Now for Something Completely Different

Today's installment will be a little at odds with the rest so far. The following is probably not for the eyes of children, either, so if you have any, tell them to go to bed, or something, and we'll begin.

There's no point in skirting the issue now I suppose. Today I'm going to talk to you about foot fetishes. Now, before you start, I'd like to state quite clearly that such fetish is not one of my personal sexual peccadilloes (I'm not too likely to go into detail about those, so don't reach for the sick bag just yet). Further, this is largely apropos of nothing. It's just always struck me as a decidely odd thing to be turned on by. Maybe that owes to the simple reason that my own feet look like they have been attacked with a claw hammer, but I digress.

It's interesting to note that such a sexual taste is more common than you might think. In this study carried out at the University of Bologna (http://www.nature.com/ijir/journal/v19/n4/abs/3901547a.html) it was found (by searching through roughly 400 internet fetish groups. Can you imagine) that feet were, by a reasonably clear distance, the most commonly fetishised body part. When this was extended to items such as footwear, the margin increased.

Having established that it is perhaps more than a small majority with such an interest, it still doesn't get to the heart of why people would sexualise feet, so let's examine some ideas as to why this might be so.

In researching this, I've read a few times that 'the foot's shape mimics the curve of a woman's body'. Firstly, I'm not sure it does really. I mean, looking at the sole of someone's foot, maybe, but generally I don't buy it. In any event, It seems that straight women can be foot fetishists, which rather throws a spanner in the works.

Some people also seem to suggest it has something to do with reflexology. Reflexology is a load of ascientific nonesense, so we'll scrap that too.

Neurology in the wider sense may well have a part to play, and I think it is in this that we find what I deem to be the most plausible explanation for what is at first so counter-intuitive (to me) a desire. The somatosensory cortex is the part of your brain which receives nervous inputs from all around your body, and lets you know, in very basic terms, when a part of you has been touched, or is hot etc. It is mapped out in a way that may at first seem a little strange (I'd click here http://www.alinenewton.com/images/homunculus.jpg and look at how it is mapped out before reading further).

You will note, if you followed the link, that the areas of the brain receiving input from the genitalia and the toes are sat right next to each other on the cortex. The theory would run that due to the proximity, some of us may simply be wired (quite literally) differently, and that the neural inputs from the feet and genitalia become intermingled or cross into the 'wrong' areas, and as such the sight of feet becomes arousing, as it gains a mental equivocation with genitalia, the sight of which is arousing (by and large!)

Of course, with something as complex as sexuality, this is not going to be the whole story. I'm not going to go into Freudian psychosexuality, as it's too nebulous and complex for me to really get into, but it's probably fair to say that theories that childhood experiences are likely to define future sexual tastes, and this developmental aspect should not be ignored, but as ever it's hard to pin down exactly what experiences during which period could trigger such desires later in life.

From googling around, it seems that such fetishes were first mentioned in literature roughly 800 years ago, and examining trends in the prevalence of mentions of such fetishes throughout history can be instructive. It has been noted that an increased interest in feet as sexual objects has been noted during peak epidemics of sexual disease throughout the centuries, specifically syphilis epidemics of the 16th and 19th centuries. I am extremely suspicious of this finding - whilst one could imagine that the rise in popularity of feet as sexual objects that has arisen during the AIDS pandemic of modern times makes sense (feet being 'safe' from a disease standpoint), the same cannot be said of syphilis. A known syphilitic symptom is the present of sores and rashes on the feet, so the argument that feet became 'saf'e' during these periods doesn't stack up - it's an interesting idea, however.

Even feminism has been implicated, the principle being that data seem to suggest that during periods of increased female emancipation interest in such fetishes rises. Perhaps it is possible that fetishising of less traditional parts of the female anatomy has increased when women have subverted and advanced beyond their traditional roles, but I can't really see any logical reason why this would be so.

Overall, it's hard to pin anything down definitvely. I like the neurological argument because it appeals to the logical side of mine. Of course, as stated previously, sexuality rarely makes that much sense. But we shouldn't demonise those who have tastes that we may see as a little beyond the pale - my overriding conclusion is that due to a myriad of factors, to a greater or lesser extent, such urges and desires arise in a manner that is not under one's conscious control.