Sexual fetishism

Sexual fetishism, first described as such by Alfred Binet in his Le fétichisme dans l?amour, though the concept and certainly the activity is quite ancient, is a form of paraphilia where the object of affection is a specific inanimate object or part of a person's body. The term arose from fetishism, the general concept of an object having supernatural powers, or an object created by humans that has power over other humans. Karl Marx also used the term, but in a quite separate way.

Freud's early theories

As Sigmund Freud described it later, sexual fetishes in men are the result of childhood trauma regarding castration anxiety. According to this theory, a boy curious to see his mother's penis averts his eyes in horror when he discovers his mother has no penis. The inanimate object on which the boy focuses when he averts his eyes becomes the fetishized object. Later in life, the fetishized object must be present in order for the man to complete orgasm. Within this framework, men are capable of having sexual fetishes, while women are incapable—something which makes this a falsifiable theory. This is a point of contention for feminists analyzing Freud's work, who point out that the observed fetishistic behavior in many women makes Freud's theory untenable.

Related Topics:
Sigmund Freud - Childhood - Trauma - Castration anxiety - Mother - Penis - Orgasm - Falsifiable - Feminist

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Despite such flaws that may make it unpalatable at the present, the theory was taken seriously when conceived.

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