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Why Do People Have Foot Fetishes?

Sexual trivia you secretly want to know about

By Nessy WriterPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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Sexual trivia, an area that always seems to catch people's attention. A topic that feels naughty and exciting to discuss. An act that everyone wants to be good at. When it comes to uncommon knowledge about sex, there will always be a fascination with fetishes.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a fetish as:

A form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, part of the body,etc.

One particular fetish has certainly become more well known and talked about in recent times. Even featuring heavily in last year's series of 'Celebs go Dating', anyone remember Malique? Yes of course I'm talking about....

Feet

Podophilia or the humble foot fetish, is the term used for a sexual love of (arousal due to) feet and items associated with feet. The fact that you've probably heard of the foot fetish is unsurprising, as it does happen to be the most common.

Recent research has shown 1 in 7 people have sexually fantasized about feet at least once. In the 2007 study by Scorolli et al. of online fetish forums, they found that 47% of all "body part fetishists" were, you guessed it, foot lovers. Feet and objects relating to feet were the most "common targets of preference".

There is still a hint of the taboo about it, it's unlikely you know that many people who've admitted to it in person (though perhaps many behind a computer screen). For those of us that don't get off on feet, there is one question that crosses all of our minds:

Why?

Usually followed by:

I just don't get it

Well look no further, because I have some answers for you....

It looks like a Penis

No prizes for guessing who originally backed this theory. Sigmund Freud, as in many of his theories, claimed that feet were sexualised because they looked like penises. To delve more into the theory, he believed that when a male child saw his mother's genitals and made the shocking realization that she did not have a penis, it would lead him to look for a "penis substitute" on the mother. The part on the mother that looks most like a phallus?......

In his 2009 book that partially focused on 'Unusual Sexual Practices', Dr. Aggrawal wrote that the shape of a foot resembled a phallus and to the fetishist could represent either female or male genitals or 'the shape of a female body'. Another aspect of this is that you can often see the feet and genitals at the same time, thus they can easily becoming associated with each other in the mind.

And since the feet aren't actually penises, they are much less threatening in terms of the mental pressures of performance. I.e. it might look like one, but it does not need to act like one or successfully 'perform' like one. It's always a win win for the consenting object of desire in that sense.

However, there's an arguably more famous and complex theory out there....

Crosswiring of the Brain

A popular theory, headed by Vilanayar Ramachandran, was discovered when researching the phenomenon of phantom limbs (try saying that quickly 3 times). Many of you might of heard of it, this is where amputees can still 'feel' a limb that's no longer actually there. This was due to the set up of something called the primary somatosensory cortex or the brain's 'body map'. Basically the part of the brain responsible for registering and controlling different parts of the body. In the case of phantom limbs, it was found that the part of the body map connected to that limb could rewire itself so that the person missing a limb felt like it was still there.

So, what does this have to do with foot fetishes?

Well in the case of foot amputees, it was discovered that all of a sudden, some patients associated sexual feelings and arousal with that foot when focusing on it or the area it should have been.

Now years before Ramachandran's research, a guy called Wilder Penfield had used electrodes in the brain to map out the somatosensory cortex (you can squirm a bit at that part). Now the map is more or less logical in the order of body parts the brain processes, except for one bit. This is what Ramachandran noticed, the areas for the genitals and feet were right next to each other.

Ah so here's the connection (bad pun I know). He'd already found out that the brain could rewire itself and here was an explanation for sexy thoughts when you've lost your foot. With these two areas being next to each other it was theorized that they might accidentally crosswire.

Thus feet = arousal.

However, this could not account for all cases of foot fetishisation nor did it explain why more men seemed to love feet.

So, what other reasons could there possibly be?

Your Mother's Feet

So there is in fact a theory that one root of this fetish comes from 'early childhood imprinting' or conditioning where non sexual objects gain a sexual association in the learning process. As stated by Dr. Brenda Love, feet are likely the first part of a parent a toddler touches and are often used when playing.

It's also the part of them in the toddler's line of vision. This could be the reason behind preferences for big feet in the foot fetish community as when you are a child, your parent's feet seem enormous compared to you.

Let's jump back to Freud and psychoanalysis for a second. We already know about the possible childhood fixation on a 'replacement penis'. It is also a theory that people may fixate on certain objects as children, then sexually fixate on them later in life because they see it as a "good object". Makes sense that if feet were seen a lot by the child during playtime they might fixate on them as "good" because of the happy memories they'd be associated with.

Building on the above point, some people also do something called 'regressing', so become aroused by things that remind them of their childhood.

And what about when you're all grown up?

Good Way to Avoid STDs

So this reason seems pretty logical right? Fixation on a part of the body sexually that can't give you a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) makes sense to an extent. But how on Earth did scientists come up with the empirical evidence to support this theory?

Well, when researchers took a look at the historical data from time periods during which sexually transmitted disease epidemics occurred, they did indeed find that the number of foot fetish cases shot up. In the 1989 study by Giannini et al. looking at STD epidemics dating back to the 12th century, they found a clear increase in 'sexual interest' in feet. This was probably best documented during the recent and current AIDS epidemic.

So stay safe friends and wiggle your big toe! For those of you that got that movie reference, did you know that Quentin Tarantino is apparently a part of the foot loving clan? Ruined that film for you did I? Sorry, now you can share my pain. (For those of you that haven't seen the film, watch it, you won't regret it).

So there you have it, the next time you hear someone say:

Why on earth do people pay for feet pics?

You'll be the one person in the room that can tell them why, with Science.

I hope you enjoyed this article, please drop a like if you did and feel free to follow me on Twitter for more.

If you enjoyed this bit of sexual trivia why not find out how to get your orgasm every time:

Or how to have sex on the beach:

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About the Creator

Nessy Writer

A freelance writer of all sorts sharing it out with the world. Poetry, prose and advice.

If you want to show your support and see more please follow me on Twitter: Nessywriter

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