I have yet to find an answer that makes sense to me as to why I have a foot fetish. The concept doesn’t make sense to me at all. Yet , it’s as much a part of me as my personality.
My theory for someone having a foot fetish is that it’s to do with submissive traits. Feet are theoretically one of the dirtiest parts of the body, and the body parts that are used to walk. So when someone is putting their feet over your face or sticking their toes in your mouth, they are dominating you and “walking all over you”.
You could apply the same logic to a person with an ass worship fetish. You’re being dominated/used by being sat on, or otherwise having your face pressed right into someone’s ass.
Rings true for me. That’s a whole other subject though, the feet came first and it opened the door to the submission. I have however come to the conclusion that there are levels to all things. But yes, the sub connection is true for me, with the feet being the high point.
(Don’t personally have a foot fetish but to each their own … within reason.)
I think it’s interesting that folks tend to be into feet but not, say, wrists or elbows in the same way. southsamurai -at- sh.itjust.work’s answer is pretty compelling. (Not @ ing because I don’t know the etiquette for that on Lemmy and I don’t want to be a menace.)
If you don’t mind me asking a follow up question, does origin matter? Unless someone is ace, they’re into something. Some part of those interests will be “unusual” to others. Some part of each of us will always be a mystery even to ourselves. I think that’s kind of neat.
Hey thanks for the response, and the connect. Knowing the origin wouldn’t make a difference, it’s just intriguing to me. Having the fetish puts me in a minority which is one of the few minorities I’m in, I think? 🤔 when I found the right person to share it with i did quickly realize that it is not a bad thing at all. Only issue is that I have to keep myself from being pervy when I do find myself seeing a woman with feet that turn me on. I generally remove myself from the situation if possible, but there are times where I sneak as many looks as I can. That’s the truth.
Nobody has a perfect, definitive answer. There’s a lot of theories regarding how paraphilias form, but limited data, and no real way to prove anything with the data that is there.
The most common theory is that, at some point, the person gets exposed to whatever their “thing” is at a time when arousal is heightened, and the exposure becomes linked to the arousal. Which is pretty fucking obvious, and not exactly a real answer, imo. It’s probably correct, but it doesn’t provide anything useful.
Allow me to paraphrase a story I read in a book about sexual fantasies, that included fetish.
A kid is often tagging along with mom, as often happens. He’s small at first, and just climbs under dressers and into closets to play while she’s getting ready for whatever. One day, little Jimmy is down under a table while mom is getting ready, but it’s for a party at home, and some of the guests are also getting ready.
So, our young fella is seeing all kinds of ankles and shoes, and feet, and occasional flashes of women’s lower bodies. This is an awakening for Jimmy, and he feels the first rush of interest and arousal. Not necessarily an erection, or even a direct sexual sensation. But there’s a heightened awareness that he’s seeing something important.
Now in the original story, Jimmy just developed a general voyeurism and an enjoyment of feet, shoes, and ankles that was higher than usual. It wasn’t a full on paraphilia, nor was it essential for his sexual interests or arousal. But without some variation of that stimulation, he didn’t enjoy sex as much, and his fantasies were more about seeing feet from hiding than actual sexual activity.
When you have a sudden arousal combined with something that’s not really sexual, but still delivers a hit of brain chemicals then you’ve got the recipe for a fetish. It won’t happen to every person because it does take more than one factor happening to build that connection. But when you start looking at anecdotes of people that do know where and when their fetish started, there’s a very high degree of similarity in their stories.
Foot fetishists often talk about feet in the same way others talk about breasts or legs. But there’s also a segment that crosses over with submissive cravings, and there’s a segment that crosses both of those that’s tied strongly to feet being “dirty”. Not always in the literal sense, but as in taboo because feet are often considered dirty in the literal sense.
Because feet get literally dirty, there’s a rejection of them as part of our sexual selves I’m some people. And a lot of fetish builds around taboos.
Which, assuming all the theories hold water, it’s no wonder that foot fetishists are so dedicated. They’ve got an unusual interest that still manages to not be so unpleasant as to render them pariah.
Thanks for taking the time to write all that, it is very interesting. I have heard similar theories and too have come to the conclusion that i most likely will never find the complete answer. I know I discovered it round about the pubescent age, but didn’t really understand what was going on. Only later on I started to indulge in it, If I could call it that. I do however remember the first time I told someone about it and got completely shamed, which in turn lead me to be very secretive about it. To this day in fact, literally only told 2 people. Well 3 including the guy who shamed me about it.
I have also come to realize that people don’t understand how strong the arousal is. It is literally like seeing an amazing pair of breasts or an ass etc. which are generally more common assets for arousal. The difference however is that it’s absolute commonplace for women to show their feet and toes. So as a fetishist you could be confronted with awkward situations at any point place etc. However there is a misconception I believe, that most people who don’t have the fetish think that we get aroused by any feet. Which is absolutely wrong, it’s the opposite, I am only attracted to a specific feet, and actually pretty disgusted by feet that don’t meet my type.
Anyway, this is my way of anonymously sharing my thoughts about something that I deal with everyday, yet keep secret. And I love having the fetish, because the level of arousal is unmatched with any other body part, and when they do all line up together, it’s a whole other level. Haha thanks again
In my mind, though I don’t share the fetish, it’s no different than enjoying any body part. I have no idea why people get bothered just by the fact of someone being into feet. Yeah, fetishists can sometimes be jerks, but not to a higher rate than anyone else.
It sure as hell doesn’t hurt anyone.
I haven’t, but I like those beautiful feet, where you touch, kiss and massage them. Lovely feet!
Haha, I think we all have different types that we really like, but there are some universally loved feet.
I don’t have a foot fetish, but if you rub my feet and my dick at the same time, I’m lost in lust. Someone once told me there’s some similarity between the nerves in both places, maybe that’s why. I know at least one person who has the same thing but more dramatically. I always worried she would be anyone’s if they just took an interest in her feet. One foot massage and she’s in love. Your foot fetish is someone else’s instant turn on button.
Yeah that’s another mystery to me, is that are there people who get off on the attention that the foot fetishist is willing to give. Like a symbiotic relationship. Or do they just pretend so they can sell only fans content lol
Foot fetish predates onlyfans by millennia, I’m sure, but yes, I suspect that a lot of onlyfans content is selling sexuality rather than experiencing it.
Yeah I’m sure it does, I’m just interested in the receiving party. Like, are there people that get as aroused as I do when sucking toes, when they are having their toes sucked? Like a perfect match if you know what I mean?
Well, yes, sure.