OK, I made this post for a couple of reasons. One of those reasons was that I have no idea where fetishes can originate. I looked in the dictionary and all I got was a non-sexual thing/object that doesn’t normally have a sexual connotation. I’ve searched far and wide for an actual answer and I can never find one. This post could have went on general questions, but I just thought it really had no relevancy anywhere. Also, does anybody out there have one that they don’t understand? With me, I have this thing towards feet. I’ve told a couple people and they’ve totally thought me strange. I really can’t help the fact that I like feet in particular. It really makes no sense to me and it would be a huge help if anybody clarified this topic for me.
I have a fetish for fat, hairy, older men. Santa would be my ideal mate. Many of the dopers already know that. Somehow when I post about this my posts seem to disappear even though it is true.
Okay, here’s what a fetish is (I’m remembering this from a psych class I took last year, so bear with me if I get some details wrong). It’s a type of psychological conditioning in which a person becomes so used to a certain object to the point where they can only get aroused by having that object. That means some men can’t erections without that object being visible to them. For example lets take a guy that has a fetish for panties. He regularly holds them or rubs his face with them while he masturbates. He becomes conditioned to them, and he has to have them with him when he has sex. Also, if just seeing an object makes you aroused (like the panties, not naked women)you have a fetish for that object. So sorry to burst your bubble Sqrl, you just have a personal preference for Santa, not a fetish. I can’t say for sure about you, Burn, because, well, you didn’t give away any clues. My guess is that’s just a personal preference as well.
“There are many sweeping generalizations that are always true” -Space Ghost
Yes, LongHrn basically said the going sentiment from the professionals. Not that this holds a lot of water in the real world of conversation, but if you tell a shrink or doctor that you have a fetish he’ll likely assume that you need X to function sexually.
Now the real definition of a fetish in actual conversation has become the particular aspects that you enjoy most about the opposite sex (or same). This is quite inaccurate, and is kinda confusing when discussing serious problems.
A hybrid of the two which seems to be gaining more acceptance is the concept of a non-typical sexual activity. Be it leather, latex, ass play, bodily functions, hot wax, or just about any porn genre you’ve heard about.
What do I consider the definition of a fetish? Well, I tend to use it as the parts of a person that appeal to me which are not directly sexual in nature. Schoolgirl and Cheerleader skirts for example, and tan lines. I love small perky nipples (not necessarily breasts), but would not consider that a fetish, just a preference.
I don’t suppose any of this has cleared things up in the least. Basically its one of those words which everyone has their own definition for, and because of that the dictionaries haven’t pinned it down yet.
Lonhrn, Santa’s uniform also turns me on. Just seeing it does it to me. When I was taking psych classes, I heard that too; although, when I took human sexuality, my professor said that fetishes can also extend onto people rather than inanimate objects. This completely contradicted what I heard in introductory psych. At least then I did not think there was anything unusual about it.
Orangecakes: (to adapt a Vandal’s song)
Santa’s neato
Santa’s fun
Santa makes love to everyone.
I know he only comes once a year, that is why I have my Santa suit on the ready.
Oh, yes, there’s a topic here, isn’t there? Well, I don’t really know where fetishes come from. I have a lot of them, if anybody really wants to know what they are, I’ll tell them. Around about the time I became aware that my love for my fellow woman was starting to get out of hand, I started becoming very aroused by other things as well. All I know is that I thought that these things were normal until I was informed that they weren’t.
Uh, did I mention that I am a portly middle aged man, with a long white beard, and curly grey and white hair that comes down past my shoulders? No? Oh, well, . . . nevermind.
A fetish need not be sexual. IMHO (with some back up from the 30 pound, unabridged, Webster’s dictionary) a fetish is “any object, animate or inanimate, natural or artificial, regarded with a feeling of awe”
I have a fetish for pine strewn mountains and running streams. Do I desire them sexually? No. I wouldn’t mind making love in them or near them but they don’t turn me on. I just find myself filled with awe whenever I am around them.
But hey, that’s just me. I’ve been told I’m a queer duck!
Now there’s something meatier. 