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What Is a Fetish?
The Editrix explains
I can't remember where this ran, but I wrote it for my friend Carmen Ficarra...
What is a fetish?
A fetish is defined as an object or nongenital part of the body, as a
shoe, undergarment, or hank of hair, that is repeatedly preferred or
exclusively used for achieving sexual excitement. It has become defined
colloquially as having a "thing" for, as in a shoe fetish being both a
sexual preference for shoes as well as a love for shoes and shoe
shopping.
What's popular?
Leg fetishism seems to be popular, as evidenced by the staggering array
of leg magazines: Leg World, Leg Show, Leg tease, Leg Action, Seg Sex
and Leg Scene. Personally, I think the leg fetish is a safe one. Legs
are easy to see, always on display, etc. And if a guy says, "I love
legs," no one's gonna think he's peculiar. Which is why I prefer the
more obscure fetishes. The foot fetish is another popular one, enjoying
media attention with the poor schlub who stole Marla Maples's shoes and
that Upper West Side Whipper getting whacked. This is another safe
fetish, especially for men eager to explore their submissive fantasies.
It's a good place to start, shall we say. From the ground up.
S&M is also pretty popular and enjoying media attention. The
Manhattan restaurant La Nouvelle Justine has an S&M theme and
they've received more press than any restaurant I know of. You get a
spanking with your pasta, or a solid milk chocolate shoe instead of a
birthday cake. It's a lot of fun, but also served up in a safe enough
atmosphere for the looky-loos to feel comfortable venturing into
previously forbidden worlds.
Do these things change?
Well, there have always been people with fetishes and as far as the
truly psychologically driven fetishes, no, I don't think they change
much. Obviously, it's a bit difficult to have a fetish for garments
that are no longer worn. Kraft-Ebbing mentions an apron fetish, which I
chose as the Fetish of the Month for the first issue of Extreme Fetish.
You don't see women wearing aprons anymore, so it would be less likely
for someone to develop that fetish. Unless, of course, one grows up in
a professional kitchen. Or watching too much of The Cooking Channel!
I've also noticed that there are enduring fetishes that in some way try
to recapture the past. The panty fetish, for example, seems sort of old
fashioned, since you see billboards of Kate Moss in practically
nonexistent underpants everywhere. Respondents to a survey by Panty
Play, a panty fetish magazine, expressed an overwhelming preference for
photos of the women in their panties, as opposed to taking them off and
naked. I think that since nudity is so readily available, many men are
more fascinated by the mystery and innocence of panties being flashed,
exposed, or better yet, mere glimpses caught completely by accident.
I've heard so many stories about strange fetishes. The Latina
expectorate fetish is my favorite. I'm planning a photo shoot with an
angora sweater and skeins of angora wool yarn for those Ed Wood, fuzzy
sweater fetishists out there. Smelly shoes, female wrestling, golden
showers and infantalism are all quite popular lately, yet they all have
a certain edge to them.
[Written in the late '90s sometime...]
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