What is Vore? Exploring the Meaning of This Curious Kink

Have you ever heard of vore, or – to give it its full name – vorarephilia? If so, do you know the difference between soft and hard vore? This month Molly advises one member who wants to fully understand her partner’s unusual fetish. Read on to discover more about vore...

Dear Molly, 
I’m in a poly, open relationship and recently met a new partner. We’re getting on really well and lots of our kinks align. However, he recently talked about having a vore fetish and asked if I was interested in getting involved with it. I said ‘maybe’, but the honest answer is I don’t feel like I have a full understanding of vore to be able to talk with him about it properly. Can you explain the definition of vore and tell me more about this kink?

Cherry
 

Dear Cherry,
How exciting to be on a new relationship adventure! It’s lovely when you meet someone and things seem to align so perfectly. However, it is worth noting that not all our desires and/or kinks have to fit together perfectly for a relationship to work. One of the joys of poly – and I'm sure that you're aware of this – is that you can explore different things with different partners; you don’t have to meet all your needs with one person. Having said that, though, let’s talk more about vore!

What is vore?

The term vore is short for vorarephilia. The definition of vore or vorarephilia is being aroused by the thought of being eaten or swallowed by (or eating or swallowing) another individual or creature. However, the truth is that vore is a lot more complex and nuanced than that.
 

Indeed, for some people it is not about doing the consuming or being consumed, but just about watching the act. It’s also not to be confused with cannibalism (which, as you will undoubtedly know, is a completely different and very rare fetish). 

There is limited research into vorarephilia but some studies seem to suggest that the origins of this kink are related to our formative relationships with the mouth and other orifices, specifically in relation to birth and breast feeding. However, as with much of human sexuality, the origins and drives of this kink are hugely complex. What is true for one voraphile will likely not be true for another. 

Open wide! Vore kink involves the idea of being eaten or swallowed (or eating another)
 

However, we do know that having a vore kink or fetish is not that uncommon. In fact, there are large vore communities on a number of sites such as Reddit, with lots of people out there creating vore-themed art. Indeed, that’s because a vore fetish is quite a visual and creative kink. 

Different types of vore

There are two main types of vore, which are commonly referred to as hard vore and soft vore. With regards to popularity in the kink community, soft vore is definitely the most common:
 

1. Soft vore

This type of vore largely involves being consumed whole, either by being swallowed or absorbed into the body through various orifices. Then, that person remains alive and inside the person or creature that has consumed them (but will eventually be expelled or unconsumed).

“What is vore? The term vore is actually short for vorarephilia. This is defined as being aroused by the thought of being eaten or swallowed by (or eating or swallowing) another individual or creature.”

This type of soft vore is actually a fairly common storyline in popular culture; think Jonah and The Whale and Little Red Riding Hood, for example. Clearly these stories are just fairytales, but when that type of narrative becomes sexually arousing, that is when it changes to become a fetish. 

Vore art is a popular fantasy Wikimedia Commons/Karbo and gamera1985

Soft vore often involves the person being consumed becoming frightened, but it does not tend to involve pain. Soft vore depictions often include bloated and stretched bellies, seeing inside the ‘eater’ to the victim trapped, lots of saliva or other bodily fluids, and often a focus on the mouth. However, it can also involve being absorbed through the vagina, penis and/or anus.

There is also a crossover with giantess fetish – also known as macrophila – a sexual fantasy that involves giants, usually women. This is largely a male kink where men become aroused by the idea of giant women enslaving them and sometimes even consuming them. 

2. Hard vore 

A hard vore fetish is much more violent and is more a predator and prey type scenario, where the person, once caught, is eaten alive by the predator. Hard vore definitely involves pain and suffering and, ultimately, the idea of death.
 

“Soft vore largely involves being consumed whole, either by being swallowed or absorbed into the body through various orifices. Then, that person remains alive and inside the person or creature that has consumed them.”

Depictions of hard vore often involve monstrous beasts eating humans. Again, this is not an uncommon storyline in popular culture; there are many stories of mythical creatures and beasts that eat humans or babies. Also, think movies like Jaws and Jurassic Park. 

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Vore art and porn

Clearly, having a vore fetish is not something you can really play out in real life. Having said that, there is some crossover with the furry community and role-playing aspects of vore, but mostly it’s a visual kink that's explored and enjoyed through art and porn. 

Hungry for vore? Wikimedia Commons/Joao Matsunaga

In fact, there is an increasing amount of CGI 3D porn being produced that explores various fantasy-type fetishes such as vore but also tentacle, monster and furry kinks. There are also lots of artists creating vore art that tends to have a cartoon-like feel to it and – having mentioned that – there are also cartoons featuring vore storylines.

Understanding your partner's vore kink

As with all kinks and fetishes, we can look at the general overview of how they tend to work for people, but how that translates on an individual basis will be unique to that person. Having an understanding of vore is definitely the place to start, so hopefully this article will have given you a good basis to begin from, so that you can be provide an open-minded and judgement-free space for your partner to talk more about their particular kink and how it works for them. 

Understandably, many people are secretive about having a vore kink as this fetish has largely been misunderstood. Indeed, those with a vore fetish are often reluctant to share their kink – apart from with other vore-lovers – so the fact your partner has mentioned it to you makes me think that he feels safe, comfortable and trusts you, which is lovely. 

I hope that you can lean into this with him and discover more about how his vore kink works for him. Even if ultimately it’s not a kink for you, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some aspect of it with him. The key – as always – is good communication and a willingness to learn and explore.

Good luck!
Molly x
 

What are your thoughts about vore fetish? Share your ideas with the community below… For tips and advice, contact Molly via her Fetish.com profile or visit her thread in the BDSM Forum. 
 

 
Main image via lovense