A Woman can not be a true fetishist? pffft

[King Mob]

Thinks back to her degree in neurobiology and wonders if female fetishism is linked to higher levels of testosterone present during neural development?

On a more general note...

The true definition of a fetish is that you can ONLY be aroused by the object of that fetish, and are therefore not able to reach sexual climax without exposure to the fetish related stimuli. Obviously this is not 100% true and there are varying degrees of sexual need with regards to fetish stimuli. However, if I was to make a sweeping comment about this with (based on the 10 years I've been kicking around the varying forums) it is much more likely that you will read a post by a male sneeze fetishist that they cannot reach climax without sneezing than one by a female fetishist.

Plus... on a research related note... the conclusions you draw are only as good as the analysis of the data that they are based upon :-)

Ah, you beat me to this point. Well said.

[elements]

Actually quite interesting...

Following question comes to my mind :

do female fetishists have 'male' brains ?

I mean, would the female fetishists on here be better in 'male' things like maths, reading maps, orientation, ... than the 'average' woman ?

In my case it is true...

C

i am TERRRRRRRRIBLE at Math..in fact having trouble passing college just because of it...im an eng major for a reason! haha

[count tiszula]

I wonder if this idea originates from the original meaning of "fetish", ie an inanimate object that replaces the connection of sex and a person; I seem to remember reading somewhere that this was the case; so that a person might replace attraction to another person entirely with an attraction to shoes or whatever. Males would be seen as the instigators of sexual behaviour, thus the only people this could apply to.

And here is a confession; before I came here, I assumed that only men were sneeze fans! I suppose because I'd never seen a girl inducing...

[chui]

And here is a confession; before I came here, I assumed that only men were sneeze fans! I suppose because I'd never seen a girl inducing...

we've fixed that for you, haven't we

[SwaimFan]

I was reading up on some scientific study of sexual fetishism the other day and APPARENTLY the general consensus among scientist is that a woman cannot be a true fetishist. "Fetishes are virtually entirely a male domain" ,"few if any women can relate to enjoying anything similar", "The female brain is typically not hardwired to allow true fetishism to develop "

Honestly, i laughed out loud when i read this. What a load of crap! haha

That study is SO sexist. I have ALWAYS loved a big, powerful sneeze, especially from big, powerful men. I guess people like me don't exist according to the so-called "scientific" community. I guess these supposed fetish specialists neglected a HUGE swathe of the fetish community in their study.

[Demosthenes]

The way I see it, everyone has a fetish. Because the nature of everyone's sexuality is unique, you could say that everyone is a part of a unique fetish with one member: you. For many people, their sexual interests overlap (e.g. many men -> female mammary glands; us -> sneezing, etc...), and in this way we relate our sexuality to others and establish in our heads social norms.

Maybe as far as the article goes- I would say that men may be more apt to talk about having a fetish because of the traditional "society" views that women have no or few needs and that if a woman does show her needs, she must be a "whore."

I don't know about that either. If we're going to base a census of fetishdom on who's more apt to talk about their fetish, doesn't it seem like there are even more women with a sneezing fetish than men?

I don't really believe that sexual fetishes are a male trait and that women who have them probably possess other male traits. I find a much more interesting parallel that arose out of one of the other polls to be, that the majority of fetishists seem to be either the oldest child or only child. And for those women who are in career fields mostly dominated by men, is it not entirely unreasonable to conjecture that being the oldest or only child had at least some influence on what you expected to do in life? I'm not implying there was any intentional pressure for you to assume such gender roles, but maybe some subconscious influence.

When it comes to polling or such, I'd feel inclined to think that there are obvious cultural reasons to why many women, if they can, would like to refer to themselves as "having a male brain" or being male on the inside or whatever - because the implications are that they're good at math and have real careers like men do and are assertive and cool and aren't interested i stupid girly things like clothes and make-up.

That's certainly true.

And here is a confession; before I came here, I assumed that only men were sneeze fans! I suppose because I'd never seen a girl inducing...

Heh... That's a conception I never had. Because from the very beginning when I first came to understand what a fetish was I knew women fetishists. In fact my first introduction to what the sneezing fetish really was, the "Diary of a Sneeze Fetishist" webpage, was written by a woman.

[The Mute Poet]

I find a much more interesting parallel that arose out of one of the other polls to be, that the majority of fetishists seem to be either the oldest child or only child. And for those women who are in career fields mostly dominated by men, is it not entirely unreasonable to conjecture that being the oldest or only child had at least some influence on what you expected to do in life? I'm not implying there was any intentional pressure for you to assume such gender roles, but maybe some subconscious influence.

Classic Alfred Adler right here. Studies have been done to confirm his theories of development in relation to birth order and apparently it was discovered that fisrtborn children at least (the jury is still out on only children, but it's seeming more and more like they as well) are surprisingly overrepresented among high level academics, politicians and other professionals. The main gist of his theory being that firstborns and onlys have unique exposure to far more "adult language" stimulation than their later-born counterparts, and firstborns also having the chance to solidify their knowledge in the form of instructing their younger siblings.

[March Hare]

This whole theory of fetishism being an exclusively male thing is based on one thing: the Freudian definition of fetishism.

I can't remember exactly how it goes, but apparently it has something to do with men being confused about women not having penises and their seeking some sort of artificial penis-substitute in women's appearance (i.e. shoes or feet) which they can focus on sexually.

That is all, really. As far as I know. FREUD.

[Meowcat]

Actually quite interesting...

Following question comes to my mind :

do female fetishists have 'male' brains ?

I mean, would the female fetishists on here be better in 'male' things like maths, reading maps, orientation, ... than the 'average' woman ?

In my case it is true...

C

Interesting question..

I was really good at math up to a point, but I began failing it sophomore year (of highschool) when I took trig

I am terrible at reading maps though XD

but I am bisexual, leaning more towards gay. Obviously that doesn't mean I have a man brain.. when I was little, though, I hated being a girl

Anyway, this research is such BS!! I'd like to slap whoever wrote that across the face

[resolution]

Who did this test? They must not have found true fetishists then. I am also definatly more masculine than I am feminine. I look very female and am all the way around by I'm more interested in dinosaurs, heavy metal, and cars than I am modeling, cute fluffy things, and hair extensions.

I think Heavy Metal is gender neutral.

you are not wrong about the stigma surrounding female sexuality, and it may be that at some point in the future where openness exists you could a) conduct qualitative research with both genders to determine how the experience of fetishes differs by gender

Personally I'd say this is the bottom line of the issue.

Also when speaking about the sexes we should speak of tendencies rather than rules, although there are even people that get upset by that.

Mod Note: Merged posts ~Mute