Foot fetishism, also known as foot partialism or podophilia, is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. [1] [2] It is the most common form of sexual fetishism for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts. [3]
Foot fetishism, also known as foot partialism or podophilia, is a pronounced sexual interest in feet. [1] [2] It is the most common form of sexual fetishism for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts. [3]
For a foot fetishist, points of attraction may include the shape and size of feet, feet soles, toes, jewelry (such as toe rings or anklets), treatments (such as massaging, washing partner's feet, or painting partner's toenails), state of dress (such as barefoot, flip flops, or high heels), [4] or sensory interaction (such as smelling, kissing, or rubbing of feet and genitals). [5] [6]
In a 1994 study, 45% of those with a foot fetish were found to be aroused by smelly socks or feet, making it one of the most widespread forms of olfactophilia. [7]
To estimate the relative frequency of fetishes, in 2006 researchers at the University of Bologna examined 381 Internet discussions of fetish groups, in which at least 5,000 people had been participating. Researchers estimated the prevalence of different fetishes based on the following elements:
It was concluded that the most common fetishes were for body parts or for objects usually associated with body parts (33% and 30%, respectively). Among those people preferring body parts, feet and toes were preferred by the greatest number, with 47% of those sampled preferring them. Among those people preferring objects related to body parts, 32% were in groups related to footwear (shoes, boots, etc.). [3]
According to Ian Kerner, foot fetishism is the most common form of sexual fetish related to the body. [8]
In August 2006, AOL released a database of the search terms submitted by their subscribers. In ranking only those phrases that included the word "fetish", it was found that the most common search was for feet. [9]
Foot fetishism may be more common in men than in women. Researchers using a polling agency to conduct a survey of the general Belgian population in 2017 found that 76 of the 459 male respondents (17%) and 23 of the 565 female respondents (4%) answered "Agree" or "Strongly agree" to a fetish interest in feet. [10]
Similar to other forms of sexual fetishism and other paraphilias, no consensus has yet been established about the specific causes of foot fetishism. While many works on the topic exist, their conclusions are often regarded as highly speculative. [11] Currently widely accepted etiological models hypothesize paraphilias to originate from a complex set of neurological, cultural, and psychodynamic factors in a given person. [12] Different paraphilias may have different causes, and there is no guarantee that two persons with the same paraphilias as the other would be interested in the same aspects of it or have the same ultimate cause for its development. [13] [14] For example, some individuals with a foot fetish are attracted to foot odor, while others are not. [3] Culturally, ideas on practices regarding "beautiful feet" often influence the types of foot fetishes that are developed in that society, such as foot binding fetishism in China. [15]
The corticial homunculus is a "map" of sensory and motor neurons. Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran proposed that the closeness of genital-related neurons to neurons regulating sensory and motor functions in the toes and feet may lead to foot fetishism. [16] Ramachandran did not provide experimental evidence for this claim in his original work. A 2013 study involving 800 subjects criticized this hypothesis, showing that there was very little neuronal activation from foot stimulation or inter-correlation between foot regions and others. [17] The study also conducted a meta-study that showed that previous literature found that manual stimulation of cortical regions did not cause erotic feelings. The authors did not rule in or out that other areas relating to emotional or erogenous stimulation may have been involved. The other proposed brain areas for research based on meta reviews in the study are poorly understood, appear to primarily develop in early childhood, and have complex relations to emotional, social, and psychosexual functioning.
Mechanisms regarding classical and operant conditioning have been proposed as potential explanation for how links between fetishistic objects like feet can become sexualized overtime. [18] For example, a future fetishist may notice a correlation between feet and footwear like high-heels and other sexually appealing attributes, which when viewed over and over again, result in development of the fetish. Masturbation is a proposed explanation for how the fetish sustains itself into adulthood once it initially appears. [19] Personality traits linked to susceptibility to conditioning such as introversion have been found in fetishists, who are hypothesized to be more susceptible to noticing the correlation between the fetish object and other sexual stimuli due to increased internal thinking regarding the stimuli. [18]
Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his book Psychopathia Sexualis attributed the cause of fetishes like foot fetishes to be largely due to childhood events which "imprint" erotic memories related to the object via either accidental association or a mental correlation between the object and concomitant sexual activity. The initial "spark" is forgotten, while the sexual feeling is then transferred to adulthood. [20] Krafft-Ebing claimed that hand and foot fetishism were largely correlated with other paraphilias in his other case studies, particularly sadism and masochism.
Desmond Morris considered foot fetishism the result of mal-imprinting at an early age, the tactile pressure of a foot or shoe being important in this. [21] Sigmund Freud's reading of foot fetishism also involved early imprinting, but he considered the smell of feet significant in this.
The lovemap theory by John Money attempts to explain sexual interests in terms of a "map" of what an individual finds erotic. He hypothesized that all humans possess innate concepts of what they find attractive that are unique to them that are developed over time during childhood and puberty. Forced hyposexuality (or forced avoidance of an object), abuse, lack of sexual play or messaging regarding sexual intercourse, or an otherwise non-sexual event that is paired with sexual stimuli (i.e a coincidental erection) are hypothesized root causes for culturally alien atypical sexuality and fetishism under this model. [22] Another explanation proposed for fetishism is that an early childhood event that is mistakenly implanted by the brain as typical sexual stimuli for the lovemap may be discovered later as an adult via pornography or self experimentation.
When classifying paraphilias, Money had claimed that sexual expressions of fetishism and paraphilias are the individual in question attempting to reconcile with the societal disgust, illegality, or negative internal feelings they may have regarding the paraphilia/fetish. Under the lovemap model, Money suggests that fetishism results from a conflict where the individual must weigh the taboo of the fetish from their culture and their unique sexual needs as a human being. Fetishism is the result of the individual attempting to gain control of what they believe to be an transgression of their sexual needs, where they replace the socially acceptable lover with the object to save society from their taboo while claiming victory. Due to social pressure, the individual must repeat this ritual repeatedly, which reinforces the fetish without ultimately satisfying the need for independence. [22] [23] [24]
Georges Bataille saw the lure of the feet as linked to their anatomical baseness (abjection). [25]
Sigmund Freud saw the foot as a penis-symbol/surrogate (castration complex, especially when encountered while voyeuristically exploring the female body from below). [26] Otto Fenichel similarly saw castration fear as significant in foot fetishism, citing a future fetishist who as an adolescent said to himself "You must remember this throughout life – that girls, too, have legs", to protect himself from the fear. [27] Where fear of the (castrated) female body is too great, desire is felt not for shoes on female feet but for women's shoes alone, without women. [28]
Some researchers have hypothesized that foot fetishism increases as a response to epidemics of sexually transmitted infections. In one study, conducted by A. James Giannini at Ohio State University, an increased interest in feet as sexual objects was observed during the great gonorrhea epidemic of twelfth-century Europe, and the syphilis epidemics of the 16th and 19th centuries in Europe. [29] In the same study, the frequency of foot-fetish depictions in pornographic literature was measured over a 30-year interval. An exponential increase was noted during the period of the current AIDS epidemic. In these cases, sexual footplay was viewed as a safe sex alternative. [30] However, the researchers noted that these epidemics overlapped periods of relative female emancipation. [31]
Some of the earliest recorded instances of foot fetishism occur in the erotic poems To a Barefoot Woman and To a Barefoot Boy attributed to the Ancient Greek writer Philostratus. [32] [33] The Hindu god Brahma was aroused by the sight of Parvati's feet in the eighth-century text Skanda Purana . [34]
Foot fetishists, alongside other fetishists, are often portrayed in TV shows and other media as sexually predatory people who commit sexual offenses. [35]
Sigmund Freud considered foot binding as a form of fetishism, [36] [37] although this view was disputed.[ by whom? ] [38]
Media related to foot fetishism at Wikimedia Commons
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