Foot fetishism

Last updated

The Countess with the whip (1926), an illustration by Martin van Maele Martin van Maele - La Comtesse au fouet 01.jpg
The Countess with the whip (1926), an illustration by Martin van Maële

Foot fetishism, also known as foot partialism or podophilia, refers to a sexual interest in feet. [1] [2] Similar to other fetishes, individuals with a foot fetish experience varying degrees of sexual attraction to feet, from merely viewing the foot as a pleasing part of the human body alongside other parts, to sexually activity involving feet being the only way that the fetishist can climax. It is the most commonly discussed type of partialist fantasy in pornographic Internet forums, and is the most common type of culturally atypical body part partialism, [note 1] with studies estimating it to affect 14% of the human population in some way, though the amount of individuals who are only able to or usually prefer to climax to feet is likely smaller. [3] It is most common in men, with a slight increase in gay and bisexual men, and is least common in heterosexual women. [4] [5]

Contents

The appeal of foot fetishism like with other fetishes is idiosyncratic, common reasons cited by foot fetishists in studies include an element of humiliation and domination, the sensitivity of the feet and its usage as an erogenous zone in sex, and as part of a greater form of olfactophilia due to foot odor. [6] Traditional attitudes related to femininity and masculinity have also been noted in terms of symbolic parts of the fetish. [3] The cause of any type of fetishism is largely speculative, but is thought to be a complex interplay of events in prenatal neurodevelopment, cultural, and psychodynamic factors. In rare cases, temporal lobe epilepsy can cause extreme displays of foot fetishism and other paraphilias.

Foot fetishism, when it is not accompanied by antisocial expressions of the fetish such as burglary of footwear or non-consensual contact, or considerable psycho-social distress or impairment in daily life, is considered by contemporary psychiatric and medical institutions to be a valid expression of human sexuality and not pathological. [7] [8] The medical treatment of those with foot fetishism that is considered pathological is the same as other fetishes and paraphilias, which is primarily focused on reducing shame regarding the sexual fantasy in psychotherapy, and if absolutely needed, psycho-pharmacological treatments to reduce impulsive behavior such as SSRIs or medications that directly inhibit the sexual libido, such as antiandrogens, as well as the treatment of co-morbid disorders due to stress being a common trigger for impulsive sexual behavior. [9] [10]

Shoe fetishism and boot fetishism can be connected to foot fetishism, though they are not mutually inclusive with foot fetishism.

Characteristics

A submissive man worshipping a woman's foot, from Dresseuses d'Hommes (1931) Dresseuses d'Hommes 7.jpg
A submissive man worshipping a woman's foot, from Dresseuses d'Hommes (1931)
Illustration depicting foot worship in Bizarre Honeymoon (circa 1950) Bizarre Honeymoon 02.jpg
Illustration depicting foot worship in Bizarre Honeymoon (circa 1950)

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), [11] or sensory interaction (such as smelling, kissing, or rubbing of feet and genitals). [12] [13]

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. [14]

Relative frequency

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.). [4]

According to Ian Kerner, foot fetishism is the most common form of sexual fetish related to the body. [15]

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. [16]

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. [17]

In "Tell Me Me What You Want" by Justin Lehmiller, about 14% of respondants claimed to have some sort of sexual interest in feet. [5] In his study, gay and bisexual men were the most likely to have sort of fetishism of feet, and heterosexual women were the least likely. He stressed that the number of those with a high amount of foot fetishism (those who are only able to climax from feet or prefer feet compared to other types of activity) are likely lower than the study rate.

Causes

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. [18] Currently widely accepted etiological models hypothesize paraphilias to originate from a complex set of neurological, cultural, and psychodynamic factors in a given person. [19] 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. [20] [21] For example, some individuals with a foot fetish are attracted to foot odor, while others are not. [4] 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. [22]

Neurological

A 2D diagram of the cortical homunculus. V.S. Ramachandran hypothesized that the genital areas being closest to areas related to sensory processing of the foot are a potential explanation for some or all cases of foot fetishism. Sensory Homunculus-en.svg
A 2D diagram of the cortical homunculus. V.S. Ramachandran hypothesized that the genital areas being closest to areas related to sensory processing of the foot are a potential explanation for some or all cases of foot fetishism.

Sensory neuron theory

The cortical 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. [23] 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, as well as issues regarding Ramachandran's usage of the cortical homunculus model to explain the core of foot fetishism. [24] [note 2] The study also conducted a meta-analysis that showed that there are no known cases of erotic stimuli being produced from neurostimulation in the cortex.

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 researching into similar sensory zones in the study were the thalamus, the periaqueductal gray, and the insula, which are all connected to erogenous zones and have complex relations to sexuality, emotions, and prosocial behavior. These areas primarily develop prenatally.

Conditioning and Social Learning

Mechanisms regarding classical and operant conditioning have been proposed as potential explanation for how links between fetishistic objects like feet can become sexualized overtime. [25] 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. [26] Personality traits linked to susceptibility to conditioning such as introversion have been correlated 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. [25]

The correlation between sexual fetishism and personality is contested. A small study involving homosexual and bisexual foot fetishists failed to find significant differences between personality traits hypothesized to be responsible for fetishes and homosexuality at the time, such as asocial behaviors and "improper" lessons regarding masculinity and femininity. [27] A large scale Swedish study had found that those who had less interest in romantic parts of a relationship and rated themselves as being more dissatisfied with life were more likely to have partialist and general fetishism and other paraphilias, and that those who responded positively to having an atypical sexual interest were more likely to have others. Fetishists were more likely to suffer from substance use disorders, masturbated more frequently in adolescence and in the present, and reported less opportunities for hands-on romantic or sexual activity in adolescence, regardless of their sexual performance in adulthood. [28] [29]

A small scale study of heterosexual participants assigned heterosexual men a series of women, where they were then asked which one they wanted to date. If rejected, they continued the process over and over until accepted, and those who were accepted were asked to continue with the date independently outside of the study if they wished. Compared to a small non-fetishistic control group, men who were rejected more often were more likely to rate the feet, legs, undergarments, lingerie and legs of women in pornographic pictures they were given to be much more arousing on their own versus men who got accepted closer to the beginning of the study and the control group. [29] [30] The study aimed to test whether or not personality factors could be antecedent of partialism and fetishism as a whole. The suggested mechanism is that fetishists aim their erotic feelings towards body parts associated with potential partners, rather than the psychological concept of a romantic or sexual relationship with the partner in an example of adaptive social learning theory and operant conditioning, where the fetishist learns to divert their sexual expectations elsewhere as part of a learnt behavior. [31]

Individual and Sociological Factors

Foot fetishes, particularly what a fetishist with one would consider to be sexually arousing characteristics of the feet themselves and potentially whether they develop it or not can be molded by the society that they are raised in, with some societies having normalized certain rituals involving the feet as sex symbols or displays of the feminine beauty ideal in that particular culture. Homosexual males with a foot fetish often remark that the bigger size and lack of feminine characteristics of the male foot render it as a sex symbol of masculinity, akin to parts such as the penis, with the opposite occurring in bisexual fetishists, who often remarked that feminine aspects of the foot and add-ons such as high-heels and polish rendered it a symbol of femininity in their minds. [3]

Sensory experiences such as licking and smelling foot odor were rated as arousing because of their perceived intimacy. [3] [27] The massaging of the feet of a partner or attempting to apply pleasing sensory experiences to the feet to please their partner was considered arousing by some foot fetishists in surveys, as they deemed the feet to be a private, erogenous zone for foreplay. [6] Being dominated was also listed as a reason for enjoying feet during sex, with the mental concept of the feet as a dirty area and its usage by a sadistic dominant to be a key part of this particular fantasy. [6]

Neurological Dysfunction

In extremely rare cases of lateral temporal lobe epilepsy, foot fetishism and other paraphilias are known to spontaneously occur. These episodes are often characterized by extremely sexually impulsive behavior, such as a foot fetishist with epilepsy licking the feet of others unprompted, stealing items of sexual interest (in this scenario, footwear) and public masturbation or sexually assaulting hospital staff in those whom are institutionalized. The vast majority or all of the fetishism and impulsive behavior immediately disappears once treatment of the epilepsy occurs, leading to the hypothesis that the temporal lobe may have a key role in fetishism and other paraphilias. It is common for people with epilepsy to report significant changes in sexuality after a lobectomy of one or both of their temporal lobes, with a rarer amount documenting a perceived wiping of an existing sexual interest or a new one occurring. [32] A case study of a man with a fetish for safety-pins in early childhood who later on developed absence seizures became well known after a coincidental surgery to fix the epilepsy ended up accidentally ridding him of his fetishism towards safety-pins. [33] [34]

In a case study of two intellectually disabled adults who had severe forms of foot and shoe fetishism since early childhood that involved sexually assaulting others by licking and touching the feet and shoes of complete strangers, the usage of carbamazepine for temporal lobe epilepsy detected during a screening accidentally caused a complete cessation of any fetishism of the feet in one of the subjects and caused partial remission of foot fetishism in the other, while completely stopping the impulsive sexual behavior. [35]

Temporal lobe dysfunction has been noted in studies regarding other paraphilias such as pedophilia and those with hyposexuality. The relation between the temporal lobe and sexual dysfunction, or why fetishes can sometimes be wiped or gained from dysfunction of the temporal lobe are poorly understood. [36]

Other brain lesions have also been noted to affect sexuality and fetishism in different ways, with hypothalmic lesions being a similar example to the symptoms experiences in temporal lobe epilepsy. [36]

Imprinting

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. [37] Sigmund Freud's reading of foot fetishism also involved early imprinting, but he considered the smell of feet significant in this.

Krafft-Ebing's imprinted memories

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. [38] Krafft-Ebing claimed that hand and foot fetishism were largely correlated with other paraphilias in his other case studies, particularly sadism and masochism.

John Money's "lovemap" theory

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. [39] 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. [39] [40] [41]

Psychodynamic

Anatomical baseness of the foot

Georges Bataille saw the lure of the feet as linked to their anatomical baseness (abjection). [42]

Castration complex

Sigmund Freud saw the fetishism of toes on the foot as a surrogate for the penis that served as a primitive psychological defense against the fear of the shattering of the castration complex (and a defense against the resulting castration anxiety), which is the belief that men and women both have penises that Freud hypothesized was a key part of the phallic stage of his model of human development, which in the same model is later shattered, marking the end of the phallic stage. [43] 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. [44] 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. [45]

Health and disease

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. [46] 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. [47] However, the researchers noted that these epidemics overlapped periods of relative female emancipation. [48]

Psychiatry

Foot fetishism by itself is not considered to be an issue under contemporary psychiatric guidelines. [7] [8] It may however need treatment with psychotherapy, an SSRI and/or antiandrogen therapy if the individual either has extreme distress related to the fetish that is causing troubles with living, such as excessive impulsive purchases of fetish wear, or if the individual engages with non-consensual contact with others to fulfill the fetish or engages in contact with others that are not generally considered to be able to consent to sexual activity, such as children and the intellectually disabled. The DSM considers six months of these symptoms at minimum to be a sufficient time for a diagnosis to occur. Treating co-morbid disorders (if present) is usually advised as stress can trigger impulsive behavior and lead to the individual using a paraphilia as a compulsive way to de-stress. [10] [34] There is no time limit needed for the ICD entries for fetishism. [49]

Society and culture

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. [50] [51] The Hindu god Brahma was aroused by the sight of Parvati's feet in the eighth-century text Skanda Purana . [52]

A cast of the foot of a women who underwent foot binding from infancy. The physical deformities seen here were fetishized frequently in Ancient China. Chinese men would often lick the heels and toes of women with bound feet, and took pleasure in the odor generated from the small shoes used during the process. Despite its symbol as a sign of wealth and feminine beauty, women with bound feet were often permanently disabled from walking normally and suffered gangrene of the extremities. Cast of women's foot deformed by foot binding Wellcome L0005105.jpg
A cast of the foot of a women who underwent foot binding from infancy. The physical deformities seen here were fetishized frequently in Ancient China. Chinese men would often lick the heels and toes of women with bound feet, and took pleasure in the odor generated from the small shoes used during the process. Despite its symbol as a sign of wealth and feminine beauty, women with bound feet were often permanently disabled from walking normally and suffered gangrene of the extremities.

In ancient China, foot binding was considered to be a sign of great wealth and sexual beauty in the women who had the practice done to them, despite the severe physical side effects and the high risk of medical sequelae like gangrene that often accompanied it. [22] Young Chinese girls would often be forced under threats of physical punishment to have their foot bound in a tiny shoe, which would usually build up malodorous scents over the summer, originating from the sweat from body and environmental heat, and blood and pus from the painful deformations caused by the binding and tightness of the shoe and infections originating in the toes, caused by ischemia from the bandaging, which was often placed in the middle of the foot. The odor was considered to be sexually arousing by Chinese men, and licking the feet, sucking on the toes, and smelling the foot odor from the aforementioned process was a common practice with male partners of women who were forced to undergo the physical deformations. [53] Chinese men considered the unique "lotus feet" from this process as an area of sexualized beauty, similar to how many cultures view the female breasts and buttocks, with historical Chinese erotic paintings considering them to be taboo and erotic enough that alongside other objects such as the breasts, they were not shown. [54] The practice was so widespread and common that some Chinese provinces mandated all young girls born or married within their territories to be forcibly bound if not already done so. Up to 50% of Chinese women had bound feet, with levels nearing to 100% for wealthy ethnic Han Chinese women. [53] [55] Sigmund Freud considered this to be a major widespread case of foot fetishism within a society, particularly foot fetishism directed at the malodorous feet that was generated by the binding process. [56] Since the 19th century, projects from religious missionaries and women's rights groups had resulted in the practice of foot binding being banned in China in 1919, with only a handful of elderly women from the era still being alive today. Foot binding fetishism as a whole in China has effectively died out. [57]

Foot fetishists, alongside other fetishists, are often portrayed in TV shows and other media as sexually predatory people who commit sexual offenses. [58] The vast majority of foot fetishists, however, include their fetishism in consensual sex, and do not use feet as a complete substitute for their whole partner. [3] A significant amount of the population views foot fetishism as disagreeable, and personality attitudes regarding sexual morality and sexually conservative attitudes are largely correlated with reported disgust levels towards fetishism in general. [58]

American film-maker Quentin Tarantino often includes forms of foot fetishism within pieces of media that he directs, and has made statements regarding the inclusion of feet in his films due to the attention it has received from film-buffs. He has called himself a "foot-fan" and has claimed to be fond of feet, though he has also stated in separate interviews that the inclusions of feet within his films are merely a part of his creative process and are not meant to be pornographic in nature. [58] [59]

Sigmund Freud considered foot binding as a form of fetishism, [60] [61] although this view was disputed.[ by whom? ] [62]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hickey, Eric W. (2006). Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. Pearson Education. p. 165. ISBN   978-0-13-170350-6.
  2. ↑ King, Moses (1919). "Science, Volume 49". Science. 49. Moses King, 1919: 287.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "In Feet First | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Scorolli, C.; Ghirlanda, S.; Enquist, M.; Zattoni, S. & Jannini, E. A. (2007). "Relative prevalence of different fetishes". International Journal of Impotence Research. 19 (4): 432–437. doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3901547. PMID   17304204.
  5. 1 2 Bell, Jaimee (18 February 2020). "There is scientific proof that foot fetishes are normal". Big Think. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "Having a Foot Fetish Doesn't Make You Weird". Men's Health. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Overview of Paraphilias and Paraphilic Disorders - Psychiatric Disorders". Merck Manual Professional Edition. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Fetishistic Disorder | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Thibaut, Florence; Barra, Flora De La; Gordon, Harvey; Cosyns, Paul; Bradford, John M. W. (1 January 2010). "The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Guidelines for the biological treatment of paraphilias". The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry. 11 (4): 604–655. doi:10.3109/15622971003671628. ISSN   1562-2975. PMID   20459370.
  10. 1 2 Yakeley, Jessica; Wood, Heather (2 January 2018). "Paraphilias and paraphilic disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management". Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 20 (3): 202–213. doi:10.1192/apt.bp.113.011197. ISSN   1355-5146.
  11. ↑ Kunzle, David (1982). "Fashion and Fetishism: A Social History of the Corset, Tight-Lacing and Other Forms of Body Sculpture in the West". The University of Michigan. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Incorporated, 1982: 103. ISBN   978-0-8476-6276-0.
  12. ↑ Kippen, Cameron (July 2004). "The History of Footwear – Foot Fetish and Shoe Retifism". Department of Podiatry, Curtin University. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2014– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "The Science of Sex and Smell | Psychology Today".
  14. ↑ Sutker, Patricia B.; Adams, Henry E. (2001), Comprehensive handbook of psychopathology, Springer, p. 762, ISBN   978-0-306-46490-4
  15. ↑ "Rex Ryan's Apparent Foot Fetish not Necessarily Unhealthy – ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  16. ↑ AOL's Accidental Release of Search Data – The Sexmind of America. aphrodisiology.com, accessed June 2007
  17. ↑ Holvoet, Lien; Huys, Wim; Coppens, Violette; Seeuws, Jantien; Goethals, Kris; Morrens, Manuel (2017). "Fifty shades of Belgian gray: The prevalence of BDSM-related fantasies and activities in the general population" (PDF). Journal of Sexual Medicine. 14 (9): 1152–1159. doi:10.1016/J.JSXM.2017.07.003. hdl: 10067/1450920151162165141 . PMID   28781214.
  18. ↑ Bancroft, John (2009). Human Sexuality and Its Problems. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 283–286.
  19. ↑ Yakeley, Jessica; Wood, Heather (2 January 2018). "Paraphilias and paraphilic disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management". Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. 20 (3): 202–213. doi:10.1192/apt.bp.113.011197. ISSN   1355-5146.
  20. ↑ "Overview of Paraphilias and Paraphilic Disorders - Psychiatric Disorders". Merck Manual Professional Edition. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  21. ↑ Lehmiller, Justin (25 September 2014). "Sex Question Friday: Are Some People Born With Fetishes?". Sex and Psychology. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  22. 1 2 Rees, Giselle (28 March 2022). Investigations into sexual fetishism: examining conceptualisations, practice, personal experience, and pathology (thesis thesis). Macquarie University. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  23. ↑ Ramachandran, V. S. (1994). "Phantom limbs, neglect syndromes, repressed memories, and Freudian psychology". International Review of Neurobiology. 37: 291–333. doi:10.1016/S0074-7742(08)60254-8. ISBN   9780123668370. PMID   7883483.
  24. ↑ Turnbull, Oliver H.; Lovett, Victoria E.; Chaldecott, Jackie; Lucas, Marilyn D. (1 April 2014). "Reports of intimate touch: Erogenous zones and somatosensory cortical organization" . Cortex. 53: 146–154. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2013.07.010. ISSN   0010-9452.
  25. 1 2 Aggrawal, Anil (2009). Forensic and medico-legal aspects of sexual crimes and unusual sexual practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 111–112. ISBN   978-1-4200-4308-2.
  26. ↑ Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan (2014). Abnormal psychology (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN   978-0-07-803538-8.
  27. 1 2 Weinberg, Martin S.; Williams, Colin J.; Calhan, Cassandra (21 November 1994). ""If the shoe fits …": Exploring male homosexual foot fetishism". Journal of Sex Research. 32 (1): 17–27. doi:10.1080/00224499509551770. ISSN   0022-4499.
  28. ↑ Långström, Niklas; Hanson, R. Karl (1 February 2006). "High Rates of Sexual Behavior in the General Population: Correlates and Predictors". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 35 (1): 37–52. doi:10.1007/s10508-006-8993-y. ISSN   1573-2800.
  29. 1 2 Ventriglio, Antonio; Bhat, P. S.; Torales, Julio; Bhugra, Dinesh (22 November 2008). "Sexuality in the 21st century: Leather or rubber? Fetishism explained". Medical Journal, Armed Forces India. 75 (2): 121–124. doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2018.09.009. ISSN   0377-1237. PMC   6495465 . PMID   31065177. Gosselin et al.10 noted that those who had a rubber fetish and those with a leather fetish scored high on introversion when compared with those with sadomasochistic tendencies. They had normal socioeconomic variations. Weinberg et al.8 studied 262 foot fetishist members of a society. He reported that among homosexual men, foot fetish was not uncommon. The prevalence data are often limited and not easy to extrapolate from case series or case reports. In a summary of 2450 individuals in Sweden, it was found that men and those who had lower levels of satisfaction with life and used drugs or alcohol were more likely to have fetishistic behaviours.11, 12 Langstrom et al.13 observed transvestic fetishism in 0.4% of women and 2.8% of men. These individuals (with fetish) showed higher rates than expected rates of separation from their parents in childhood and also showed high levels of arousal and masturbation.
  30. ↑ LaTorre, Ronald A. (1980). "Devaluation of the human love object: Heterosexual rejection as a possible antecedent to fetishism". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 89 (2): 295–298. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.89.2.295. ISSN   1939-1846.
  31. ↑ Ventriglio, Antonio; Bhat, P. S.; Torales, Julio; Bhugra, Dinesh (22 November 2018). "Sexuality in the 21st century: Leather or rubber? Fetishism explained". Medical Journal, Armed Forces India. 75 (2): 121–124. doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2018.09.009. ISSN   0377-1237. PMC   6495465 . PMID   31065177. Behavioural factors: Classic conditioning can play a role, as can instrumental learning. Authors demonstrated the latter that men could learn to become sexually aroused in the absence of erotic stimuli when they were provided with feedback and contingent monetary reinforcement. Another possibility that has been put forward is that of social learning (which incorporates both operant conditioning and social cognition). La Torre showed that men who had experienced rejection in a relationship were more likely to rate pictorial stimuli or pictures of women's garments and body parts.
  32. ↑ Ellison, James M. (1 May 1982). "Alterations of sexual behavior in temporal lobe epilepsy" . Psychosomatics. 23 (5): 499–509. doi:10.1016/S0033-3182(82)73382-1. ISSN   0033-3182.
  33. ↑ "In at the Sharp End | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  34. 1 2 Brian Holoyda, M. D. (31 December 2019). "Paraphilias: From Diagnosis to Treatment". Psychiatric Times. Psychiatric Times Vol 36, Issue 12. 36.
  35. ↑ El-Badri, Selim M.; Robertshaw, Barbara A. (1998). "Sexual Fetishism Associated with Temporal Lobe Dysrhythmia and Learning Disability: Two Case Studies" . British Journal of Learning Disabilities. 26 (3): 110–114. doi:10.1111/j.1468-3156.1998.tb00061.x. ISSN   1468-3156.
  36. 1 2 Baird, Amee D.; Wilson, Sarah J.; Bladin, Peter F.; Saling, Michael M.; Reutens, David C. (22 December 2007). "Neurological control of human sexual behaviour: insights from lesion studies". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 78 (10): 1042–1049. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2006.107193. ISSN   1468-330X. PMC   2117556 . PMID   17189299.
  37. ↑ Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape Trilogy (1994) p. 279-80
  38. ↑ Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1894). Psychopathia Sexualis. pp. 152–183.
  39. 1 2 Money, John (1986). Lovemaps: clinical concepts of sexual/erotic health and pathology, paraphilia, and gender transposition of childhood, adolescence, and maturity. New York: Irvington. ISBN   978-0-8290-1589-8.
  40. ↑ Aggrawal, Anil (2009). Forensic and medico-legal aspects of sexual crimes and unusual sexual practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN   978-1-4200-4308-2.
  41. ↑ Bergner, Raymond M. (1988). "Money's "Lovemap" Account of the Paraphilias: A Critique and Reformulation" . American Journal of Psychotherapy. 42 (2): 254–259. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1988.42.2.254. ISSN   0002-9564.
  42. ↑ Georges Bataille, Visions of Excess (1985) p. 23
  43. ↑ Sigmund Freud, On Sexuality (PFL 7) p. 68n
  44. ↑ Quoted in O. Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 327
  45. ↑ O. Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946) p. 343
  46. ↑ AJ Giannini et al., op. cit.
  47. ↑ Shaw, WJ (1979). "Use of Relaxation in the Short-Term Treatment of Fetishistic Behavior: An Exploratory Case Study". Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 4 (4): 406. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/4.4.403.
  48. ↑ Giannini, AJ; Colapietro, G; Slaby, AE; Melemis, SM; Bowman, RK (1998). "Sexualization of the female foot as a response to sexually transmitted epidemics: a preliminary study". Psychological Reports. 83 (2): 491–8. doi:10.2466/pr0.1998.83.2.491. PMID   9819924.
  49. ↑ "2025 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code F65.0: Fetishism". www.icd10data.com. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  50. ↑ Benner, A.R. and Forbes, F.H. (1949) The Letters of Alciphron, Aelian, and Philostratus. Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press
  51. ↑ Levin, Daniel B. (2005) EPATON BAMA ('Her Lovely Footstep'): The Erotics of Feet in Ancient Greece.
  52. ↑ Skanda Purana, Book 1, Section 1, Chapter 26, Verses 16-17. Available online at https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-skanda-purana/d/doc365973.html
  53. 1 2 Favazza, Armando R. (2 May 2011). Bodies under Siege: Self-mutilation, Nonsuicidal Self-injury, and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry. JHU Press. ISBN   978-1-4214-0111-9.
  54. ↑ Gulik, Robert Hans van (1974). 中國古代房内考: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from Ca. 1500 B.C. Till 1644 A.D. Brill Archive. p. 218. ISBN   978-90-04-03917-9.
  55. ↑ Lim, Louisa (19 March 2007). "Footbinding: From Status Symbol to Subjugation". VPM. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  56. ↑ Hacker, Arthur (3 July 2012). China Illustrated: Western Views of the Middle Kingdom. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4629-0690-1.
  57. ↑ Hershatter, Gail (4 September 2018). Women and China's Revolutions. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 68. ISBN   9781442215696.
  58. 1 2 3 Rees, Giselle (28 March 2022). Investigations into sexual fetishism: examining conceptualisations, practice, personal experience, and pathology (thesis thesis). Macquarie University. pp. 12–13.
  59. ↑ Tyler, Adrienne; Russell, Tom; McCormick, Colin (8 September 2019). "What's Up With Quentin Tarantino & Feet?". ScreenRant. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  60. ↑ Lee, Rachel (2014). "The Routledge Companion to Asian American and Pacific Islander Literature". Routledge Literature Companions. Rachel Lee: 125. ISBN   978-1-317-69841-8.
  61. ↑ Hacker, Arthur (2004). China Illustrated: Western Views of the Middle Kingdom. the University of Michigan: Tuttle, 2004. p. 138. ISBN   978-0-8048-3519-0.
  62. ↑ Hacker, Authur (2012). China Illustrated. Turtle Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4629-0690-1.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Atypical" in this context refers to body parts other than the genitals, buttocks, and breasts.
  2. ↑ The main criticism of the neural cross-talk model that the cited paper gave out is that Ramachandran had inappropriately characterized the sensory cortex as a place where "concepts" of the body parts are stored with the brain, when in actuality they merely cover tactile sensations of an individual, which clashes with the fact that foot fetishism is aroused via visual stimuli to feet in general, which would not interact with the tactile systems in any matter. The cortical sensory neurons control sensory information of one's own system, which would conflict with the idea that sexual arousal to another persons feet is linked to "cross-talk". Even if cross-talk occurred, the paper argues that the neurons implicated being primarily related to tactile sensory perception would mean that there would be no way for them to influence someone's "opinion" on a body part, implying that an individual with a hypothetical case of cross-talk, regardless of their reported symptoms, would likely not have a foot fetish influenced by their case, if one is developed at all.

Further reading

Commons-logo.svg Media related to foot fetishism at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.