What is foot fetish?

Foot fetish, or podophilia (yeah, you want to make sure you spell and pronounce that one carefully!), is the erotic preoccupation with a specific body part – the feet. It can take on many variations depending on the

Photo credit: HeelsandFeet – Source – CC License

fetishist. Some people that are into foot fetish love anything foot related, while others have very specific desires. Some love the feet themselves (the size, shape, and smell), while others love to see those feet adorned with jewelry or footwear.

Some activities that fall under the foot fetish banner include:

• Suckling, sucking, and licking of the toes and foot

• Smelling

• Pampering, pedicures, cleaning etc.

• Massaging

• Tickling

• Looking at feet

• ‘Footjobs’ or other sexual activities with the foot

Foot fetish can also extend into using a foot as an insertable sex ‘toy’, or some people might be turned on by the idea of urinating or ejaculating on a foot.

Believe it or not, the first surviving mention of foot fetishism is from 1221 (a text written by a Franciscan monk apparently describes it as a way to combat sexually transmitted infections), though it has no doubt been practised for millennia in one way or another.

Historically there seems to be a marked increase of foot fetishism every time there is an outbreak of STI’s, which throughout history have ravaged populations because there were no effective treatments or preventative measures.  During those times it was apparently felt that this activity was considered a safe alternative to sex, since it was not genital-to-genital sex. Foot fetish also makes appearances in historical art, such as in works painted during an outbreak of syphilis in the 1500’s. During that time artists would often paint portraits of ladies feet showing a little naughty ‘toe cleavage’ popping out.

Photo credit: Kissra Lynnkay – Source – CC License

While no one knows definitively why people might tend to fetishize feet, one leading theory (put forth by neurologist V.S. Ramachandran and science writer S. Blakeslee) is that the portions of the brain that address feet and genitals are close together, which might result in some sort of neurological ‘crosstalk’.

At the time of this writing, more than 2,600 kinksters on FetLife identify as having a foot fetish.