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Some researchers have hypothesized that foot fetishism increases as a response to epidemics of sexually transmitted diseases. In one study, conducted by Dr. A James Giannini at Ohio State University[9] an increased interest in feet as sexual objects was observed during the great gonorrhea epidemic of twelfth century Europe, and the syphilis epidemics of the 16th and 19th centuries in Europe. In the same study, the frequency of foot-fetish depictions in pornographic literature was measured over a 30 year interval. An exponential increase was noted during the period of the current AIDS epidemic. In these cases, sexual foot play was viewed as a safe-sex alternative. However, the researchers noted that these epidemics overlapped periods of relative female emancipation.[10] Sexual focus on female feet was also hypothesized to have been a reflection of a more dominant posture of the woman in sexual-social relations. (The first surviving mention of foot fetish is by Bertold of Regensburg in 1220.)[11]

Neurologist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran proposed that foot fetishism is caused by the feet and the genitals occupying adjacent areas of the somatosensory cortex, possibly entailing some neural crosstalk between the two.[12]

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ORIGINAL: DeviantlyD

Oh wow...it's been years since I've seen that pic!

But your explanation of foot fetishes makes me wonder how you would explain balloon fetishists. ;)

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Like many paraphilias, the origins of a balloon fetish are complex and vary between individuals, but may be explained as a form of sexual imprinting. Many "looners" attribute their fetish to early sexual or pre-sexual experiences with balloons, often involving their being burst by members of the desirable sex[6]. These experiences frequently accompany or instigate a phobia of balloons in the individual, most often associated with the sudden loud noise when they burst, a form of ligyrophobia. Psychologists recognize a deep link between phobia and fetishism[10], but this link is not completely understood.

Depending on the extent to which this phobia persists through and after puberty, balloon fetishists may regard balloons bursting as either essential to the sexual experience (and frequently refer to themselves as poppers), or to be avoided at all costs (as non-poppers). Even those who are not phobic of the act of a balloon popping may prefer not to pop due to an anthropomorphized emotional attachment to the balloon. One hallmark of the distinction between poppers and non-poppers may be in seeing balloons' bursting either as a metaphor for orgasm, or as a metaphor for death.[citation needed]

That popping balloons is central to several popular party games suggests that enjoyment of the act, the challenge, and the anticipation of popping is not confined to fetishists. However, for fetishists the adrenaline rush associated with the "danger" that a balloon will pop produces a sexual response. This helps to explain why even non-poppers who have an intense phobia of balloons popping in non-sexual contexts may be aroused by the possibility within safe sexual contexts. It may even suggest that balloon fetish, for poppers and non-poppers alike, is part of the BDSM spectrum of fetishes in which a controlled amount of danger is used to elicit a pleasurable fight-or-flight response in participants

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ORIGINAL: GreedyTop
possibly as stand ins for the balls?

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ORIGINAL: playfulotter

Does anyone know if there is a scientific reason behind men having a foot fetish? I think I am sure men have this fetish more than women..for me it is a turn off I was wondering what it is all about...A Dom I might have met told me the same thing today so that is why I am wondering....Any answers?

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ORIGINAL: playfulotter
Does anyone know if there is a scientific reason behind men having a foot fetish?