7 Foot Fetish Theories – Collected Ideas On Podophilia

It’s not clear what it is about feet that’s appealing, but a few theories have been offered to explain why some people are just drawn to feet and foot play. Herein are some of the foot fetish theories.

Podophilia is the most common form of partialism. Partialism is a sexual interest in the focus of a specific body part. It can be hair, buttocks, or breast. Podophilia is when someone is sexually aroused by feet, thus the term foot fetish. Fetish is a strong attraction to something. It can either be sexual or non-sexual. The most common type of fetish is foot fetish. A foot fetish is when someone is sexually aroused by feet. It can either be through pedicures, shoes, tattoos, toes, ankles, socks, or stockings; they can trigger sexual arousal in a person.

Researchers propose several explanations for how and why people develop foot fetish. One stated that this behavior arose during early childhood. When children maybe saw their mother’s genital area, they wondered why they didn't have a penis, thus leading to a fixation on objects that look like penises. It states that they occur because a person perceives the foot or toes as a penis substitute.

Foot Fetish Theories

Sociocultural Factor

Genner & Süss (2017) explained that culture and socialization influence human sexual desire. Certain cultures place major importance on certain body parts and certain sexual practices. Inevitably, as a consequence of patriarchy and male control in many societies, female sexuality is subjugated and more likely to be affected by social and cultural factors. Fetishism is also seen in primates, but the cultural variations in prevalence and presentation are unclear. Socialization does play a role in the formation and maintenance of fetishistic behaviors.

Cultural Factor

Higgins & Smith (2016) explained that communities are either sex-positive or sex-negative. Sex-positive communities view sex as a fun activity, while the latter see sex as a way of procreation alone. Sex-positive people show high levels of paraphilias; they engage in sexual activities for purposes such as fun, pleasures, or experiments. Halwani (2018) stated that cultures determine attitudes towards sexual behaviors such as masturbation, oral sex, premarital sex, and so forth, and fetishistic objects and objects of desire. Men have higher rates of fetishistic thoughts and behavior; they are more interested in sexual behavior and have more intrusive sexual thoughts and fantasies. Fetishistic behavior may occur as a result of socialization problems and may lead to poor social functioning as well. Occasionally, an individual's cultural values and behavior will directly or indirectly conflict with their culture. This conflict must be recognized and dealt with in a specific cultural milieu.

Behavioral Factors

Behavioral factors are related to sexual attraction, sexual fantasy, and sexual behavior. The latter is that men could learn to become sexually aroused without erotic stimuli. Men who experience rejection in a relationship were likelier to rate stimuli from pictures of women's garments and body parts. It also shows that condition and learning are responsible for forming fetishes. It means people can learn to be aroused by certain objects or body parts through a reward system, such as ejaculation, physical closeness, or money.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

This theory indicates that some fetish behaviors occur during a person's early childhood development. Stoller (2018) explained that people might become sexually aroused by objects or body parts that remind them of their childhood. This concept is derived from objects relations theory related to paranoid distortion of early parental images. The child transforms the symbolic relationship with the genital phallus and the early relation with the mother. Psychoanalytic theory is based on early childhood development, especially for men with what they see or experience.

Aetiological Factor

Sexual instinct is powerfully driven by inflexible emotions that arise deep within the ancient parts of the brain, including innate releasing mechanisms and imprinting. Instincts and hormones appear to set the stage for sexual responding and learning changes. This theory states that hormones and emotions drive people to imprint their arousal on certain objects. These hormones and emotions allow them to respond to certain stimuli sexually, hence developing fetish behaviors.

Biological Factor

Biological issues are risk factors for paraphilias, including differences in brain activity during sexual arousal and general brain structure. Mental health professionals have found that male pedophiles have lower IQ scores on psychological testing compared to men who are not pedophiles. Research has also determined that they tend to earn lower grades than their non-pedophilic counterparts, regardless of intellectual abilities and learning styles. It shows that Family risks for paraphilia development include high conflict between parents or low parental supervision, a lack of affection from the mother, and generally not feeling treated well by their parents. People with paraphilia tend to have trouble making and keeping friends and other relationships.

Dominance Factor

Submission and domination are a power play for some couples. Feet are just one part of that structure. If your partner has a foot fetish, they may want you to treat them like a human footrest. They find satisfaction in letting you have domination over them so they can worship at your feet. If you have a foot fetish, you may find it thrilling to kneel at your partner's feet, adore them, and diminish yourself for them. You may encourage them to put their feet all over your body, forcing you into a position of submission.

Conclusion

Fetishism or attraction to inanimate objects for sexual gratification is not rare. Although some of these theories don't state why people develop foot fetish, it's good when your partner opens up about their sexuality. You listen to them, encourage and try to make them feel comfortable and accepted in society. Be open to learning and discuss what you feel is okay with you. Most people develop fetish behaviors due to parental relations and culture.

References

Genner, S., & Süss, D. (2017). Socialization as a media effect. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1, 15.

Halwani, R. (2018). Sex and sexuality.

Higgins, J. A., & Smith, N. K. (2016). The sexual acceptability of contraception: reviewing the literature and building a new concept. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4-5), 417-456.

Stoller, R. J. (2018). Sexual excitement: dynamics of erotic life. Routledge.