Fetishism Exposed

9, vol 108 -- July 3, 2001
Taking the whip out of the closet
By Lisa Caines,The Ontarion, University of Guelph

It's considered a taboo topic amongst many, but most of us have one. That guy with the sideburns in your psych lecture has one, and that woman in the red sweater in the corner of the coffee shop also has one. Chances are you have one too.

"Everyone has a fetish," says George Giaoris of Northbound Leather, a Toronto store that sells dominatrix gear and other kinky accessories.

Although common fetishes include leather, vinyl, latex or rubber clothing, high-heeled footwear or boots, fetishes are often as individual as the person, and can include anything from medieval corsets to hair dryers.

"A fetish, in a sexual context, is basically something that arouses like nothing else," says Giaoris. He says it is something that will sexually arouse a person every time he/she is exposed to the stimulus. Fetishes are usually discovered during puberty or early sexual encounters, and a person will gradually learn to associate a certain object with sexual arousal.

Giaoris says fetishes are largely about challenging the status quo. "Anything that is considered taboo seems to have an attraction because whenever you tell somebody 'Don't go there,' they stand up and say 'Why not? Why can't I go there?' You're always drawn to what you're told you can't have."

But fetishes are more than kinky playtime in the bedroom. "It's a way that you deal with and conquer your fears," says Giaoris, who says it's not uncommon for gays or Jewish people to have a Nazi fetish, or for people of colour to enact scenes of slavery. "It's all about exploring aspects of the psyche that generally remain untouched."

If fetishes allow individuals to deal with emotional issues, then the increasing prominence of the fetish 'scene' is allowing more individuals to explore these issues in the distinct fetish environment. Stores that cater to kinks are increasing in number, Web sites devoted to fetishes dominate the net, and fetish bars - like Vancouver's newly-opened leather bar called Pump Jack - are providing a stark contrast to your typical Saturday night top-40 fest.

Velvet Steel works for the ody Perve Social Club, an eight-year-old Vancouver organisation that coordinates monthly fetish parties. He says the increasing visibility of the Vancouver fetish scene has meant that "[there's] more of a visual aid for those who are not sure about what their interests are... people are seeing it as open doors to expand on their sexuality - expand on what their sexuality could be, or is, or means to them."

Velvet Steel deliberately avoids using the term 'mainstream' when describing the new, public fetish culture. However, he recognises that events such as the fetish nights hosted by Body Perve are perhaps just a starting point for some who might want to explore the fetish scene more intimately.

"Within [the fetish nights], we also try to provide as much information as possible on other groups and organisations out there. [We] term ourselves as an umbrella group - for those who want to go a little more extreme, or a little more subcultured or underground in terms of the S&M portion of it. We try to keep it light and fun and frothy at that point in time, but still keep our rules very stringent in terms of the dress code."

The dress code imposed at Body Perve nights includes a ban on jeans, street wear, and day suits, while leather, latex, lingerie, slave attire, maid attire, and military gear will all allow you to get through the doors.

Perhaps in response to the amount of newcomers entering the fetish scene, Toronto's Giaoris suggests that in the last 10 years, catchwords such as 'safe,' 'sane,' and 'consensual' have developed.

'Safe' sex practices include using condoms, latex gloves, and water-based lubricants. 'Sane' means that no drugs or alcohol are used - everyone is in full control of his/her facilities. And 'consensual,' means that nothing is entered into without being fully agreed to in advance. "If you have a scene that you're entering into, it might involve verbal abuse and heavy humiliation - it may shock an onlooker to [see someone] getting berated and humiliated, yet that's what that person requires to get off, and it was discussed beforehand."

Giaoris says participants often gauge consent by using 'safe words,' which are usually the colours of a traffic light. Green means your partner likes what you're doing and wants you to do more of it. Yellow means your partner likes what you're doing but wants you to slow down. And red means your partner wants you to stop immediately, and shift into what Giaoris calls "nurture mode."

Although Giaoris believes fetishes should be explored and celebrated, Keith Dobson, director of the clinical psychology department at the University of Calgary, recognises that the psychology community does not always feel the same way.

"There actually is a mental disorder called fetishism," says Dobson. "Fetishes are in a group of disorders that we call 'paraphelias,' meaning a person has an unusual sexual excitement or sexual attraction to various stimuli."

Dobson says there is treatment for people with fetishism, however it is often unsuccessful because there isn't a lot of motivation to be 'cured.'

"In its extreme form, it certainly can be problematic. Certainly from a civil rights perspective, if a fetish involves things like sadism, for example, then that has other implications," Dobson says. "But unless [the fetish] is causing concern, why bother [treating it]?"

A recent fetish fashion celebration at The Docks, a popular Toronto nightclub, shows the growing popularity of a more 'mainstream' fetish culture. Giaoris was one of the main organisers of the show, which was the largest fetish party of its kind to hit the Canadian circuit. It packed approximately 2,800 people from all over the world, including Amsterdam, Sydney and London.

"People have a predisposition to a certain kind of aesthetic of behavior. They go to the larger fetish parties that are open to the public, sometimes looking for a like-minded individual to play with, or to form a relationship with."

One of the most influential factors in prompting the organisation of large-scale fetish parties, and interest in the fetish scene in general, has been the Internet.

"The Internet gives you an obvious contact point," says Jay, a Vancouver fetish party enthusiast. "It gives a lot more people a lot more opportunity. For the people who were interested in getting involved in the S&M scene [15 or 20 years ago], the only contact point they might have had would be to buy a sex magazine and look up the phone number of a pro-dom... or maybe through the personals in a porn magazine. Now there's a million S&M chat groups on the Net, so the crowd in the S&M scene has gotten a lot more diverse."

While the Internet has undoubtedly attracted many curious, yet not necessarily dedicated people to explore various fetish environments, Jay says it has also fostered a certain Internet fetish culture of its own.

"You can always tell the Internet people when you show up at a party because they tend to cloister together," he says. "They become a pretty tight group, because they socialise together a lot on the Net."

Jay also insists that despite some of the club-sponsored fetish parties that have risen in popularity over the last few years, there remains a need for a strong underground fetish scene.

"I guess there's [still] a certain amount of harassment by the powers that be," he says. "So if you want to have an S&M play party, where the players that are coming are fairly experienced and intense in what they're doing - I think that if the police were allowed to know where those parties were happening, and if they were to raid those parties, then people might get charged for what they're doing. Even though what is essentially happening is between consenting adults."

So while it may appear as though fetishism is inching its way into the mainstream, several boundaries remains to be broken before society irons out out all of its kinks with fetishes.

Canadian University Press

Some interesting perspectives on fetish in this article. It's eight years old, but still has some good points.