What is the science behind fetishes?

[Deleted Member]

I had a pretty normal childhood with the typical spankings, scolding. Since I have a disability I don't have control over, being a Dom is one of the ways I can have control in my life

[Qu****]

Queen. C. Well i didn't have a. Normal childhood. But i didn't have many traumas or things i. Didn't cause .. I
was a very,very curious. Person that's what got. Me in trouble. I say. Life is what you make it so what fetishes you have you may have had all along it wasv just sleep. Until you wake. It up........

[Deleted Member]

Hmmm, mine started young. So I guess you can say I was born with it. It can be something you saw that made you feel a certain way, that nothing else could achieve. Then you know, you have a kink.

[Th****]

Idk, but I remember the first time I saw this hustler centerfold of a girl squirting, and that was life changing. So idk

[ey****]

Science doesn't entirely agree on fetishes

Part of the reason is you can have two people in a similar situation who do not have the same fetish 

In some cases, there are a few patterns - but it's not repeatable 

So, for example - school-based fetishes are often common because this is where people go through puberty for the first time.

Older people into corporal punishment may be through a regression of a time when the cane was the only thing to *** - and now, there's the whole world plus own mortality 

Some people in positions of authority at work sometimes have to be unfair and demanding and not always like it - so themselves seek out 'submissive' experiences which centre around others being unfair or demanding towards them

there hasn't in general been sufficient research into, for example, why some people do and some people don't develop specific fetishes 

[wi****]

Honestly, Idk, but I think it's just how people are hardwired. I heard someone say it's down to personality, but I disagree entirely; I think it's how certain experiences mold us like the first time is important suff like that

[Se****]

I have no idea why I have my fetish, but that's what turns me on. It'd be good if we could choose our fetish because this one is tricky to find other people to do it with. I'm glad that it is what it is though, and not something illegal!!!

[An****]

Depends what kind of fetish. BDSM type fetishes usually originate in childhood, often based on the individual's relationships with (and between) their parents. Foot fetishes occur because the part of the brain that deals with sex & genitals is right next to the part of the brain that deals with feet, and sometimes neural pathways form which "cross those wires". Exhibitionism and voyeurism tend to stem from early experiences in which secrecy or nudity was linked to excitement or shame.

[th****]

Science is a difficult word to use on it. From a neurological stance, very similar parts of the brain are activated by sex and ***. Since the brain seeks efficient pathways, there's going to be overlap, and the more repetition, the stronger the link. Psychology is a bit more art than science imo given the large varience person to person, but there's strong evidence to indicate trauma as a source for kink/fetish. The common thread of *** in both disciplines shows a strong relationship. Ultimately, since tendencies toward *** can be nature, nurture, or both, it's reasonable to theorize the same of kink/fetish. As there are specific interests within both overall categories, both genetic proclivity and significant life events could be the source.

[ey****]

2 hours ago, Anarchoholic said:

Foot fetishes occur because the part of the brain that deals with sex & genitals is right next to the part of the brain that deals with feet, and sometimes neural pathways form which "cross those wires".

Folk often parrot this without a kinda full understanding

This is not where foot fetishes come from.  This is why foot massage and/or worship sometimes feels good for the person *receiving* it (and why for others it's not that special) 

This is kinda why there's a lot of women (and men...) really get into having their feet touched etc. after a partner tries it with them, and why there's others don't get the appeal.     But the reason why some people have fetishes (i.e. are attracted to feet) is not linked to neuro.  

Like everything fetish - insufficient research and a lot of stuff isn't repeatable - however, foot fetish, particularly via worship, is something we would be subject to a lot imagery of growing up; from assorted cartoon tropes and it been one of the most talked about and widely available kind of fetish 

 

[Do****]

That sounds as if you are trying to say the way you got your fetish is the only way. No, I'd say do your research. Everyone brain is wired differently, but wired none the less. Think about it, when you were watching your cartoons as a kid and seen feet, it gave you pleasure, or the idea anyways, that ohh I like that. Your brain made a connection: feet = pleasure. Wires crossed.

[ey****]

the sensations which give people heightened arousal while being worshipped *is* literally down to neuro crossover - that is one of the few things there is supporting evidence for.

anything else where people have fetish due to seeing things or smells, or materials, or activities, etc. there is no firm pattern to why some people have those fetishes and why some do not - there is assorted hypothesis but, for example, while it's suggested school fetishes are common because it's where people first go through puberty - like, everyone who ever went to school does not have a school based fetish.  While some have linked their fetishes to trauma; others have the same fetishes without trauma and some have had the same trauma but not the same fetishes

This is one of the deep issues that science doesn't know where fetishes come from. 

To do actual research, mind, you'd need a large study group of minors and expose some to different situations growing up to see which develop which fetishes - you can kinda see why no one has actually done sufficient research. 

The alternative, of course, would be to take a large study group of adults and quiz them extensively on their past, which would also need to include some without fetishes.  Sigmund Freud attempted this; but of course other  psychoanalysts ended up distancing themselves from him and his studies - and of course a lot of his work was lost.  

But generally; a lot of fetishes are explained by classical conditioning and there are experiments (with adults) which back this up; however the problem with conditioning is it doesn't result in the fetishes for most people - so science doesn't actually know why it happens in some people and not others.

This *is* something I have studied; anyone who says where someone else (or where they) got fetishes from is simply drawing hypothesis.  It's guesswork. None of us *actually* know.  

Or; if we do - there's a science paper we need to write cos we'll be on for a high award from science groups  

[ve****]

There isn’t any