What’s Your Favorite Fetish?

The DSM-IV, the text book psychologists and doctors use to diagnose mental illnesses, defines sexual fetishes as recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges or behaviors involving the use of non-living objects, which cause clinically-significant distress or impairment in normal functioning. Experts call such fetishes, which interfere with a normal sex life, paraphilia.

However, many people use a fetish to describe any “unusual” and recurring sexual behavior. It doesn’t interfere with the person’s job or social life, and may even enhance a couple’s sex life.

History of the Fetish

The word fetish, by most accounts, originates from the Portuguese word “Feitico” meaning “false” and refers to the transfer of power from one object to a substitute. For instance, rather than being turned on by an entire woman, her sexual power is transferred only to her breasts, or feet, or lingerie she’s wearing.

Some experts claim fetishes are established from incidents that take place while masturbating during puberty. The person becomes fixated on object which is not normally associated with sex (in other words, you can’t actually have a vibrator fetish!) in order to become aroused.

That may be true about actual, clinical fetishes that interfere with a patient’s life. What people commonly refer to as “fetishes,” – non-vanilla sexual preferences – more likely come about due to a sense of sexual adventure, experimentation, and the desire to keep things exciting in the bedroom.

Is it a Problem?

Do you have an actual fetish or just a preference? If you can get aroused without using, seeing or even thinking about the object or body part, it’s merely a preference. If you absolutely need it for sex, it’s a fetish.

Whether you should get treatment depends on if it’s preventing you from functioning normally—in and out of the bedroom. If you have a fetish and an understanding partner more than happy to humor your fetish, keep it up (so to speak).

Types of Fetishes

Many different fetishes exist, and we covered some of the more unusual ones in the post “They Like What?” But all fetishes fall into one of three categories:

Media: A media fetish emphasizes the material of an inanimate object. Like leather, lace, rubber, latex or silk? That’s a media fetish.

Form: A form fetishes focuses on the shape of an object rather than its texture. A balloon fetish is both a form and media fetish, while an attraction to high heels is purely a form fetish. Casting, for the person viewing the cast, would be a form fetish, while for the wearer, it is a media fetish.

Animate: Any fetish involving living things or even body parts, from hamsters to human feet, is considered animate.

Askmen.com published a list, based on a reader survey, of the top ten most popular fetishes. The top five?

1. Voyeurism & exhibitionism

2. Golden showers

3. Water

4. Braids, ponytails and pigtails

5. Fingernails and lipstick

We’ll explore these and other fetishes in future posts. What’s your favorite fetish?

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