i was talking this over with a fellow barefooter and we can't come to a conclusion about this... i'm pretty sure that liking feet, wanting to touch and so forth until one is seuxally aroused, makes it a fetish. does wanting your feet to be touched so that you become aroused, make it a fetish? am i wording this right?
i would consider that a fetish. Anything that turns you one that is outside the realm of sex is a fetish
A foot fetishist sees feet as his (or her) sole - no pun intended - source of sexual arousal. A fetishist would be only interested in that one source of arousal, not wanting any other part of the body. If a barefooter gets aroused by having his or her feet touched, I wouldn't call it fetishism, but rather a lucky case of sensitivity to the reflex zones of one's feet. Back in college, I had a co-student, who said that she wouldn't dare to walk barefoot in public, since the tactile sensation would overwhelm her sexually. She had very sensitive foot reflex zones, and admitted that a foot massage could get her very aroused. So, to sum it up, I wouldn't call a person, who likes being touched on his or her feet as part of loveplay a fetishist, but rather a lucky and sensitive person. As a side note: when I first started publishing my barefoot experience on a private web site back in the last century (also during my college time), I received several e-mails from a guy who praised me for stepping out openly as a barefooter, and even though I stated on my web site that I am not meaning the pictures to serve foot fetishists with a means of arousal, he quickly and openly got to the point, that he liked my feet and fantasized about them, being part of gay fetishist loveplay. I wasn't offended by that, but replied to him, that everyone has his/her own preference when it comes to sexuality, and that his preference was nothing bad or pervert thing. He was grateful for being accepted that way and we had a few months of - sometimes quite steamy - mail exchange. It was very clear, that he had a foot fetish, since he made the point, that it was my feet that got his motor running, so to speak. Wiggling happy and sensitive toes, ~*Ganesha*~
My like for female feet is very strong, but it's definitely not the only thing that interests me. Having said that, I find it just as interesting as breasts, probably more. But other things interest me too. So if ONLY liking feet is fetish, than no I don't have one. But if strong interest coupled with other interests is fetish then yes. lol I consider myself to have a "fetish" although some people don't like to use that term as it has a negative connotation to it as something weird or bad.
That depends on how you define "sex" and the sexual experience. Most people have high density regions of sensory nerves in the feet, and these nerves also happen to terminate adjacent to the sexual arousal centers of the brain. This is the reason there are so many so-called "foot fetishists"-almost every other person in the world feels arousal in the feet. The medical community understands how common the phenomenon is and some genetics researchers have postulated that the sexual connection with the feet derives from a long-standing parallel evolutionary chain involving a wide spectra of land and ocean mammals. Some theorize that the mechanism acts as an evolutionary bias, built into the autonomous cerebral architecture, toward selecting traits beneficial to the mobility of the individual. So many people share this phenomenon, but unfortunately it is considered fetish and therefore deviant and socially unacceptable. That is why nobody seems to want to talk about it- because they are afraid of admitting something they believe is highly deviant behavior, when really they are surrounded by many others just like them. There are some non-Western cultures still existing in the world that publicly recognize the erogenous foot association, incorporate it into ritual, and unabashedly extoll its profound power.
I think it's less about how one defines "sex" and more how one defines "fetish". Since the dictionary and most sexual literature defines a fetish as being an object or body part which is REQUIRED for a person to be sexually satisfied. However, I think that's too restrictive, personally because while I have a STRONG attraction to feet and anything foot-related, I am also perfectly capable of having a sexual relationship without any foot-play or other foot-centric stimulus. So does my interest in feet reach the level where I would call it a fetish? Definitely. Because I think that a LARGE part of what makes something a fetish as opposed to an interest is in the obsessional stage. So for example, with me I can lay claim to having a foot fetish because there are times where thoughts of feet dominate everything else in my mind. I can't focus on anything else. I spend 99% of my brain's processing cycles in foot fantasy land. It can even border on the unhealthy, and make you want to do or say things that are socially inappropriate. For me, personally, that's how I define a fetish. So if you can sympathize with any of those sort of feelings...that you can't stop thinking about a person touching your feet, and that such thoughts pop up whenever your brain becomes idle, or that you actively seek out ways to satisfy this urge, then yeah I think you could qualify it as a fetish. Otherwise, as others have stated, it's probably just a facet of your sexuality or personality, and in that case you should definitely get together with a foot fetishist. Hehehehe And that's my VERY far from professional opinion. ;-P
Also pretaining to the original post, it's not my feet that I want touched, rather I'd rather touch a girl's feet, give a foot massage etc. Not receive one myself.
I think you can call it what you want. If it gives please to both parties then there is nothing wrong at all!!! Just enjoy the feet!!
Absolutely, definitely not. If this were true, the desire to be kissed would make you a "lip fetishist", desiring to have your hair stroked would make you a "hair fetishist", etc... A fetish is a sexual obsession with a single object (body parts included) the exclusive attention to which is a necessity for sexual satisfaction. Therefore, if you could never gain sexual satisfaction without total and complete attention to the feet to the exclusion of all else, you could be said to have a foot fetish. From this standpoint, Barefoot Matthew is not a fetishist; perhaps obsessive, but not a fetishist. I consider feet to be equivalent to hands in terms of the body’s hierarchy of tactile sensory input. From this perspective, shoddies deny themselves 50% of their sensory life experience. Focusing on a crucial region for sensory input during sex is a normal and healthy practice; it is neither deviant nor necessarily a fetish. Imagine what it would be like if you were required to wear heavy gloves during sex (OK, off to the “Real Kinky” forum you pervs ).
Since the topic of foot fetishism has come up, I guess I'll chime into this discussion. To me there is nothing wrong with having a foot fetish, just as long as you do not cause mental or physical harm to another. It actually can be quite innocent, at least in my case. As early as six years of age I knew that I had some kind of attraction to feet. In just over the past 20 years, I've come to accept and developed a better understanding of how this makes me unique. My obsession is limited to the natural, artistic and delicate beauty of the female foot. Yes, I enjoy the touching, massaging and viewing the intrinsic nature of the toes, soles and heels. Some might think that foot fetishism is sexually deviant, but to me any kind of behavior that could harm others such as pornography or any kind whatsoever is a major, major turn off for me. Though I'm not ashamed of having a foot fetish, I usually will only bring up the topic when appropriate. My wife, knows about my interest, though she is not into feet herself, accepts me for who I am. Unrelated to my fetish, I do enjoy barefooting, wearing flip flops, toe rings, getting pedicures, and having my feet massaged, which is one of my major weaknesses. I'm not in the least bit afraid to compliment a woman on the beauty of her feet-all done tastefully. I love to play with my own feet, they make the greatest playthings! I guess what I trying to point out is if you have a foot fetish, it's ok, just try to deal with it intelligently, you are not morally bankrupt. Just my $0.02
While clinically, you might be correct, the point of my post was to hopefully help broaden people's opinions here about what makes a fetish a fetish. I guess I just find it sad that we have to restrict the label of "fetishist" only to those at the most extreme end of a particular spectrum. I realize that broadening our scope of what constitutes a fetish opens us up to a lot of "grey areas", but I feel that when dealing with something so complex as human sexuality, there ARE in fact more grey areas than there are black and white. The short version of this for Boogabah is - I believe that the only person who can really tell you if you're a fetishist of any kind is yourself. ;-)
Another mitigating factor is the societal perception of the word. Most would associate the term sexual fetish with deviancy, perversion and/or anti-social behavior. Due to this common interpretation, this particular word may be best reserved for the extreme end of the spectrum, as you have observed. Other terms such as obsession, infatuation, passion, fixation or penchant may better describe your condition in everyday conversation.
The problem is not that is called a fetish. the problem is that socity thinks fetishs are diviant. Persoanlly I consider it a fetish, but I also believe that any and all fetishs, whether or not they have "scienctfic backing". Should be accpeted by society. Its not anyone elses business what you do with your mate in yor own bed.
No you're absolutely correct. In fact, that's been one of the greatest struggles of my life was feeling like "a freak" for having the feelings that I have. It's unfortunate that anyone should be made to feel this way, which is actually one of the reasons I will continue to support a broader use of the word. I guess deep down I hope that if more people can claim to have a fetish, maybe it will gain more acceptance and the next generation won't HAVE to face such negative associations, and as such, will embrace their own individual sexual identity. 'Course, I could be living in a fantasy world, but that's where reality starts sometimes.
The Wikipedia definition of Foot Fetishism refers to a "pronounced sexual interest..." I find a barefoot woman more attractive than a shod woman. Even more attractive is if she has hippy street feet, showing she is a true barefooter. One who prefers an unshod state as I do. Some people are focused on a woman's breasts, others legs, body hair and other natural body parts. Does that make everyone a fetishist? I'll leave out any manamde attires as they do not pertain to this discussion. Long ago I was a member of the DSS (now SBL) and was ejected for being a fetishist. This was explained in some emails because I had posted several URL's of webpages with pictures of female feet. The moderator was a gay male. While I am not gay, I respect everyone's sexual preference. I was also denied membership in a MySpace group because my profile pictures had a collection of many feet-only web pictures and these were deemed as a 'fetish'. I just don't have any pictures of myself barefoot, I guess that defines me as having a foot fetish Several others suffered the same fate. The group was disbanded and the member's profile gone. I guess that says it all I don't readily associate sex with feet, so therefore I don't fit into the Wikipedia definition. Do I want to have sex with every woman I see with dirty feet? No. But I guess it depends on which definition of fetish you choose and how you interpret that definition.
<threadjack applogies="Boogabaah"> I used to participate in the SBL mailing group as well until the moderator repeatedly removed any emails I posted that respectfully and appropriately disagreed with him. The final straw was during a discussion about some shoes he liked (ironic, no?) that I simply stated were very expensive. As much as I appreciate the presence of the excellent resources on the SBL website, their mailing list moderator is arbitrary, capricious and a tyrant who cannot deal with any opinions in opostion to his own. Biba HIP FORUMS! </threadjack>
Yeah, I echo the comments about how this Hipforums group is such a fantastic community- so respectful and refreshingly open minded.
I go barefoot because I always have and enjoy it. I have had a 'fetish' for the male foot ever since I was pre-pube. I never acted on it until in my mid to late teens. I rarely make comments on guys feet here as to not make anyone uncomfortable.
