The Often Secret World of Fetishism

            Fetishism is a sexual disorder that is in the category of paraphilias. It is recognized by the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Fetishism is when a person receives sexual excitement and/or gratification through inanimate objects and/or body parts (Wood, Wood, Boyd, Wood & Desmarais, 2011). Common fetishized objects include undergarments, tights, shoes, and feet (psychologytoday.com, 2005). A person with fetishism may only be able to get aroused or achieve orgasm through that object by groping, smelling, looking at and/or tasting it (psychologytoday.com, 2005). They may masturbate while in contact with the object, ask a partner to wear it during intercourse or foreplay, or if it is a body part they might touch, rub, and/or look at it during arousal, foreplay or intercourse (psychologytoday.com, 2005). There are two kinds of fetishes: Form fetishes and Media fetishes (Sinclair Intimacy Institute, 2002). Form fetishes place importance on the shape, size, or weight of the object, such as the size of someone's feet (Sinclair Intimacy Institute, 2002). A media fetish focuses on the feeling and texture of the object, for example, whether a pair of underwear is cotton or silk (Sinclair Intimacy Institute, 2002). This essay will discuss the statistics, symptoms, causes, and treatments for fetishism. .
             According to the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), fetishism is not considered a disorder unless they are incapable of being aroused without use of the object/body part (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In order to be diagnosed, one must also be dealing with personal distress from the fetish (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) that is not only due to social judgements, norms, or obligations (hypersexualdisorders.com, 2013). Those who are diagnosed with fetishistic disorder may also experience other symptoms such as the fetish having a negative impact on their social life, reputation, occupation, or other fundamental areas in their life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), or the fetish causes harm or danger to others (hypersexualdisorders.