t really want to change, even though it can be inconvenient and prevent them from creating an intimate relationship with a real partner.