Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

PSYCHOLOGY OF SEXhair henceforth becomes an almost indispensable fetichto him; a youth is lying on the floor when a charming girlplayfully places her foot on him, continuing to play withhim thus until sexual excitement occurs, and he becomesa lifelong foot-fetichist.Such fetichisms are, in a slight degree, entirely normal.Every lover becomes speciallyattracted to some individualfeature of the beloved or to some of the various articlesthat come in contact with her. But this tendency becomesabnormal when it is exclusive or generalized, and it becomesa definite deviation when the fetich itself, even inthe absence of the person, becomes completely adequatenot only to arouse tumescence, but to evoke detumescence,so that there is no desire at all for sexual intercourse.In milder though definitely abnormal cases, the subjecthimself devises the appropriate treatment by taking carethat his fetich is set, as it were, in the ante-chamber tocourtship, so that it shall not cause any arrest or deviationof the emotions it arouses. In more serious cases the fetichistoften derives so much gratification from his perversion,and finds this gratificationso easy, that he has no wish tobecome normal. In some cases fetichism leads to variousanti-social offences, especiallyto the theft of the desiredfetich, such as shoes, handkerchiefs, or wearing apparel.Without leading to criminal actions it may prove annoyingfrom the undue sexual excitement caused, as in thecase of a young woman for whom eyeglasses or spectacleswere a fetich, and who experienced excitement whenevershe saw them worn, even by a woman. In such cases hypnotismwas formerly resorted to, sometimes with success.There are certain forms of erotic fetichism which areapt to be complicated in their psychological bearings.This isnotably the case as regards foot-fetichism, which,