With the recent 'outing' of Tarantino on national television, a lot of you folks out there are saying that our fetish is becoming more and more mainstream. In the new age of political correctness and tolerance, we are still considered by many to be weird or unusually kinky.
In today's so-called 'Culture War', you find yourself on one of two sides, that of the God-fearing abstinant or the self-indulgent hedonistic. I'm sure most of us here are proud to be sexually active, indulgent and, hell, why do conservatives say 'sex addict' and 'porn addict' like it's a bad thing?
On the other hand, this is also a culture ruled by the liberal and commercial media. Where all fads and trends are dictated by TV corporations and last week's American Idol winner. Black culture, Latino culture, Asian culture, all in some way transformed into mainstream fads that someone else can cash in on. How many people have seen a white person with a Chinese character tattooed on them, claiming to be a follower of Asian philosophy? (I'm Chinese, so this is a peev of mine)
A decade or two ago, being gay was new and outside of the status quo. Today, it is mainstream, case in point, Queer Eye for a Straight Guy, cashing in on the gay lifestyle and turning a sexual orientation into a marketing gimmick. Being gay became mainstream and the 'hip' thing to be. And, while it certainly is fun to watch Focus on the Family squirm in unmitigated disgust and go tell on us to Dubya Bush, saying, "Please, Lord, I mean, Mr President, make the sinful heathens be more like us!" Hey, that's fun to watch.
Will that happen to us? Will there be reality shows about foot fetishist guys who give pedicure tips to clueless women? Will Tarantino become known primarily as a fetishist and not a filmmaker? What is so appealing about having our lifestyle turned into a fad, where it is the 'hip' and 'in' thing, spawning thousands upon thousands of naive and impressionable teenagers to 'fake' a foot fetish because it makes them feel like Clay Aikin?
I personally like the fact that we are still on the outside of the mainstream. We're not persecuted. We're not even condemned by the Jerry Falwells and the Pat Robertsons. I think it's more fun this way. We are a unique group, different from what is considered 'normal'. AND we don't make political organizations like GLAAD that go around shoving our fetish down everyone else's throat, screaming "Tolerate me! Tolerate me!" We don't whine about needing special treatment, equal opportunity or hate crime laws.
Isn't it more fun to be different? Isn't it more fun to have a certain 'weirdness', knowing that not everyone out there understands? Isn't it better knowing that we are the genuine article, and not an MTV-inspired piece of pop culture fakery?
When something goes mainstream, it is diminished and becomes less interesting and less appealing. It literally is too much of a good thing and we can get sick of it really fast.
We're not outcasts. We're not ostracized from an intolerant society. We're not victims of the Religious Right's witch hunt on America. We honestly have very little that needs to be changed about how accepted we are in society.
As long as we stay out of the mainstream, the girl who finds out you've drooled over her feet will react with surprise and not boredom. I'd rather she react with a 'Oh my God! You like feet?" and not "Oh, you like feet. Just like Harry, Tom, George, Walter, Brad, Todd, Shawn, Jerry, Jim, Ralph, Bill, Sebastian, Bob, Lawrence, Igor, and Tom Jr."
We simply... are. And that's enough for me.
Posted by Calico Jack (Member # 2299) on :
I've always been able to see this argument from both sides and can certainly appreciate the opposing viewpoints as they each have merit.
On one hand, foot fetish going mainstream would branch our passion out to the point where we'd begin seeing a whole lot more of it in the adult entertainment industry as well as in pop culture. It would undoubtedly increase opportunities for countless foot fetishists who'd previously been too shy to boldly proclaim their desires and be active participants in pursuing footfun with gals on a regular basis.
On the other hand, foot fetish going mainstream would inevitably cause a process of assimilation & dispersion to take place which would likely cause our exclusive little foot community as we know it to begin to melt away and have its drippings trickle off into mass culture. It would slowly lose its cachet as an erotic & esoteric kink and instead be thought of as somewhat pedestrian in the bedroom.
As for my own personal feelings on the issue, I don't really favor one position over the other at this moment. I've spent my life thus far as a proud foot fetishist who's always been open about my desires and I've pursued them on a perpetual basis. Whether or not foot fetish eventually goes mainstream, I'll still be right here doing exactly what I've always done. So even if everything changes around me, I'll remain unchanged and continue to live the same old happy foot-filled existence that I did before.
Calico Jack
Posted by gibarian (Member # 11661) on :
Well if it did go mainstream, which honestly i think it wont. This would happen...
It would be like a new trend, where people talk about, ask questions, it would be all over TV. You'd see stupid azz shows like ET and Access Hollywood asking stars if they have a foot fetish, Jay Leno would be doing more jokes on it, letterman etc.
Basically it would be the new thing, EVERYONE would say they have a foot fetish yet they don't realize they're just adhearing to a trend.
The only good that can come out of it is that woman would like it more when their feet are admired, they would accept us better.
Forget about religion, when it comes down to it...we're nothing more then monkeys with imagination. We are still primal, we have animal instincts, hence porn.....lol.
Posted by angel wood (Member # 9241) on :
My opinion is i want it to get popular. By it getting popular the ones who thought it was weird will begin to realize how normal and beautiful a footfetish is.It will favor for women because most women like to have their toes played with but are to nervous to ask because they think their man will laugh or dump them. guys who want to but are afraid to tell a girl about their fetish can now do it because the women who didn't understand it will accept it. But if it doesn't get popular, its no biggie. Posted by punkluvsfeet101 (Member # 11837) on :
nice put angel wood i hope it does get popular too but some people need to learn im talking to you wiggler is that every thing now is trendy and ive never seen anybody get hate crime against for haveing a foot fetish now days its what ever floats your boat and yes i am just some punk 18 year old kid who loves feet but you know what be yourself is all that you can be
Posted by spartanguy (Member # 6990) on :
Somewhere I read it is estimated that there are something like 1.8 million of us worldwide. Now, I don't know how they came up with that figure but let's assume it is accurate. That is a tiny, tiny fraction of the total world population. IMHO it is very doubtful that there will be a mainstream recognition of the foot fetish.
Personally, I'd love to see it go mainstream, but statisticly it is a long shot. A person doesn't just suddenly develop a foot fetish. Maybe a SLIGHTLY enhanced appreciation for feet but, Is that enough to make feet mainstream? I think not. As all of you know, it starts very early in life. Some of my earliest memories are of female feet (Mom and her friends)and I have heard many of you say the same. Posted by Hal (Member # 3484) on :
Wiggler, I love what you wrote and can fully stand behind it.
BUT...over here in Germany I just wish it would be a little bit more mainstream. Seriously, I NEVER hear, read or see anything about foot-fetish over here. It`s almost as if it doesn`t exist. Plus, I live in one of the largest & most hip cities of North Germany --- it`s not like I´m living alone in a cave in the woods.
-Hal-
Posted by Bman (Member # 2267) on :
Ive had a foot fetish as long as I can remember and this following story caused me a great deal of anxiety and guilt. I was about 11 years old and my aunt had a party. My entire family was there. Aunts, Uncles, My parents and many old family friends. The adults were whopping it up, drinks flowing, laughter, jokes, and they were remenicing about yester year. Us kids were playing games in the basement and my cousin and I snuck up to the top of the stairs and eves dropped. The adults were in a conversation about someone named Gilbert. Gil had a foot fetish and the adults were ragging on him to no end. One lady said my sister caught Gil smelling and fondling her shoes and he was obsessed with her feet, No wonder she divorced him!.. Say!.. Wasnt he an engineer? Dam! I would have never dreamed that he was a shoe nut... Thats disgusting, What a pervert, ect ect. True Story... They made him out to be a complete pervert. If some celeb is paving the way for us foot guys, I applaud him for doing the dirty work. .........Larry B.
Posted by angel wood (Member # 9241) on :
Wow that story is scary. people who you think are okay with your fetish are actually not and their laughing at you behind your back I hope it goes mainstream but something tells me its not.
Posted by National (Member # 8568) on :
I, too, pray in dear that our foot fetish does not go mainstream.
Why would you want practically every guy in the world jump in on our fetish. We don't need "artificial fetishists" taking up our time with the fetish. What I'm trying to say is that if it goes mainstream, it becomes a fad. And every fad serves its fifteen minutes of fame. Everyone follows the fad. And when the that fad disappears, so does everyone else. They lose appreciation with the fad. They will look back and say, "what the hell was I thinking when I wore that?"
Essentially, foot fetish going mainstream will follow the same route. People will follow it. When the time comes to find something new to marvel on, they'll drop the foot fetish fad, and jump into another band-wagon. That's why I call these people "artificial fetishists". They wanted to join the club because it was a cool thing to do. Not because they are deep-rooted into the fetrish through thick and thin.
If everyone is the same, then what's the point of living? The more we're like everyone else, the less we're noticed. Dont' you see? Ladies will generaly think that guys enjoy big breasts. Now if a group of women, who find the same guy attractive, finds that he has a foot fetish, it will intrigue their curiosity even more. Chances are they won't expect that. New things create new excitement. What fun would it be for them to think that every guy is the same. They'll follow the same boring routine over and over again.
I WISH that some phychiatrist tells me that I'm sick individual for liking women's feet. That'll make me even MORE proud of my fetish.
Posted by UnholyPriest (Member # 10589) on :
quote:Originally posted by angel wood: guys who want to but are afraid to tell a girl about their fetish can now do it because the women who didn't understand it will accept it. But if it doesn't get popular, its no biggie.
I can't see women accepting it automatically just because it is the "in" thing. That'd be like saying men accept homosexuality and don't fear/hate it, because queer eye made it "in". I still am against homosexuality just as much as before the show; if not more. Only difference now is that I don't slander people if they are gay, I just don't have anything to do with them.
I believe this will be the same if foot fetishism becomes mainstream. Not everyone will accept it, they just won't say anything bad against it. I personally hope it doesn't go mainstream either. I love this little quirk I have, and I don't want to walk down the street and see 'foot fetish' posers everywhere.
Just today for instance, I walked into my local McDonalds, and I saw three kids who are 13-14, dressed up in full black long sleeved/long pants, with big chunks of chain hanging off them and makeup on their faces. In my town, seems that Gothic is the new trend, and these little boys changed overnight from skaterboys to "hardcore" gothics. I nearly laughed at their faces, because I knew who they were as I used to go to the same school as them. I can only imagine what would happen if Foot fetishism went mainstream. We'd have 13 and 14 yr old boys walking around with t-shirts that have "I heart feet" on them,Pitiful .(although I myself would love a shirt like that )
So yeah, keep Foot fetishism out of mainstream! Posted by ElmntEarth1 (Member # 9310) on :
I'm proud of my fetish because it sets me apart from having the same boring desires as so many of our population. I don't think it'll ever hit the point of people liking feet because it's the "in" thing to do, but if I ever saw somebody faking a characteristic that defines who I am, I would have no problem excreting my bodily fluids upon their leg.
Posted by Footman9 (Member # 1100) on :
I am not too worried because some people will just not get it. Either you TRULY love this stuff or you don't... you can only fake it for so long and faking it is hard when you just don't buy into it. I am not worried either way. I am here (with my foot thing) until I hit the dirt.
Posted by z80 ParaNoia (Member # 1767) on :
i want it to become mainstream. what i dont want is the perverse side of it to be propagated too heavily. you know shoe thieves, snitsky, stalkers etc. because billions of other guys liking feet as much as i do won't make me like feet any less. and won't make me appreciate them any less. kind of like how i wont like the taste of good pizza any less if pizza suddenly increased in popularity.
Posted by x187x (Member # 2073) on :
Great points made, gentlemen.
I don't care either way. I personally think that someone who is grossed out by girls' feet isn't going to be quick to jump on the toesucking trend because it's "popular" at the moment.
People are trendy in public. People in private, though, like most foot fetish activity, are more themselves and not trendy.
Besides! We were first! We ARE the trendsetters!
Posted by Zamora (Member # 1236) on :
I can relate to the story of Bman. In a movie, there was a guy kissing a lovely female foot, just a couple of kisses,nothing to passionate, and I was watching with some family members. At least two expressed their disgust at the scene. I was 14 years old.
Posted by babeflover (Member # 2953) on :
no no no. i like it that i'm "special" or "different". let the main steam comtinue being boring.
Posted by feetluvr (Member # 1570) on :
After seeing today's Lowes ad in the newspaper, I was coming to the site this morning with a big smile after seeing yet another print ad with barefeet (pic of a barefoot mom beside the bathtub) and was going to post a (I'm glad I'm a foot-guy note) relishing how persvasive bare feet have become in advertising-when I came across this thread.
Obviously, and understandably a passionate topic for us. Lots of great ideas and opinions. Wiggler Kudos on your opening treatise. I was very impressed.
Like Calico and others I can see advantages and disadvantages to both sides. On the one hand everyone "jumping on the bandwagon" does cheapen the entire belief and participation in the fetish, and that would gresatly frustrate and pain me.
But the good thing IMHO, is that, should this happen, as others have said, it will probably be a "flash-in-the-pan" kinda thing and be over bfore you know it. That's why it's important for us now not to hide our fetish desires, because then when it does become mainstream, even if only briefly, others will know that we're the "real deal" because we've been sharing our desires and living them out long before it became "mainstream."
Secondly as others have mentioned, the fetish becoming mainstream does not mean universal acceptance. I agree with UnholyPriest, the popularity and success of "Queer Eye" has done nothing to make me like or accept gay men or their behaviour, any more than before.
Put simply, my hope is that there will be a slow, general acceptance and understanding of us guys wiht the fetish, especially by the women, but not to the point that it "explodes" in our culture and becomes "the thing" to do.
Posted by RPM (Member # 2895) on :
when I hear feet going maintstream, i'm not thinking media.. i'm thinking more like the way breats has evolved in the US. i was talking to a researcher about this topic a litle whiles back. he pointed out that breast became the erotic symbol they were not too far back in our history. Being of a puritanical heritage, you can see why.
to me, feet going mainstream is like that. more folks will know about it and some won't accept it.
No matter what is said, it is going to get better known. Most of my younger friend not only know guys like feet but are pretty open to that (or less averse) the older friends are less aware and react more negatively to it if they're not ok with it to begin with.
i don't want it to go media big.... too much potential for jokes... but i do want it to go mainstream in that folks know it's part of the male psyche and won't disrespect you for it.
RPM
Posted by DaBootman (Member # 1280) on :
"What if?" Seems to be the main question here. Mine is, "Why are we so much in debate about what will happen when it does go mainstream"
Lets face it, movies with major footscenes/footfetishist characters like i think it was "Big Trouble" with tim allen. The guy with the foot fetish was portrayed as the asshole and like he was a deviant about foot activity w/the nanny and all--That's already one joke made on us.
Then we have quentin tarentino (pardone spelling) making movies for how long now? With foot fetish/foot centered scenes since. All with a pretty good group of us in mind. Now how many of those movies were big hits?
There's countless examples. Like the tyra banks show recently. He was on there, admitted to it, and the entire show was made as a treat for him to examine some cute girls feet. THen the rapper we all mentioned.
The lyrics to some rap songs, and other songs. Plenty of media attention. I've been reading cosmo and people magazine, and there's plenty of focus on a girls feet and shoes in there.
It's more in the open and main stream than you believe it to be. It's just whether or not you're a serious closet case and embarrassed about being a foot lover, or if you're like CJ, me, and how many of the other guys on here who just seem to continue enjoying our foot fun. It's like i've said before and i'll say again. It's more open that it appears to be, feet are another part of the body like any other. Some men are more attracted to asses(and sometimes anal sex) and some more attracted to breasts(boobjobs, licking, etc)So, just go with it. Somebody's bound to not understand your obsession with their ass, or breasts somewhere along the line, and the same with feet.
So some girls may have no idea about it (which is hard to come by these days) and just need some getting used to it, or they just dont like it. Or they've seen some of the recent shows on tv, or enjoy takin care of their feet, and take pride in knowing somebody noticed. Then to find out that you're just as attracted to a part of their body that had no sexual appeal is a whole new world, and just as fun for both of you to enjoy.
Ok done ranting.
--boot
Posted by dougiezerts (Member # 6829) on :
I've made this point before, but what if people realized that female feet are sexual--and they banned them from public viewing?
Posted by wiggler (Member # 2240) on :
quote:Originally posted by dougiezerts: I've made this point before, but what if people realized that female feet are sexual--and they banned them from public viewing?
Dubya and his right-wing disciples couldn't get the Federal Marriage Amendment successfully passed. How would the country react if he came out and said, "Bare feet, flip flops, and sandals can no longer be allowed in public and Jay-sus agrees with me."
Honestly, I don't think we have anything to worry about in that regard.
Posted by Rae124 (Member # 328) on :
It would mean the end of any shoes showing toes as it we know it. That would be disastrous.
Posted by feetluvr (Member # 1570) on :
quote:Originally posted by dougiezerts: I've made this point before, but what if people realized that female feet are sexual--and they banned them from public viewing?
As I was reading the new posts this morning I was struck by a similar thought. Though it may never be federally or locally mandated against the law, just the circumstance of millions of women really coming to awareness that their feet are sexual objects could cause them to stop showing them. As we all know, many girls/women don't really comprehend this yet or show off their feet intentionally because they know we're looking because they don't realize how many of us foot-lovers are out there.
My mind immediately went to a women and her two daughters, all three of whom were in sandals, that I saw in a store the day after christmas (and previously posted about). I'd hate to think not only of her not wearing sandals, but also dissuading her daughters from wearing them because "there are guys out there who lust after our feet". That's kinda scary.
Posted by couchant (Member # 12065) on :
Foot fetishism has never been more open, accepted and is now catching on very big time in the mainstream. With the opening of foot worship parlors in different cities, foot worship parties and the hundreds of girls who, as foot model are mini-celebrities on the net, there is a substantial cottage industry for this. Perhaps it will draw out the latent foot attraction that most men intrinsically have but keep under wraps for fear that it is considered a bit "out-there". I for one think that it should go mainstream...one can envision a syndicated chain of legal foot worship houses in every major city of the country with ones choice of the hottest foot models in the world! Posted by Lou Gojira (Member # 983) on :
quote:Originally posted by UnholyPriest: I can't see women accepting it automatically just because it is the "in" thing. That'd be like saying men accept homosexuality and don't fear/hate it, because queer eye made it "in". I still am against homosexuality just as much as before the show; if not more. Only difference now is that I don't slander people if they are gay, I just don't have anything to do with them.
I understand your point in saying that UnholyPriest, and can agree with it to a good extent. Personally though, I don't hate gay people simply for being gay...I only hate or disassociate myself with somebody if they're an asshole in the first place, and as we all know assholes span the spectrum. I can get along with gay people just so long as they don't get pushy with it around me, and most of the ones I've known don't, and I'm thankful for that.
However, this analogy reminds me of something I've heard, and I'm not sure if this is a big thing going on, an isolated incident, or what...
I met all kinds of, um, "interesting" people through my now ex-wife. I say "interesting" because I'm trying to be nice here. One such guy was a friend of her's since long before I had even met her, and I'll never forget the night I was formally introduced to this man...
Among the bantering and prattle betwixt he and her that evening, their getting caught up and everything, most of which I just tuned out because this guy was pretty much an embodiment of everything I tend to stand against...I'll never forget one particular line:
I don't remember the actual words spoken, but she asked him, and I kid you not, if "so & so" was his first "queer kiss".
Now this guy, for all intents, was straight...so what was the deal about a "first queer kiss"?! Call me old-fashioned, but if I go to my grave without ever kissing another man, I won't think it a loss of any sort. In fact, were I to ever kiss a man (probably the same day Satan and Pat Robertson host the first annual snowball fight in hell) I SURE as hell wouldn't tell anybody about it. So, I have to wonder, on that note...what is this guy going to think about himself years from now? I can't see this action of his as being anything more than some trendy "experimentation"...one he's going to really hate himself for if he ever get's out of his current mind-set.
If foot-fetishism were to ever get as mainstream as, say, homosexuality, we as Foot Bro's and Foot Sis' wouldn't have a whole lot to worry about UNLESS we somehow fell into "victim status". If hate-crime laws for instance got passed protecting "poor, misunderstood" us, that would earn us contempt the likes of which we have yet to face, and rightfully so. On the flip-side, if we were thought of as persecuted, who among us would fancy the idea of a gaggle of fad-following sheep trying to be like us out of sympathy? (like that idiot friend of my ex-wife's, kissing another guy because it's a "cool" thing to try out)
What about a "Foot Pride" parade? Nope...I'd hate it. Minority status...but what if we got Affirmative Action putting us into jobs we weren't qualified for in the first place? No, no, and again no...nothing but bad news because we've already go too many special interest groups raising hell all over this country.
In other words, my approach is the same as any realistically minded "minority"...don't give me special treatment, give me fair treatment. Don't turn my desires into a cash-cow for some faceless and soul-lacking corporation. Don't play me or my Brethren up as victims to garner sympathy to anything.
If foot scenes got more prevailent in movies, cool. If more people got comfortable enough to talk openly about it WHEN APPROPRIATE, cool. But sadly, I see potential cess pool of band-wagoners and opportunists just waiting to bubble up and follow a more open embrace of foot-fetishism in society. It's a catch-22, so the obvious answer for me would be: Let's keep it in our clique...to hell with the outside.
Posted by F18Hornet (Member # 11172) on :
Hi all. I've been lurking around this forum for a while. There have been some great comments on this thread and this is my first post, so here goes:
If the term "mainstream" can be construed to mean that the general public will "accept" that some people have a foot fetish (for want of a better word) as they mostly have accepted being homosexual or lesbian, and not berate those of us who have the fortitude to publicly admit their proclivities (I don't - only my best mate and my g/f know of mine), you can forget foot fetish going mainstream. Here's the main reason why:
The media, it seems to me, hold the power in deciding what is acceptable or not: for the most part, I have never read a story about a foot fetishist which didn't portray him (or, rarely, her) as someone to be despised, laughed at and described as subnoral or odd in some way. Having said that, the stories we read in papers and see on TV about such people is in no way indicative of 99.9% of us. I remember a story about a bloke in the US, I think in Florida maybe, who broke into houses to take pictures of women's feet and initiate physical contact with them whilst the women were asleep. The newspaper concerned completely overlooked the fact that his main intent was burglary and focussed simply on his "backward" fetish, which he exhibited almost as an afterthought to his main reason for being there. I am sure that 99% of us would never even dream of doing such a thing as breaking and entering, and battery (i.e. unlawful physical contact with another without intent to cause physical harm) to get our fix, yet as a result of portayals such as these, where the media hype the fetish part of the story up when in fact it is a minor, almost insignificant, part of the story, thus adding to the public perception that foot fetishists are "freaks", "criminals" (I wouldn't stake my mortgage on anyone ever having read a story concerning foot fetishists which didn't mention him doing something criminal), and "perverse", the general public will continue to tar foot fetishists with the same brush and view us as oddballs. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I think the community will remain "closeted". And so it should be: I, and many others in this world, do not pass public scorn or ridicule on the sexuality and proclivities of others, but to the public a foot fetishist is easy meat. Until media portayal of foot fetishists changes from ridicule to live-and-let-live, nothing will change.
I'm quite happy the way things are, long may the status quo prevail.
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I hope it goes mainstream but something tells me its not.
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