# Where do these sexual fetishes come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572 "2005-01-31T11:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/21 "2005-02-01T01:55:30Z")
Man, my human sexuality text (Understanding Human Sexuality, 8th edition, JS Hyde and JD DeLamater, 2003) sure comes in handy. We had a unit on fetishes and other variations in sexual behavior. Here are some quotes: On types of fetishes: > [@](#): > > In a **media fetish** , the material out of which an object is made is the source of arousal . . . Media fetishes can be subdivided into hard media fetishes and soft media fetishes. In a hard media fetish, the fetish is for a hard substance, such as leather or rubber. In a soft media fetish, the substance is soft, such as fur or silk. . . In a **form fetish** , it is the object and its shape that are important. An example would be a shoe fetish . . . (p 422) As to why people become fetishists: > [@](#): > > Here we will consider three theoretical explanations: learning theory, cognitive theory, and the sexual addiction model . . . According to learning theory . . . fetishes result from classical conditioning, in which a learned association is built between the fetish object and sexual arousal and orgasm . . . > > A second possible theoretical explanation comes from cognitive psychology . . . According to cognitive theory, fetishists (or other paraphiliacs) have a serious cognitive distortion in that they perceive a nonconventional stimulus–such as black leather boots–as erotic. Further, their perception of arousal is distorted. They feel “driven” to the sexual behavior when aroused, but the arousal may actually be caused by feelings of guilt and self-loating. Thus there is a chain in which there are initial feelings of guilt at thoughts of the unconventional behavior, which produces arousal, which is misinterpreted as sexual arousal, which leads to a feeling that the fetish ritual must be carried out; it is, there is orgasm and temporary feelings of relief, but the evaluation of the event is negative, leading to further feelings of guilt and self-loating, which perpetuates the chain. > > A third theory that has been advanced to explain some paraphilias, especially those that seem compulsive, is the theory of sexual addiction . . . (pp423-425) . It goes on to say that there’s a continuum from normal to abnormal fetishes, from mild preference to substitute for a human partner. It’s only if the object is a necessity or a substitute that it is considered abnormal. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/22 "2005-02-01T02:09:22Z")
Again, not talking about “normal vs. abnormal” here, just trying to figure out how it first occurred that someone thought, “hmm. gas masks. there’s just something really erotic about gas masks. Now I must have a wank and go start a fetish subculture.” ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/23 "2005-02-01T02:11:15Z")
> [@NattoGuy](#): > > Again, not talking about “normal vs. abnormal” here, just trying to figure out how it first occurred that someone thought, “hmm. gas masks. there’s just something really erotic about gas masks. Now I must have a wank and go start a fetish subculture.” I personally find clown sex to be stranger. Oh, and the people who fetishize balloon popping. Seriously. Ballons popping. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/24 "2005-02-01T02:18:21Z")
The gas mask fetish is a particular example of a more general theme: abegnation, or the intentional limitation of body function or movement, and the associated psychological humbling. The gas mask with the tube limits breathing, and forces the wearer to breath in whatever his dominator/-trix chooses. Bondage is abegnation. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/25 "2005-02-01T02:29:31Z")
Whoops, that should be **abnegation**. Self-denial. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/26 "2005-02-01T02:30:49Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > I myself am more mystified about the whole urine and scat thing. The feet thing might be a little :dubious:, but I’ll take it over the urine and scat thing anyday. Actually, I’ve never understood scat and “watersports” either. But I didn’t want to mention them, because I was afraid that someone would try to explain the appeal 😛 (Mods, we really need a barfy smiley.) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/27 "2005-02-01T02:30:50Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The gas mask fetish is a particular example of a more general theme: abegnation, or the intentional limitation of body function or movement, and the associated psychological humbling. The gas mask with the tube limits breathing, and forces the wearer to breath in whatever his dominator/-trix chooses. > > Bondage is abegnation. Brilliant. This makes some sense. Thank you. Since (it seems) a lot of the fetish getup looks vaguely like Nazi-type uniforms, could gas masks are related to the whole Nazi meme? I wonder if a lot of what we consider modern fetish didn’t have offshoots in the sexual practices of Nazi officers, who I understand were given to sexual experimentation and had basically an unlimited number of people who they could potentially dominate or control in concentration camps and occupied contries. Perhaps both the dominatonts and submissives found these experiences powerful enough that they continued the behavior in a more consenting environment after the war. I don’t know, that’s just a theory that was rattling around in the basement of my brain as I asked this question. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/28 "2005-02-01T02:32:51Z")
I just want to apologize for all the spelling and usage errors in the last post, as well as the mis-edits. I’m only 33, can my brain already be turning to mush? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/29 "2005-02-01T04:24:49Z")
You can find leather, bondage, and fetish themes in underground literature from the 18th (De Sade) and 19th (Sacher-Masoch) centuries. Long before Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/30 "2005-02-01T04:38:03Z")
> [@NattoGuy](#): > > Again, not talking about “normal vs. abnormal” here, just trying to figure out how it first occurred that someone thought, “hmm. gas masks. there’s just something really erotic about gas masks. Now I must have a wank and go start a fetish subculture.” I just brought that up at the end. The rest of that post was about theories of how fetishes–from mild to wild–develop. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/31 "2005-02-01T05:14:51Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Actually, I’ve never understood scat and “watersports” either. But I didn’t want to mention them, because I was afraid that someone would try to explain the appeal 😛 > > (Mods, we really need a barfy smiley.) I don’t see why it’s that puzzling. Certainly it seems unpleasant to those not interested in it, but then, don’t most fetishes? A lot of sexual fetishism seems to be oriented around power or humiliation issues - the desire to be in power over another, or to have another hold power over you. I don’t see why getting pissed on seems any more remarkable, really, than getting tied up or suffocated. It seems pretty natural, actually: the excretory organs are the same as the genitals, so no puzzling issues of why the body part would be associated with sex. And taking a nice whiz/dump is a very pleasant sensation, albeit not a sexual one. So you combine the taboos associated with bathroom matters, the strong humiliation aspect, and the inherent physical pleasures of going to the bathroom - there you go. Of course, unlike most fetishes, playing with your wastes poses some medical risks. Especially poo - our own Qadgop the Mercotan has stated that something like 50% of the contents of your shit is bacteria. I should imagine that this is enough to drive most people away from trying it (because, really, shouldn’t there be some sensible limits on trying new things? Eww.) Now someone needs to explain the attraction of women in uncomfortable shoes stepping on bugs. Because that one puzzles the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/32 "2005-02-01T14:24:29Z")
I don’t find any fetishes particularly puzzling though I do find them fascinating. The scat and urine is an easy one: Is there anything more submissive than being accepting of something another body considers unworthy? Ernest Becker wrote an interesting analysis of Hitler’s desire to be shat on by his mistresses. It has to do with the psychic balancing of his megalomania with something equally but oppositely humiliating. I think I explained the gas mask fetish pretty clearly. A foot fetish is often considered to be the result of the proximity of an infant to the foot of an adult combined with the it’s phallic similarities during a time of maximum imprinting. The fetish for amputees has a similar phallic origin with the added bonus of simulated castration. Balloon popping? There is a build-up and release similar to orgasm with the added jouissance of the startling sound. Ok, there is one fetish I find odd. That of being turned on by pictures of women stepping on cell phones. I suspect that this is mostly a foot fetish with perhaps a slight projection of the phallus upon the cell phone. If you think the above is a bunch of Freudian mumbo-jumbo, I entreat you to read fetish case histories with a subsequent analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572/33 "2005-02-02T14:46:21Z")
> [@sweetfreak](#): > > Maybe you have never received a proper foot massage? 😉 > Also, having your toes sucked on can be very stimulating. The fetish (as I understand it) is not being on the receiving end of a good foot massage or toe sucking. I’m referring to the person that gets turned on by someone elses foot. I’ve seen the cellphone stompers and thought the web page was a joke and I was just getting whooshed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-these-sexual-fetishes-come-from/287572.md?page=1)