Fetish, Fetishist: - Fetish is a term used to describe a specific area of interest; likewise a fetishist is one participates in those fetishes. There are probably a hundred or more activities which can be described as fetishes, but a representative example are those involving rubber, latex, PVC or leather. In anthropology, a fetish is an object to which powers are attributed that go beyond its natural ones; when the term is extended to sexuality, it indicates an object not naturally connected with sexual reproduction that nonetheless causes sexual arousal for some people. As Freud puts it, the fetish bears some relation to the normal sexual object but is entirely unsuited to serve the normal sexual aim (by which, of course, he means the reproductive aim). The best known object fetishes are for items of clothing, especially those made out of particular materials like fur, leather and rubber, and boots and shoes. However, if the notion of a fetish is extended to include activities, then SM, which consists almost entirely of activities unsuited to serve the normal sexual aim, appears as one big fetish.
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