Foot fetish or podophilia is a sexual interest on arousal triggered by feet. It's been a few years since this particular fetish found its way into online discourse. If you know the "for free?" trend going around the internet you're already aware. But due to the memes and the general comical tone it's spoken about in, it has become tricky to actually bring awareness to this fetish and the people that have it.
Podophilia is the most common sexual kink out there. Where just a few years ago men asking women for their feet pictures were considered creepy, now there are a myriad of websites and platforms where people sell photos of their feet online and make good money. Clients may request anything from bare feet to jewellery like ankles and toe rings of socks and stockings on the feet according to their kinks. It's more common than you'd think.
If you look closely, you'll find how this particular fetish has infiltrated art and films since long before it was destigmatized. From Dali and Caravaggio to literally anything by Quentin Tarantino, feet have been portrayed in some way . Bollywood is no exception. You'll be surprised to learn how many frames of feet of the actresses are subtly captured in a song or a scene where a beautiful woman is introduced and the shot begins on her feet going up to her face. It's like somehow we inherently understood and acknowledged feet as an erogenous zone and a kink.
Fully accepting it is, however, far away. Conversations on playing with or indulging feet in a sexual act among partners are sometimes still tentative. In an attempt to raise awareness about feet fetishes, The Intimacy Curator, a dating, intimacy and relationship coaching service organized a very unique event called the Foot Fetish Cruise in collaboration with India's biggest adult toy store, IMBesharam.
The event was spread across three designated areas on the yacht. The upper deck and the front deck were turned into the Pamper Stations where the Goddesses (courtesy title for a dominatrix, a female dominant in BDSM sexual games) could lie down and get foot massages while enjoying the sunset. The two master bedrooms were turned into the Adore Stations where patrons got to engage in foot worship activities such as kissing, licking, and sucking toes. The two smaller dorm style bedrooms were turned into Endure Stations where the more sado masochist patrons could engage in trampling.
It received close to 500 registrations out of which 40 were chosen after a filtration and vetting process to go on a 3-hour cruise and engage in their kinks and fantasies. The idea was to physically remove the patrons from the mainland so that they could get a sense that they were leaving societal norms and boundaries behind and feel free from all the inhibitions that had held them back from fulfilling their desires.
Even though sexuality has always been manifested in Indian literature, scripture, architecture, somewhere along the way it got repressed. As an individual, sexual exploration and expression in Brown communities is still considered taboo and is accessible only to the upper stratums of society. The internet may have made porn widely available but conversations on consent, kinks, fetishes and safe, sexual liberty require more effort. In the modern, hedonistic culture, we're all chasing pleasures; glorifying our preferences in food, fashion, music and films. Why not hold the same regard for our sexuality and validate our kinks as well?
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