François Boucher - Diana Leaving Her BathFoot fetishism or podophilia is an interest in attraction to feet.
Scope of foot fetishism
In clinical terms, a fetish is a stimulus that is a requirement for sexual arousal to occur (also called an "exclusive paraphilia"). Therefore, a person who can derive sexual arousal from the human foot along with other more conventional stimuli (i.e. kissing, petting, etc) would not necessarily meet the clinical definition of having a fetish. This article focuses on arousal by feet in general (i.e., the popular use definition of fetish), and not on the clinical definition of foot fetishism.
For a foot fetishist, points of attraction include the shape and size of the foot and toes, the texture of the skin, cleanliness (or lack thereof), state of dress (i.e., barefoot or clad in socks or nylons) and odor. Foot lovers may enjoy sniffing, rubbing, washing, tickling, kissing, licking, beating, and/or lovemaking with the objects of their affections.[1]
Like other paraphilias, foot fetishism encompasses a wide range of predilections; one foot fetishist may be aroused by scenarios that another fetishist finds unerotic or even repulsive. Websites exist that cater to a number of specialized scenarios, including: feet resting on car dashboards, feet pushing down on gas or brake pedals, feet crushing objects like balloons or toy cars, women walking barefoot on uncomfortable surfaces such as hot pavement, sharp gravel, rocks, snow, etc., feet being pushed into mud or food, feet dipped in honey, feet that smell after having been encased in particular shoes, socks, and/or hosiery, foot torture (i.e. having the soles of their feet tortured or punished by whippings, hot wax, or burnt with cigarettes), and feet being bound and tickled. It is also possible for a male to get sexually aroused when witnessing a female tap her foot to the beat of music she is playing, singing, or listening to.
Aretifism, a sexual attraction to people who are without footwear, is a synonym to podophilia, although the connotation is slightly different (attraction to the unclad foot vs. attraction to the foot itself).
