Foot fetishism, also known asfoot partialism orpodophilia, is a pronouncedsexual interest infeet.[1][2] It is the most common form ofsexual fetishism for otherwise non-sexual objects or body parts.[3]
Foot fetishism has been defined as a pronounced sexual interest in feet. For a foot fetishist, points of attraction may include the shape and size of feet, feet soles, toes, jewelry (e.g.,toe rings,anklets, etc.), treatments (such as massaging, washing partner's feet or painting partner's toenails), state of dress (e.g.,barefoot,flip flops,boat shoes,ballet flats,sandals,high heels,[4]clogs,hosiery, socked feet, etc.),foot odor or sensory interaction (e.g., rubbing the foot,smelling, tickling, licking, kissing,rubbing genitals on foot, etc.).[5]
Extensions of this fetish includeshoes,socks, olfactophilia (odor fetishism), andtickling.[6]Sigmund Freud also consideredfoot binding as a form of fetishism,[7][8] although this view was disputed.[9]
Odor fetishism (pertaining to the smell of feet) seems to play a major role in foot fetishism, and is closely related to it: in a 1994 study, 45% of those with a foot fetish were found to be aroused bysmelly socks or feet, making it one of the most widespread forms of olfactophilia.[10]
In extreme cases, an individual with a pronounced sexual interest in feet could possibly be diagnosed with fetishism disorder (characterized by the eroticization of non-living objects and body parts) if they are in adherence with the following symptoms:[5]
To estimate the relative frequency of fetishes, in 2006 researchers at theUniversity of Bologna examined 381 Internet discussions of fetish groups, in which at least 5,000 people had been participating. Researchers estimated the prevalence of different fetishes based on the following elements:
It was concluded that the most common fetishes were for body parts or for objects usually associated with body parts (33% and 30%, respectively). Among those people preferring body parts, feet and toes were preferred by the greatest number, with 47% of those sampled preferring them. Among those people preferring objects related to body parts, 32% were in groups related to footwear (shoes, boots, etc.).[3]
According toIan Kerner, foot fetishism is the most common form of sexual fetish related to the body.[11]
In August 2006,AOL released a database of the search terms submitted by their subscribers. In ranking only those phrases that included the word "fetish", it was found that the most common search was for feet.[12]
Foot fetishism may be more common in men than in women. Researchers using a polling agency to conduct a survey of the general Belgian population in 2017 found that 76 of the 459 male respondents (17%) and 23 of the 565 female respondents (4%) answered "Agree" or "Strongly agree" to a fetish interest in feet.[13]
Similar to other forms ofsexual fetishism, no consensus has yet been established about the specific causes of foot fetishism. While many works on the topic exist, their conclusions are often regarded as highly speculative. In a general sense, sexual fetishism can be caused by a number of factors, no singular cause for any type of fetishism has been conclusively established.[14]
Foot fetishism may be caused by the feet and the genitals occupying adjacent areas of thesomatosensory cortex, possibly entailing some neural crosstalk between the two.[15] NeuroscientistV. S. Ramachandran proposed that an accidental link between these regions could explain the prevalence of foot fetishism.[16]
Desmond Morris considered foot fetishism the result ofmal-imprinting at an early age, the tactile pressure of a foot/shoe being important in this.[17] Freud's reading of foot fetishism also involved early imprinting, but he considered the smell of feet significant in this, as well as the foot as a penis-symbol/surrogate (castration complex, especially when encountered while voyeuristically exploring the female body from below).[18]Otto Fenichel similarly saw castration fear as significant in foot fetishism, citing a future fetishist who as an adolescent said to himself "You must remember this throughout life – that girls, too, have legs", to protect himself from the fear.[19] Where fear of the (castrated) female body is too great, desire is felt not for shoes on female feet but for women's shoes alone, without women.[20]
Georges Bataille saw the lure of the feet as linked to their anatomical baseness (abjection).[21]
Some researchers have hypothesized that foot fetishism increases as a response to epidemics ofsexually transmitted infections. In one study, conducted by A James Giannini atOhio State University, an increased interest in feet as sexual objects was observed during the greatgonorrhea epidemic of twelfth-century Europe, and thesyphilis epidemics of the 16th and 19th centuries in Europe.[22] In the same study, the frequency of foot-fetish depictions inpornographic literature was measured over a 30-year interval. An exponential increase was noted during the period of the currentAIDS epidemic. In these cases, sexual footplay was viewed as asafe sex alternative.[23] However, the researchers noted that these epidemics overlapped periods of relative female emancipation.[24]
Some of the earliest recorded instances of foot fetishism occur in the erotic poemsTo a Barefoot Woman andTo a Barefoot Boy attributed to theAncient Greek writerPhilostratus.[25][26] TheHindu godBrahma was aroused by the sight ofParvati's feet in the eighth-century textSkanda Purana.[27]
Media related tofoot fetishism at Wikimedia Commons
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