Armpit fetishism (also known as maschalagnia or axillism (also spelled axilism)) is a type of partialism in which a person is sexually attracted to armpits, [1] which may lead to armpit intercourse (sexual activity with one or both armpits). [2]
The natural body smell is a powerful force in sexual attraction, [3] and can be focused by the strong pungent odor of the armpit: Alex Comfort considered that for a woman to shave her armpits was “simply ignorant vandalism”, obliterating a powerful sexual tool, and praised the French for greater sexual awareness than American deodorant culture in this regard. [4]
A woman's armpits, armpit hair, and secretions can be seen as essential components of their femininity, whether this is positively [5] or negatively valued. [6] Havelock Ellis found evidence that (in a non-sexual context) smelling one's own armpit could act as a temporary energy boost. [7]
Certain pheromones found in armpit sweat, namely androstadienone, is shown to improve mood when smelled or licked according to a 2013 study. [8]
Those who have a mild fetish for armpits often enjoy licking, kissing, tasting, tickling and smelling their partner's armpits during sexual foreplay, perhaps asking partners not to shower or wash their armpits nor wear deodorant for a period of hours or even days.
The symbolic equation of armpit and vagina may underpin the fetish, as also the odor. [9] Sigmund Freud saw such fetishism as becoming problematic only when such preparatory acts substituted totally for intercourse as a final goal. [10]
Bagpiping is a sexual practice in which the penis is stimulated by someone else's armpit. The name comes from the manner of how bagpipes are played.
Stressing the importance in bagpiping of the (unlubricated) friction being confined to the penile shaft, Alex Comfort saw armpit intercourse as "Not an outstandingly rewarding trick but worth trying if you like the idea". [11]
Problems may, however, arise in a relationship when penis to armpit contact becomes an exclusive sexual necessity for the armpit fetishist – something which can produce long-term sexual desire disorder in a couple. [12]
Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism.
Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or mate choice. The attraction can be to the physical or other qualities or traits of a person, or to such qualities in the context where they appear. The attraction may be to a person's aesthetics, movements, voice, among other things. The attraction may be enhanced by a person's body odor, sex pheromones, adornments, clothing, perfume or hair style. It can be influenced by individual genetic, psychological, or cultural factors, or to other, more amorphous qualities. Sexual attraction is also a response to another person that depends on a combination of the person possessing the traits and on the criteria of the person who is attracted.
Foot fetishism, also known as foot partialism or podophilia, is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. It is the most common form of sexual fetishism for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts.
Medical fetishism refers to several sexual fetishes in which participants derive sexual pleasure from medical scenarios including objects, practices, environments, and situations of a medical or clinical nature. In sexual roleplay, a hospital or medical scene involves the sex partners assuming the roles of doctors, nurses, surgeons and patients to act out specific or general medical fetishes. Medical fantasy is a genre in pornography, though the fantasy may not necessarily involve pornography or sexual activity.
Henry Havelock Ellis was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and inclinations, as well as on transgender psychology. He developed the notions of narcissism and autoeroticism, later adopted by psychoanalysis.
Agalmatophilia is a paraphilia involving sexual attraction to a statue, doll, mannequin, or other similar figurative object. Agalmatophilia is a form of object sexuality.
Mammary intercourse is a sex act, performed as either foreplay or as non-penetrative sex, that involves the stimulation of a man's penis by a woman's breasts and vice versa. It involves placing the penis between a woman's breasts and moving the penis up and down to simulate sexual penetration and to create sexual pleasure.
Body odor or body odour (BO) is present in all animals and its intensity can be influenced by many factors. Body odor has a strong genetic basis, but can also be strongly influenced by various factors, such as sex, diet, health, and medication. The body odor of human males plays an important role in human sexual attraction, as a powerful indicator of MHC/HLA heterozygosity. Significant evidence suggests that women are attracted to men whose body odor is different from theirs, indicating that they have immune genes that are different from their own, which may produce healthier offspring.
Underarm hair, also known as axillary hair or armpit hair, is the hair in the underarm area (axilla).
Psychosexual disorder is a sexual problem that is psychological, rather than physiological in origin. "Psychosexual disorder" was a term used in Freudian psychology. The term "psychosexual disorder" has been used by the TAF for homosexuality as a reason to ban the LGBT people from military service.
Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, sometimes titled Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex, is a 1905 work by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author advances his theory of sexuality, in particular its relation to childhood.
Hair fetishism, also known as hair partialism and trichophilia, is a partialism in which a person sees hair – most commonly, head hair – as particularly erotic and sexually arousing. Arousal may occur from seeing or touching hair, whether head hair, armpit hair, chest hair or fur. Head-hair arousal may come from seeing or touching very long or short hair, wet hair, certain colors of hair or a particular hairstyle.
Nose fetishism, nose partialism, or nasophilia is the partialism for the nose. This may include the sexual attraction to a specific form of physical variation of appearance, or a specific area. The fetish may manifest itself in a desire for actual physical contact and interaction, or specific fantasies such as the desire to penetrate the nostrils with a penis, tongue, or with a finger. Nose fetishism can also include the desire to ejaculate into the nostrils or onto the nose. Some people with this fetish masturbate while looking at someone with a nose they find extremely attractive. Some people with this fetish also enjoy pinching someone's nose so that they open their mouths to breathe.
"Medusa's Head", by Sigmund Freud, is a very short, posthumously published essay on the subject of the Medusa Myth.
Non-penetrative sex or outercourse is sexual activity that usually does not include sexual penetration, but some forms, particularly when termed outercourse, include penetrative aspects, that may result from forms of fingering or oral sex. It generally excludes the penetrative aspects of vaginal, anal, or oral sex, but includes various forms of sexual and non-sexual activity, such as frottage, manual sex, mutual masturbation, kissing, or hugging.
Human sexuality covers a broad range of topics, including the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, philosophical, ethical, moral, theological, legal and spiritual or religious aspects of sex and human sexual behavior.
Olfactophilia or osmolagnia is a paraphilia for, or sexual arousal by, smells and odors emanating from the body, especially the sexual areas. Sigmund Freud used the term osphresiolagnia in reference to pleasure caused by odors.
Penis envy is a stage in Sigmund Freud's theory of female psychosexual development, in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining moment in a series of transitions toward a mature female sexuality. In Freudian theory, the penis envy stage begins the transition from attachment to the mother to competition with the mother for the attention and affection of the father. The young boy's realization that women do not have a penis is thought to result in castration anxiety.
Cultural history of the buttocks has included various art forms as well as a sexualization of the buttocks which has occurred throughout history.
Phallic monism is a term introduced by Chasseguet-Smirgel to refer to the theory that in both sexes the male organ—i.e. the question of possessing the penis or not—was the key to psychosexual development.