From the harmless to the weird, the disgusting to the terrifying, there are hundreds of fetishes out there. Here are a few for your reading pleasure.
Our brains are funny things, and there’s no greater proof of that than the seemingly endless list of fetishes that exist in the world. The lines are blurry between what exactly is a fetish, and what is just a bit of kink. Sometimes, the same thing can be either. Generally a fetish is more all-consuming. While someone who likes spanking now and then would be considered kinky, someone who can’t get off without it is in full-blown fetish mode.
Nobody is really sure why people have fetishes, but most of the speculation says that it is a result of old childhood memories or experiences that our brains have counter-intuitively come to associate with pleasure. Fetishes can be about feelings, like pain or tickling, or emotions like humiliation. They can be about domination or submission, clothing, objects, situations, tastes, smells… anything really. Where most people feel indifference, discomfort, pain or disgust, fetishists have their wires crossed somewhere, and their brain reads those inputs as pleasure.
The common fetishes
There are certainly some fetishes that are truly repulsive, dangerous, immoral or illegal. But most are harmless, no matter how weird. As long as they are practiced by consenting adults, do no long-term harm, and don’t involve animals or children, then they’re most likely okay. So with that in mind, here it is: the 11 most common fetishes, and 5 crazy, weird ones that actually exist.
#1 Hot for trotters. A foot fetish is probably the best known fetish. It is usually men who have this one, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. They just can’t get enough feet. This is a pretty minor one that doesn’t make finding a date too hard: it actually feels great having your toes sucked. A related, but separate, fetish involves women’s shoes, either with a foot inside or not.
#2 Spanky. Another well-known fetish is spanking. Men and women can both have this, and it can involve wanting to spank or be spanked. There are elements of pain and humiliation in it, as well as domination or submission. A little spanking during sex can be lots of fun, but fetishists are actually bending someone over their knee like a naughty child. [Read: 15 dirty ways to have the sexiest rough sex ever]
#3 Goo-goo-ga-ga. A very strange fetish, but one that is actually quite common, is infantilism or adult babies. Men who have this fetish essentially role play as a baby, with their partner acting as their mother or nanny. It can involve baby gibberish, bottles, pacifiers, cribs, and most commonly, wearing diapers. It must be hard for men to bring this one up with a new girlfriend.
#4 I spy… Voyeurism is enjoying spying on someone, usually either having sex or playing with themselves. It can be through a cracked door, through a window or via hidden camera. Consenting adults can set this up as a role playing game, but some people take it to a disgusting and even illegal peeping tom level. The idea of the hidden toilet cam gives most women nightmares. Ewww! [Read: Sexual voyeurism and the thrill it gives]
#5 Tight fit. Lots of people get off on tight fitting rubber, latex or leather suits. They may enjoy wearing it themselves or having their partner do so. It can be the look that does it for them, or the feel, smell and even taste. If you ever meet a guy who’s really into Catwoman, now you know why.
#6 Cute and cuddly. “Furries” are men or women who are attracted to humans with animal qualities. They are not zoophiles, the despicable people who rape animals. They just dress up in furry animal suits and have fuzzy sex with each other. Strange? Yes, but to each their own.
#7 Welcome to the dungeon. BDSM or Bondage, Domination and submission, Sadism and Masochism is about power dynamics, and often pain. This is pretty common, and there’s a good chance you’ve dabbled in some minor stuff. Yes, those fuzzy pink handcuffs count! Hardcore devotees go all in for full on sex dungeons, much like the one in “50 Shades of Grey.” Yikes!
#8 Don’t pop it. Some people have a balloon fetish. Yes, they literally just like to have sex around balloons. The look, feel, smell and maybe even the sound of balloons just does it for them. Harmless enough, but you might not want to invite them to your kid’s birthday party.
#9 Tickle your fancy. Tickling fetishes, yes, they’re a thing. You know that terribly uncomfortable feeling of being tickled? Some people just love being tickled or inducing the tickles with feathers, silks or even just bare hands.
#10 Have you met my wife? Some men just want to see another guy sleep with their wife. This one is known as a cuckolding fetish, and often involves added humiliation from the wife and her lover telling him how inadequate he is, as he watches from the sidelines. One man’s worst nightmare is another man’s fetish. [Read: How to start swinging with your partner]
#11 Water sports. Peeing, watching someone pee, peeing on them, being peed on, peeing your pants, there’s way more to urine fetishes than just golden showers. It can be the humiliation, smell, feel, and even the taste that turns the fetishist on! An embarrassing accident to most, a huge turn on to a select few.
Pretty weird huh? Well it’s about to get next level strange!
5 crazy fetishes you wouldn’t believe
If you thought the 11 common fetishes are weird enough, wait until you read the rest of the list. Here are some fetishes, from the amusing, to the disgusting, to the painful to the completely unfathomable.
#1 Hybristophilia. We’ve all known women who are attracted to badboy types, but ladies with this fetish take it to another level. They are attracted to dangerous, hardened criminals, often those whose crimes and trials received media coverage. Believe it or not, serial killers actually get racy fan mail from these types.
#2 A kick in the nuts. There are men who literally want their woman to be a ball buster. Yes, they get off on the pain of being kicked in the testicles. Some go beyond kicks, with slapping, squeezing and even tightening in a vice. For most guys, it hurts even thinking about it.
#3 Acrotomophilia. Another strange scientific name for another downright weird fetish: the love of amputees. Yes, there are people who just want a lover with a missing limb or two. What would make someone have a fetish for this? We’re stumped.
#4 Blood in the water. First off, it must be said that there’s nothing wrong with having sex while a woman is on her period. Most people, however, try not to think about the blood. For a select few fetishists though, the blood is the point. They are turned on by the feel, sight, smell, even the taste of blood, whether from a woman’s period or another source. Ewwww. Just ewwww. [Read: The ultimate guide to period sex]
#5 Flesh feast. Cannibalism may be the epitome of horrifying fetishes. For many, it’s just a fantasy, though an extremely gross fantasy, but others take it beyond that. We’ll spare you the revolting details, but if you have a strong stomach you can Google the Rotenburg cannibal.
The brief version: in 2001, two men met on an online cannibal fetish forum, and agreed to have a consensual round of one of them cutting up and eating the other. We challenge you to find a more horrifying sexual fetish than that one. Wow!
[Read: Other fetishes you may want to read about]
From the innocent and fun, to the horrifying and illegal, fetishes come in hundreds of flavors. Do you have a fetish? Or have you ever come across a lover with an odd fetish of their own?
