Sexual Fetishes

I'm in a class called Sexual Satisfaction, and we had to write a paper on a topic of our choice. I chose to write about the development of sexual fetishes. Here is it!

Sexual Fetishes As the Result of Childhood Experiences

Sexual fetishes have been observed across history, with records of French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) describing it in his writing. However, most of these old notes were not based on scientific research, but rather based on the clinical observations of patients by psychologists. Most research of sexual fetishism cited today comes from the 1990’s and later (with a few exceptions.) There were some notable case studies as well as actual studies conducted in the 1960’s that provided a solid base for later research. Today, while there is not a plethora of data regarding the development of sexual fetishes, there is certainly enough to draw some conclusions as to how a person can derive sexual satisfaction from an inanimate object. From the data presented, it is apparent that sexual fetishes are the result of usually positive sexual experiences occurring around puberty, and the new sensation of sexual arousal and pleasure that this fetishized object evokes a desire in the person for more, thereby creating a self-sustaining, vicious cycle.

Before attempting to understand how a fetish is developed, it is important to understand the scientific definition of fetish. A fetish is a form of paraphilia, meaning that it is a sexual desire focused at nonhuman objects. A sexual fetish is defined as “the use of a nonliving object as the exclusive or preferred method of achieving sexual gratification” (Köksal, Domjan, Kurt, Sertel, Örüng, and Bowers, 2003). Another definition offered by a different study is “a form of perversion in which sexual gratification is obtained from other than the genital parts of the body (Lowenstein, 2002).” Although not specifically mentioned, an important aspect of this definition is the difference between a sexual interest in a nonliving object, and a sexual interest in a body part other than the genitals or breasts. This is to say, sexual interests directed towards nonsexual body parts (feet, hands, knees) are not technically defined as a fetish, but rather as partialism (Kafka, 2009). For example, an amputee fetish would technically be considered partialism, not fetishism. Yet, because most people do not realize the difference between partialism and fetishism, for the purposes of this paper, partialism will be considered a type of fetish. However, it is important to understand both that there is a scientific difference, and what that difference is.

When looking at sexual fetishes, researchers have found that it is helpful to first look at fetishistic behavior in animals, because it is easy to control what an animal has been subjected to, and to specifically study how they develop a fetish (Köksal, 2003). In a study done on Japanese quails (Köksal, 2003) researchers sought to replicate and observe the ways in which a fetish is created and how individual differences in quails affected the development of fetishes, and then apply this knowledge to understand fetishes in humans. Results indicated that while many quails developed a sexual fetish, not every quail did, even though they were all subjected to the same methods to develop a fetish. This would suggest that individual differences in quails (and humans) play a part in the development of fetishes, and that given the right circumstances, anyone can develop a fetish at a young age. In addition to this, it was shown that in many cases, quails were more interested in copulating with the cloth rather than copulating with a female quail, indicating that the fetishistic object was of greater interest to the male quail than the female quail was. In managing to successfully recreate and study most aspects of a sexual fetish, this research using quails (but applied to human behavior) showed how a fetishistic behavior can originally manifest itself in humans, and the depth of dependence a fetishistic person can have on an object. Yet this research only begins to explain how people with different experiences develop sexual fetishes.

Fetishes have, historically, been thought to be the result of severe castration complex (Lowenstein, 2002), and it has only been fairly recently that researchers have attempted to understand their nature. Some researchers have argued that individuals with fetishes are “an unusual by-product of a normal adaptive process” and do not suffer from some horrible perversion (Munroe, Gauvain, 2001). It is argued that fetishistic people had the same experience of sexual arousal during childhood/puberty as non-fetishistic people, but while they were becoming aroused, a nonsexual object was present which ultimately became linked with their sexual arousal (Munroe, 2001). This link of an object to sexual arousal creates a dependence in the person to an object, which only gets stronger the longer the fetish exists.

Once these fetishes have begun, they operate on “self-maintenance, leading to a persistent response to an inanimate object (Köksal, 2003). In Köksal (2003), 58% of participants indicated that they had masturbated to fee or shoes at least 3-4 times a week for the past 12 months. This would suggest that for many fetishistic people, masturbation is frequently a method of sexual gratification. This continuous masturbation to a certain object serves to strengthen the mental connection a person makes with their sexual object. Indeed, once a person has this fetish, it is nearly impossible to get rid of (Munroe, 2004). Hence, a fetish once initiated becomes a part of a person’s life, and the dependence on an object for sexual arousal can become so severe as to render a person impotent without it (Lowenstein, 2002).

For many people, their particular sexual fetish has simply become a normal part of their life, and as such, it is hard for them to think of a specific instance or event that led to the fetish, in much the way that non-fetishistic people find it hard to remember the genesis of their normal traits. However, research indicated that the genesis of fetishes could be traced back to either one event or a series of events in a person’s childhood or adolescence (Munroe, 2004). In one study of homosexual men, all of who had foot and shoe fetishes, researchers looked specifically at what event triggered this fetish, who participated, and how old the participant was. 45% of participants indicated that “their fetish interest developed because of pleasurable events in childhood” while 46% said the same of events in adolescence (Weinberg, Williams, and Calhan, 1995). Participants’ answers also indicated that 12 years old was the average age when they first became sexually aroused by feet or shoes. Pleasurable events at these young ages included playing with their fathers’ feet, or tickling or massaging an older adults foot. Almost all participants indicated an event in their childhood that triggered the fetish, which supports the idea that the genesis of a fetish is in a person’s childhood.

In similar lit based study supporting the research, Munroe (2001) found that the sexual learning experience leading to fetishism normally happens around one of two different ages, either at 4 or 5, or at 8 or 9. The article goes on to describe how only one instance of sexual excitement with a nonsexual object is necessary to initiate a sexual fetish in a person. Once sexual arousal to an object has been reinforced via sexual satisfaction, the child may link the object to sexual arousal, and from then on think that the only way of obtaining sexual arousal/satisfaction is with the object. Yet, an important part of the development of a fetish is sexual reinforcement, most commonly in the form of masturbation (Köksal, 2003). Without this sexual reinforcement, the object will remain nonsexual and unlinked to sexual arousal, and the person will not develop a fetish

In one particular case study of, Dr. Walter Everaerd (1983) followed and described the history and current state of a man with an amputee fetish. In this case study, Everaerd listed his patients’ responses to open ended questions, revealing perfectly the genesis of his fetish, and the reasons behind his desire to cut off his own leg. When discussing what caused him to view amputees as an object of sexual arousal, the patient described a time when he was 10 years old, saying “I was jealous of the children who played in the street…even the boy who…had a wooden leg… so called unhappy boy…Never the less I considered him happier than myself…” (Everaerd, 1983). He then went on to say that the peg leg unconsciously became synonymous with happiness, as the peg leg boy was happier than he, a healthy boy, was. This seemingly un-noteworthy event shaped this mans’ sexual drives, and he linked the happiness in the amputee boy first to the boys’ amputated leg, and then the amputated leg to his own sexual satisfaction. It is small, un-noteworthy events like this that researchers argue create a fetish in an otherwise normally developed child.

It is clear from the data available today that sexual fetishes are the result of positive sexual experiences occurring around the age of puberty. Of course, while individual differences could lead people to develop fetishes as a reaction to different events, it is clear that most of the events people experience that lead them to develop fetishes are positive ones. A study of fetishism in animals showed that it is possible for anyone to develop a fetish, while lending proof and support to the scientific definition of fetishes. Studies before and since then have also lent evidence to the conclusion that fetishes are born out of the experiences in a persons’ childhood, and once they have developed, remain a big part of the person’s sex life for the rest of his or her life.