ABSTRACT
Fetishism is an orgasmic preference for, or an inordinate and persistent sexual arousal to, inanimate objects or parts of the body. Often the fetishes are related to the human body, for example, to female or male clothing, although other objects have been described. An outstanding feature in the study of fetishism is the number of attempts that have been made to classify the fetishes. Krafft-Ebing (in Raymond 39 ) divided the fetishes into parts of the female body, her clothing, special materials and animales. Epstein 15 noted that objects with certain surface characteristics such as glistening (wetness or rubber), metallic shining, leathery, silky, and velvety or those objects with unusual accentuation of shape such as high heels; often serve as fetishes. Balint 3 claimed that many fetishes are objects which can serve as receptacles in the fetishist’s acts, for example, shoes, corsets, and so forth, and even in one case the hollow part of an artificial leg was used. The receptacle of course symbolizes the vagina and the womb so the use of the penis in contact with these symbols is understandable.
