Royal male: A brief look at queening fetishes

While researching a previous blog on squashing fetishes I came across an online account from a dominatrix talking about ‘queening’ fetishes. According to Dr. Anil Aggrawal’s 2009 book Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices, queening is a BDSM practice in where one sexual partner sits on or over another person’s face “typically to allow oral-genital or oral anal contact, or to practice ass worship or body worship”. In the book’s glossary of sexual terms, Dr. Aggrawal simply defines queening as “sitting on the side of a person’s face as a form of bondage”. A 2005 book chapter by Dr Brenda Love (in Russ Kick’s Everything You Know About Sex is Wrong) examined some of the strangest sexual behaviours from around the world and included a short section on queening. She wrote:

“The term queening refers to the European practice of a dominant female using a man’s head as her throne. The woman sits in one of several positions, either on the side of the man’s head or so that his nose is near her anus with his eyes covered by her genitals. The object of queening is bondage or breath control, not cunnilingus. The man may wear supplemental restraints on the wrists and ankles. A slightly comparable American sex scene is where a stripper completely disrobes and stands over a sitting male with his head titled back so that her genitals are only a couple of inches above his face. She stays in this position, moving her pelvis to the music for about five minutes. The male is not permitted to touch her in any manner during this exhibition”.

According to the Wikipedia entry on ‘facesitting’, within a sadomasochistic and dominance/submission context, the practice can be an “especially intense form of erotic humiliation”. The article also claims the practice is commonplace among sadomasochists. Although this would appear to have good face validity, I have yet to come across an empirical piece of research that either confirms or disconfirms this. The article differentiates facesitting from ‘smothering’ (i.e., the complete obstruction of the airways for sexual purposes) because the person being sat is not totally deprived of oxygen. The article also claims:

“The full-weight body-pressure, moisture, sex odors and darkness can be perceived as powerful sexual attractions or compulsions. The person sat upon may be in bondage, sexually submissive, or simply held down by the body-weight of the other person. Sometimes special furniture is used, such as a ‘queening stool’ or ‘smotherbox’. A queening stool is a low seat which fits over the submissive’s face and contains an opening to allow oral-genital and/or oral-anal stimulation of the domme while seated. In modern BDSM vernacular, the queening stool allows open access to the crotch while seated…The queening stool is also related to a ‘smotherbox’ which also allows the person under the seat to be locked in place, restrained by the neck as in a set of stocks”

This description also suggests there may be overlaps between queening and other sexual paraphilias and fetishes such as squashing fetishes, amaurophilia (where individuals derive sexual pleasure and arousal by a partner who is blind or unable to see due to artificial means such as being blindfolded or having sex in total darkness), and osmophilia (where individuals derive sexual pleasure and arousal caused by bodily odours such as sweat and urine).

An online article about queening on the Toilet Duck website (that ‘celebrates and questions watersports and toilet games’) begins by asserting that defining the act of queening is “difficult to say the least without leaving readers wondering why”.  Unlike the Wikipedia article, it does not differentiate between facesitting and smothering:

“[Queening is a] very erotic act in which a woman sits on a man’s face and is satisfied sexually while dominating her man and the man is incredibly turned on by the act as well…Also referred to as face sitting or smothering, queening is most often accomplished by a dominant woman sitting on her submissive man’s or slave’s face and deriving sexual pleasure by riding his face or forcing him to lick, suck, bite, or orally massage his domme’s vaginal and anal area until she climaxes. During a queening session a submissive experiences the sensation of his mistress’s weight on his face as she squats on top of his face. The smell of her, the moistness, and the slow erotic motion as she moves around on his face to gain pleasure from her submissive mixed with the urgency to breathe is what turns the sub on…Sometimes queening is accompanied by the infliction of pain, verbal humiliation, or water sports (the act of urinating on a sexual partner) depending on the couple and how deep into the BDSM scene they are into. Nipple twisting or flogging are also great additions to smothering as is a little cock and ball torture. However, Queening is most often used as a form of reward for submissives that have been very good”.

Although most of the claims made here are unsubstantiated empirically, the Toilet Duck article is at least written by proponents who actually engage in the practices they write about. This extract also suggests there are yet more overlaps with other sexual paraphilias including urophilia, masochism, and hypoxyphilia.

In my research for this blog I came across the Informed Consent website (“The UK’s BDSM website”) which highlighted queening as its ‘fetish of the week’ back in September 2010. As a consequence, it featured people writing about their queening experiences. I have collated a few extracts here to provide a flavour of what people enjoy about queening from a personal standpoint:

• Extract 1: “I practice [queening] and regard it more in [an orally erotic] way than as a means of breath play. Although I know for some the oral element doesn’t feature at all. For me, the breath play aspect is a fairly insignificant part of it”
• Extract 2: “I love all aspects of it. The sheer enjoyment of someone dominating me by pushing their body down on my face; the oral sex; the worshipping of an anus; the smells and tastes; the inability to control my breathing; being pushed right to the edge, gasping for the slightest bit of air. I love it when Mistress losses herself ‘in the moment’ so much that she forgets about me, and I literally have to protect my own breathing/life”
• Extract 3: “It’s one of my favourites, yet very rarely practiced…it encompasses so much…from total control to total intimacy”
• Extract 4: “Personally, I love [queening] and just can’t get enough of it. I seem to never get bored of it. The ultimate for me is for Mistress to sit on my face and conduct some nipple torture or candle wax on my chest. I think this is proper pain and pleasure mixed up perfectly”

The only other article of any length I have come across on queening is one on the Kinky Britain website. Their main take on queening is that it is a form of body worship but also sees the behaviour has having other sexual attractions including the darkness, the weight pressure, the smells, and the wetness (echoing some of the aspects outlined above). The article claims that it is not only engaged in by dominant women and submissive men, but also by “vanilla couples who use this highly-enjoyable position for woman-superior cunnilingus”. Like the Wikipedia article, smothering and queening are viewed as two different forms of sexual activity. The anonymous author notes:

“Smothering is NOT like regular cunnilingus. In fact, at times the guys can’t even lick because they’re just trying to inhale a breath of fresh air. Sure, that overpowering smell of [the vagina] is great, but oxygen is what they really want at times. Facesitting is very erotic in essence and may be practiced by non-BDSM (vanilla) couples for sexual pleasure. However, when applied in the context of female domination it symbolizes the Mistress superiority over the sub. There is a slight difference between facesitting to smothering or queening, which is associated with the deprivation of air, yet in the BDSM world these terms are often regarded as one”.

The other aspect to this article that is not mentioned in any others I have read concerns the type of submissive man (i.e., ‘the slave’) that engages in queening. The article claims it is the woman who chooses who the submissive male is, and it appears there is no commonality amongst the type of man who participate. The article claims (and I have no empirical evidence to counter them) that:

“She may wish to have a wimpish male twit under her. She may find more delight in subduing a macho strong male. She may have a cuckolded husband to humiliate, taunt and sit on. Some women like to have a mouth-dildo attached to their slave’s head, sticking up from his open mouth as a rideable accessory. This provides pleasant, full, vaginal passage orgasms, but prevents sucking and licking by the male victim. Other women blindfold their prone slaves, thus deleting any possible visual pleasure they might obtain. A few cruel ladies inevitably urinate on to his face after having orgasmed. Others enjoy demanding mouth service right after enjoying satisfactory adultery with a lover, thus making the victim more humiliated. Most queening ladies humiliate, taunt, torment, degrade and tease their victims before and after this enforced cunnilingus”.

The bottom line (no pun intended) about queening fetishes is that almost all the information we have appears to have been written by those who actually engage in the practice and that there is nothing written academically except passing references in academic books on unusual sexual practices. There is also the question of whether those who engage in the behaviour view it as fetishistic, and whether academics such as myself would class the behaviour as a fetish. Based on what I have read, queening appears to be an adjunct to other types of sexually paraphilic behaviour such as sexual masochism rather than a stand alone fetish although for some people, it may well be a genuine fetishistic sexual activity.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Aggrawal A. (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Charland, V. (2010). Fetish furniture in art (queening chairs, bondage, facestting, etc.). Cuckold Journal, November 27. Located at: http://cuckold-journal-wet-options.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/fetish-furniture-in-art-queening-chairs.html

Kinky Britain (2010). Questions and answers about facestiing/queening. August 25. Located at: http://kinkybritain.co.uk/kinky/2010questions-answers-about-facesitting-queening

Love, B. (2005). Cat-fighting, eye-licking, head-sitting and statue-screwing. In R. Kick (Ed.), Everything You Know About Sex is Wrong (pp.122-129).  New York: The Disinformation Company.

Love, B. (2001). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. London: Greenwich Editions.

McGuire, C. (1989). Perfect Victim. New York: Dell.

Murray, T. (1989). The Language of Sadomasochism. Westport: Greenwood Press.

The Toilet Duck (2011). Queening – Can this be enjoyable for both parties? August 7. Located at: http://thetoiletduck.com/20/queening-can-this-be-enjoyable-for-both-parties/

Wikipedia (2012). Facesitting. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facesitting

Kick-Gas 2: Another look at eproctophilia

Last year in a previous blog I examined eproctophilia (a sexual paraphilia in which people are sexually attracted to flatulence). I noted in that article that there had been no academic or clinical papers published on the topic. However, that is no longer the case as last week I had a case study published on this topic in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.  Today’s blog examines this newly published case study of Brad (a pseudonym), a 22-year old single man from Illinois (US). I’ve only selected a few bits from the full case study (so email me if you’d like to read the full account).

Brad first contacted me after he read my previous blog on eproctophilia. I asked Brad about his first experience(s) of eproctophilia. He claimed that compared to other eproctophiles who had “colorful first experiences,” that his experience was “a bit more tame than most, which is disappointing in a way.” Brad recalled that in middle school he had a crush on a particular girl. He thought “she was the most beautiful thing [he] had ever seen.” When talking with his friends, Brad recalled that one of them mentioned that the girl he had a crush on had farted in her science class. As Brad said:

“This blew my mind. Prior to that, I’d never really considered it. I knew by simple biology that girls farted, but hearing that the girl I had been fawning over was capable of such a thing sparked a strange interest in me.”

Brad first engaged in an eproctophile act at around the age of 16 or 17 years of age. He was with a male friend and up to that point he had considered himself as heterosexual. This was until he heard his male friend fart in front of him. Brad recalled:

“It was rather appealing in sound, and I found myself fixating on it. At first, I didn’t want to admit I was into his farting, but eventually I decided to experiment. I set up a bet at some point and intentionally lost, with the wager being the right to fart in the loser’s face for a week. I continued to lose such bets once every few weeks for about two years.”

I asked about his thoughts surrounding eproctophilia. He claimed to “enjoy everything about it” and had experienced it directly.

“I’m not sure how graphic of details you would like, but I have had my face farted on by both men and women, at point blank range. I like the sound and the smell. The ‘worse,’ the better. In terms of sound, I prefer a deep bubbling sound. In terms of smell, I like acrid sulfur. I prefer the farter to be clothed. I don’t particularly like seeing the anus open. It’s not revolting to me, I just prefer fabric for three reasons. Firstly, the sound tends to be better with fabric, particularly jeans or nylons. Second, the smell lingers in cloth, whereas in the nude it is a relatively quick blast of smell. Third, I like the look of butt cheeks better when they are defined by fabric.”

I asked why he preferred sulphurous farts. He said that:

“The more disgusting, the more I like it as it heightens the sense of duality. The more disgusting the fart and the prettier the lady, the more of a schism it is between the societal expectation and the reality. As for men, it’s simply more dominating for it to be a really gross fart than a mild poot.”

I asked Brad whether he was more sexually aroused when engaged in eproctophile sexual activity than when engaged in ‘normal’ sex. He then said that he may be “technically asexual” as he had no desire for actual sex (as he preferred masturbation to sexual intercourse). He was also questioned about the extent to which the eproctiphile acts were masochistic. He responded:

“Sometimes. One of my more common fantasies is receiving a fart as a reward for completing a task. I play video games, for instance, and one includes me helping a girlfriend solve a puzzle in a game. Then, while still playing, she tells me to get ready for my reward and lets one rip. There’s an idea of subservience, not necessarily masochism. An idea of being there without being the focal point, where she lets me smell her farts and rub her feet and cuddle up and such, without fussing too much over me. I enjoy all aspects, really, from the S/M standpoint in which someone dominates me by farting on me, to the subservient aspect of being like a pet or article of furniture in which she isn’t particularly dominating, just coexisting, to the aspect of dominance for myself in which I learn her closely guarded secret of what her farts sound and smell like.”

One of the more interesting things that came from interviewing Brad was that he was very forthright on what he believed about eproctophilia and other people’s perceptions of it. He said:

“Allow me to shed some light on why farting, of all things, is sexually interesting to us. First, let me mention that we are not sexually attracted to flatulence, per se. We are attracted to the person RELEASING the flatulence. Unattractive people farting, to us, is like seeing unattractive people having sex for you…For others, myself included, it is a matter of dualities. Social norm dictates that people in general, particularly females, do not fart in public, for others to hear. To see a beautiful, delicate lady passing wind is a breach of those expectations in a profound manner. That a beautiful woman is capable of producing a “disgusting” sound and smell is what attracts us, and makes us want to experience it. It can also be a matter of humanization. Again, social ideologies tend to place the beautiful, particularly women, on a pedestal of what makes a conceptual or archetypal woman. To hear her pass wind is to hear an admission of humanity, that she is the same as the rest of us. It is to learn her dark secret, the sounds and smells of her uncontrollable biological functions. This is more of a dominant matter, as it is more about wrenching her humanity into focus while society attempts to hide it. Therefore, it is not always a matter of female dominance. However, due to the internet pornography market, most producers choose to follow the dominatrix stereotype, as it is a reliable source of income and a familiar sexy medium.”

Brad was asked if he experienced any sexual pleasure from watching eproctophilia videos (such as those on YouTube). Given that smell is such an important part, I was interested to know whether ‘second-hand’ sources were less arousing. Brad responded that he did get sexual pleasure from watching such films. In fact, he added:

“While smell and the tactile sense of face sitting are important, sound is also another key factor. Being able to see that girls DO fart, or sort of live the fantasy out vicariously, is what I have to do. I suppose vanilla porn could be a good analogy. The physical sensation of sex is obviously very important. People still get aroused watching porn even though they can’t feel it, and I think it’s exactly the same with myself. When watching pornography, it’s more about the thought of it.”

Brad’s account of his early eproctophile experiences are suggestive of behavioural conditioning and/or sexual imprinting – in this case classical conditioning where being sexually aroused by an attractive women is paired with something that is not inherently sexual (in this case, flatulence) and then starts to become an erotic focus in and of itself. Brad also had very specific criteria for the behaviour to be sexually arousing (i.e., the person had to fart while fully clothed as it sounded better, and the smell was longer-lasting, and the farts had to be acrid smelling). Brad saw clear similarities between his interest in eproctophilia and being sexually aroused by watching females defecate (as he specifically noted his coprophilic tendencies in his desire to watch women on the toilet). The co-occurrence of Brad’s eproctophilia with traits of sexual masochism – such as the deliberate losing of a bet so that resulted in Brad being farted upon all week by his male friend – demonstrates that the behaviour has other paraphilic elements. A number of times, Brad mentioned the sadomasochistic elements of the eproctophilic behaviour.

According to a paper in a 2011 issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dr. Lesley Terry and Dr. Paul Vasey assert that the scientific value of case studies is their utility in highlighting rare phenomena and their role in the generation of new research questions and hypotheses. The eproctophile case presented in my new case study hopefully fulfils these values. Clearly, this is just one case study and Brad is unlikely to be representative of the entire eproctophile community. Other developmental routes into eproctophilia may be possible. Further research is needed to assess the extent to which this case study is representative of eproctophiles more generally, and whether the etiological and developmental pathways are more complex than that described in this instance.

My case study also highlights the importance of the internet in recruitment of people with sexually paraphilic and/or fetishistic behaviour for academic study. Over the last decade, there have been a number of studies that have reported paraphilic behaviour by using online methodologies such as studies into zoophilia, feederism, hypoxyphilia, and sexsomnia. Without the internet, it is unlikely that my latest case study would have come to light. Brad may not have been able to contact me and I would not have been able to carry out the interview online. The online medium appears to be a particularly good medium for collecting data on unusual sexual paraphilias and fetishes as online data collection is much better for collecting sensitive compared to offline methods.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Aggrawal A. (2009). Forensic and medico-legal aspects of sexual crimes and unusual sexual practices. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Akins, C. K. (2004). The role of Pavlovian conditioning in sexual behavior: A comparative analysis of human and nonhuman animals. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 17, 241-262.

Griffiths, M. D. (2012). The use of online methodologies in studying paraphilia: A review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 1, 143-150.

Griffiths, M.D. (2013). Eproctophilia in a young adult male: A case study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, DOI 10.1007/s10508-013-0156-3

Terry, L. L. & Vasey, P. L. (2011). Feederism in a woman. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 639-645.

Getting the heads up: A beginner’s guide to partial unbirthing

In a previous blog, I briefly examined ‘unbirthing’ a fantasy-based sexual paraphilia in which individuals are sexually aroused by the idea of being enveloped and swallowed by a woman’s vagina. This is often termed ‘vaginal vore’ and is commonly viewed as a sub-type of vorarephilia (a sexual paraphilia in which individuals are sexually aroused by the idea of being eaten, eating another person, or observing this process for sexual gratification). While researching the blog on unbirthing, I came across quite a few references to ‘partial unbirthing’. For instance, according to the online Urban Dictionary:

“[Partial unbirthing is the] fetish of an adult head inside a vagina. [The] term was created a few decades ago when the fantasy of unbirthing was broken down into total and partial types with partial unbirthing being the only remotely possible form of the unbirthing fantasy. Even then it is an extremely rare activity and the practice of partial unbirthing, as opposed to the fantasy, is not a form of Vore”.

I had my doubts as to whether partial unbirthing could be anything but a fantasy-based sexual paraphilia until I came across what appear to be actual photographs and videos of the practice online (such as those on the partial unbirthing page of the Encyclopedia Dramatica (ED) website – please be warned that if you click on the hyperlink, the page that opens shows photographs of men with their heads inside female vaginas). In part of an online article on vorarephilia, the Serial Killer Calendar (a surprisingly knowledgeable website on paraphilic behaviours), it noted that partial unbirthing is also known as ‘adult heading’. Looking at the same online photographs as I had looked at, the article claimed “there is controversy about whether it has ever truly happened and disagreements about whether photos of the practice are Photoshop fakes”. The same article also questioned the feasibility of the practice in relation to the restriction of the oxygen supply for the person inserting their head (although this would arguably be an added turn-on for a hypoxyphiliac). The ED article also noted:

“Partial unbirthing (adult head insertion into the vagina) [is a] real practice as opposed to fantasy, it is not a category of ‘vore’. It is only done by sex partners who both find it safe and extremely enjoyable. It is a fetishism that is extremely rare and probably one of the rarest of all human sexual activities. The reason for this is that to be mutually enjoyable and erotic, it requires that the vagina must stretch to enormous size”

I have no evidence to dispute such claims but given the sheer pragmatics involved, the claims don’t seem unreasonable. One of the more in-depth articles on partial unbirthing can be found on the Wikibin (WB) website. It also claims that the activity is (unsurprisingly) “extremely uncommon” and “much more common as a pure fantasy than in actuality”. The WB article also claims that there have been attempts (but it doesn’t say by who or what) to sub-classify partial unbirthing under a new category called ‘endosomatophilia’. The article estimated that less than one in a million sexual partners have actually engaged in partial unbirthing (although personally I think this figure is still too high). The article also claims that it is mutually enjoyable and erotic for couples that engage in the practice:

“It requires that the vagina must stretch to enormous size. This requires a consenting, cooperative, and extended effort between the sexual partners, with both partners considering the same fetish to be erotic…This of course is only possible where the woman has an extremely huge opening of her pelvis. Such a huge or Justo Major Pelvis is also called ‘Giant Pelvis’. This condition is where the minimum pelvis size is enlarged uniformly in every direction by a linear factor of 1.5, or more than the average 11-inch wide pelvis. This 16.5-inch ‘or more’ Justo Major pelvic width is a condition that is only present in less than one in a thousand adult women”.

The article also claims that some normal sized women sometimes stretch their vaginas to facilitate orgasmic stimulation. This is sometimes as a consequence of the woman having a “fullness fetish” that according to the article is also known as a ‘bulk intromission’ fetish (I’ve tried to look for further information on this fetish but have not yet found anything). Although this would appear to be exceedingly rare, the WB article says that with “gradual repeated stretching they occasionally stretch almost to the walls of their pelvic bone opening” to the size of a newborn baby’s head.

There is still the fundamental issue of whether partial unbirthing is humanly possible. A number of partial unbirthing articles all carry exactly the same text about an alleged study that I have been unable to track down. The verbatim text used in most of these articles claims that:

“A well known government Hispanic study included the anthropometry (scientific measurement) of nearly 5000 adult women using anthropometric calipers to measure the largest pelvis at 19 inches bi-iliac width (side-to-side bone width). This made her 19-inch wide Justo Major pelvis have a huge 1.73 ratio when compared to the average size pelvis of only 11 inches width. This was even a larger size pelvis than a pelvis of ‘minimum’ Justo Major size (that requires at least a 1.5 ratio). If a woman with a pelvis of this very large size were to do the same vaginal stretching practice to near her bone opening size, she could then vaginally take inside her vagina a huge 24-inch adult head. That size head would be 24 minus 21 inches, or 3 inches, larger than the 21-inch circumference adult head that a pelvis of the minimum 1.5 ratio Justo Major size pelvis could potentially stretch around. This larger size 19-inch wide pelvis would require a lesser degree of stretching to be comfortable when taking inside a 21-inch (much smaller size) adult head. This degree of comfort might be comparable to a woman of average size being vaginally double fisted by hands of considerably smaller size, or even being fisted by just one large hand. This less common but larger size pelvis (one in five thousand) Justo Major pelvis would have a sufficient size to potentially make partial unbirthing much easier to achieve”. 

There is no academic or clinical research on partial unbirthing fetishes although I did come across a small unscientific poll on the Deviant Art website. The poll asked its clientele of self-admitted ‘sexual deviants’ what the strangest fetish was and 16% of the sample said partial unbirthing was the strangest. Unbirthing topped the poll (22%), followed by neophilia (18%; having sexual intercourse with baby children), and furry infantilism (11%; a form of paraphilic infantilism among the Furry Fandom in which adults pretend to be baby animals). Other strangest fetishes included cement fetishes (8%), necrofurs (5%; Furry fandom necrophilia), vorarephilia (5%), and zoophilia (3%).

After reviewing the scant anecdotal evidence I am convinced that that partial unbirthing fetishes exist at the very least in fantasy form and there are certainly examples of online fictional fantasy stories involving partial unbirthing. However, I remain ambivalent as to whether the practice can be achieved in actuality. The evidence (such that it is) suggests it is theoretically possible but whether there are genuinely recorded cases is suspect at best.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Encyclopedia Dramatica (2011). Partial unbirthing. May 25. Located at: https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Partial_Unbirthing

Serial Killer Calendar (2012). Vorarephilia. Located at: http://www.serialkillercalendar.com/VORAREPHILIA.html

Urban Dictionary (2012). Partial unbirthing. Located at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=unbirthing

Wikibin (2012). Partial unbirthing fetishism. Located at: http://wikibin.org/articles/partial-unbirthing-fetishism.html

Wikipedia (2012). Pelvis justo major. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelvis_justo_major

Current affairs and shocking news: A beginner’s guide to electrophilia

Back in 1999, I had my first ever article published on sexually paraphilic behaviour in the magazine Bizarre. It was an article on auroerotic deaths and it featured the cases of ten people who had died in strange sexual circumstances. One of the cases I featured was originally published in a 1981 issue of Medicine, Science and the Law (by Dr. S. Sivaloganathan).

The case involved a 36-year old gay male who was an ex-television engineer. The man in question was found dead with a wire cradle applied to his scrotum with another loop of wire (with the end folded over) inserted into his anus. [Some researchers writing on this topic have noted that rectal application of electricity is a common practice for obtaining semen from bulls and may be the basis behind this uncommon method of masturbation]. The wires were connected to the two terminals that supplied the loudspeaker within the television set. When switched on, these wires carried a current of 0.6 amps at 2.2 volts (a quarter of the current needed to light a small torch). The dead man was found with two significant injuries. The first was on the right side of his face (entrance mark of the current), and the second was over the left side of his scrotum (where the loop of the wire had been). While masturbating, one of the wires had broken off resulting in a cessation of the stimulating activity. The man looked inside the back of the open television set and his face came into contact with an exposed metal cap that zapped 2500 volts through him (The metal cap was the only live part of the television set and it was this that killed him). A similar case was reported in a 1998 issue of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. The authors (led by Dr. M. Klintschar) noted that:  

“A plausible reconstruction of the accident involves attachment of one electrode to the anus and accidental touching of the other electrode with hand and chest when attempting to attach it to the penis. Death was caused by myocardial fibrillation. Both cable and pornographic literature were obviously hidden by the parents of the deceased to conceal the actual cause of death”

Another case in a 2003 issue of the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology (by Dr. J.C. Schott and colleagues) reported an accidental electrocution during autoeroticism. This case involved an 18-year-old male who was found dead by his brother in his bedroom wearing two brassieres. The authors reported that:

“Two wet green terry cloths were under the brassiere cups, connected to the house current via two metal washers and a bifid electrical cord. Literature depicting nude women was found near the victim. Autopsy revealed second-degree and third-degree burns of the mammary regions. Death was attributed to accidental self-electrocution”.

I mention these three cases by way of introduction to electrophilia. Both Dr. Anil Aggrawal (in his book Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices) and Dr. Brenda Love (in her Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices) define electrophilia as sexual pleasure and arousal from electricity (or electric stimulus). Dr. Brenda Love’s encyclopedia entry also noted that electrophilia may play a part in sexual sadism and sexual masochism. More specifically:

“Electric shock is used as a form of titillation or light torture depending on the amount of voltage chosen by the recipient Shock as a form of sex play is a modified and safe version of the types of electrical shock government officials used in different countries to interrogate political prisoners and by American prison guards to control their prisoners. Most devices used in sex play are inconsequential by comparison”.

Dr. Love spent most of her entry talking about the sadomasochistic use of electricity but did mention that:

“The Japanese use a special battery operated device to induce orgasm in men. This box has two wires with electrodes, one is attached to the end of the penis and the other is inserted to the rectum. The man then regulates the current with a rheostat until orgasm. This devise is used by physicians to eject sperm from impotent men to use for artificial insemination and similarly by veterinarians for breeding livestock”.

The case studies I mentioned above are by no means isolated. A 2006 literature review by Dr. A. Sauvageau and Dr. S. Racette published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences examined all cases of autoerotic deaths in the literature between 1954 to 2004. They located 408 cases of autoerotic death in 57 published papers, most of who were white males. Almost 90% of the deaths were cases of sexual asphyxia (hanging, plastic bags, ligature, and/or chemical substances such as amyl nitrate). Sexual death by electrocution accounted for 3.7% of all autoerotic deaths – the others being overdressing/body wrapping (1.5%), foreign body insertion (1.2%), atypical asphyxia method (2.9%), and miscellaneous (1.0%).

Dr. George Pranzarone in his 2000 Dictionary of Sexology refers to ‘electrocutophilia’, which by the definition provided appears to be ‘electrophilia’ but with a slightly different name. He says that:

“Electrocutophilia [is a] paraphilia of the sacrificial and expiatory stratagem in which sexuoerotic arousal and orgasm is dependent upon the use of electrical stimulation of the body to possibly include the nipples, urethra, penis/scrotum, vulva/clitoris/vagina and anal/rectal tissues. This paraphilia has been seen to occur more frequently among women than in men and has also resulted in accidental death. The activities of electrocutophilia may be exploratory or varietal sex play and not a paraphilia. It also may be part of a sadomasochistic repertory. Devices for ‘safe’ sexuoerotic electrostimulation are now commercially available”.

One of the most interesting things about this snippet is Dr. Pranzarone’s assertion that the paraphilia is more common among women. I don’t know of any academic or clinical literature supporting such a claim and most sexual paraphilias are predominantly male-based (although some like hybristophilia – sexual arousal and pleasure from having a sexual partner who is known to have committed an outrage or crime, such as rape, murder, or armed robbery – are known to be more common among females). Having said that, electrophilia among women is not unknown. Last year, an online article by Sam Greenspan briefly looked at the death (in 2008) of Kirsten Taylor who died as a result of electrophilic sex play (death by electric nipple clamps). As Greenspan reported:

“When 29-year-old Kirsten Taylor of Craley, Pennsylvania, died from electrocution, her husband Toby initially told the cops she’d been shocked by her hair dryer. This was not true. He’d later admit that they were into weird sexual behaviors’. The night she died, they’d put electric clamps on her nipples and Toby was administering shocks to her by turning on and off a power strip…Something went wrong and one of the shocks killed her. Which was a surprise since he said they’d ‘been engaging in electric shock sex’ for about two years”.

The husband, Toby Taylor, was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Finally, writing in a 2011 issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dr. Stephen Hucker compared electrophilia with both hypoxyphilia (sexual arousal and pleasure from oxygen deprivation) and anaesthesiophilia (sexual arousal and pleasure from volatile substances such as chloroform, ether, butane, etc.). All these behaviours have potential “to result in a well-recognized mode of accidental death” and come “under the general rubric of sexual masochism”. Most of what is known about electrophilia is based on published case studies in the forensic pathology literature, and is typically based on those that have died from the practice. Little is known about the prevalence of the behaviour either as a standalone masturbatory aid or as part of sadomasochistic sexual play.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Aggrawal A. (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Cairns, F.J. & Rainer, S.P. (1981). Death from electrocution during auto-erotic procedures. New Zealand Medical Journal, 94, 259-260.

Greenspan, S. (2011). 11 Unbelievably Insane Deaths During Sex. 11 Points, November 8. Located at: http://www.11points.com/Dating-Sex/11_Unbelievably_Insane_Deaths_During_Sex

Griffiths, M.D. (1999). Dying for it: Autoerotic deaths Bizarre, 24, 62-65.

Hazelwood, R.R. (1983). Autoerotic Fatalities. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

Hucker, S. (2011).  Hypoxyphilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 1323-1326.

Klintschar, M. & Grabuschnigg, P. & Beham, A. (1998). Death from electrocution during autoerotic practice: case report and review of the literature. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 19, 190-193.

Love, B. (2001). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. London: Greenwich Editions.

Pranzarone, G.F. (2000). The Dictionary of Sexology. Located at: http://ebookee.org/Dictionary-of-Sexology-EN_997360.html

Rogers, D.J. (2004). Adult sexual offences. In McLay, W.D.S. (Ed.). Clinical Forensic Medicine (pp. 137-154). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sauvageau, A. & Racette, S. (2006). Autoerotic deaths in the literature from 1954 to 2004: A review. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51, 140-146.

Schott, J.C., Davis, G.J. & Hunsaker, J.C. (2003). Accidental electrocution during autoeroticism: a shocking case. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 24, 92-95.

Seidl, S. (2004). Accidental autoerotic death: A review on the lethal para- philiac syndrome. In M. Tsokos (Ed.), Forensic Pathology Reviews (Vol. 1, pp. 235–262). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.

Sivaloganathan, S. (1981). Curiosum eroticum – A case of fatal electrocution during auto-erotic practice. Medicine, Science and Law, 21, 47-50.

Smoking Gun (2008). Kinky sex, shocking death, January 25. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/kinky-sex-shocking-death

Tan, C.T.T. & Chao, T.C. (1983). A case of fatal electrocution during an unusual autoerotic practice. Medicine, Science and Law, 23, 92-95.

Breath duties: A brief look at gas mask fetishism

In a previous blog, I examined mask fetishism that involves individuals who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from either wearing masks and/or seeing others wearing masks. Today’s blog takes a more detailed look at gas mask fetishism. As with mask fetishism more generally, there is little in the way of academic or clinical research on gas mask fetishism, and much of what is known can best be described as anecdotal.

Gas mask fetishism appears to have potential overlap with other types of paraphilic and/or fetishistic behaviour, particularly hypoxyphilia (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure and arousal from oxygen deprivation). For instance, a recent 2011 paper in the Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine led by Dr. Oleg Skugarevsky, examined a couple of deaths due to hypoxyphilia, one of which was wearing a gas mask at the scene of death. They noted that:

[Hypoxyphiliacs] use a variety of techniques to produce the hypoxia like strangulation, suffocation or reduction of the oxygen in the inspired air that may be achieved with plastic bags or gas masks that may allow inhaling some anesthetic gases (chloroform, nitrous oxide) and volatile chemicals (isopropyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite (“poppers”)”.

A recent (and interesting) 2011 multi-authored paper led by Joe Marshall (Nottingham University, UK) examined the entertainment value of gas masks in a paper entitled: “The gas mask: A probe for exploring fearsome interactions”. They argued that a range of popular entertainment clearly demonstrates that there is “widespread and growing public appetite for extreme, visceral, and horrifying experiences”. Their idea of a gas mask interface emerged out of a long-term project “to develop interactive entertainments using biological sensing, which led to the idea of exploring the aesthetics of respiration monitoring as a form of engaging spectacle and gaming interaction”. Reflecting on their experiences with gas masks as part of the entertainment experience, they identified six key dimensions in designing fearsome interactions, some of which I think are applicable to the use of gas masks in sexual play and gas mask fetishism.

• The cultural dimension: Many scholars have argued that emotions and culture are intertwined, therefore, when it comes to the use of gas masks in a leisure context, it has to take into account the cultural context. Marshall and colleagues argue that gas masks clearly have a very striking and unusual aesthetic with strong cultural associations. Clearly, gas masks are likely to evoke images of warfare, law enforcement, riot control police, etc. For those using gas masks as part of bondage and BDSM play, these associations of power and strength may be an important part of sexual roleplay. Marshall and colleagues themselves also note that:“[Gas masks] are also associated with sexual behaviour as part of sexual practices surrounding breathplay and erotic asphyxiation. Moreover, bondage wear is now increasingly fashionable – for example London’s Torture Garden fetish and body modification nightclub has moved over the last 20 years from being a semi-legal club, regularly shut down by the police, to become a well established entertainment and fetish clothing brand. Interestingly, other researchers have noted [human-computer interaction’s] ‘tendency to desexualise technology’ and have sought to raise an agenda for researching ‘sexual interactions’. It is therefore important to recognise that gas masks may suggest various fearsome and/or sexual associations and possibly heighten both kinds of arousal”
• The visceral dimension: Marshall and colleagues note there is “a striking physicality to donning a gas mask which may amplify the fearsome nature of horror experiences in several more direct ways”. This again is likely to enhance the experience for sadomasochists who utilize gas mask equipment. As they also note, for many this results in “an unusual and somewhat uncomfortable physical sensation, while others may experience something closer to claustrophobia”. As I noted in a previous blog on claustrophilia (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure and arousal from being confined in small places), gas masks for this type of paraphiliac might be a sensual turn on.
• The control dimension: Marshall and colleagues note that an important aspect of fearsome experiences is the “committing to a scary and unknown experience and not being able to back out, either physically or socially”. This again, is critical in some BDSM scenarios and is critical in ‘breath play’ aspects of sadomasochistic activity. Additionally, it allows one dominant participant to control, through their breathing, the physical experience of a submissive other and “playing on the fear and thrill of being controlled by, and controlling, others”.
• The social dimension: Marshall and colleagues note that by enclosing a person’s face in a gas mask creates a situation whereby the mask wearer is made anonymous. This leads to effects that may be especially important in BDSM situations. Firstly, the wearer feels isolated and/or dehumanized. Secondly, those viewing the person wearing the gas mask may see the person as anonymous and (potentially) non-human.
• The performance dimension: Marshall and colleagues argue that the performance dimension has the potential to amplify the scary and fearsome nature of interactions while wearing a gas mask. This form of viewing via gas mask has the potential keeping social interactions somewhat ambiguous, allowing the participant to interpret the situation themselves. This again may be an important part of fantasy-based BDSM play, and the anticipation of what may happen may be more sexually exciting for the mask wearer than what happens in actuality.
• The engineering dimension: Finally, Marshall and colleagues acknowledge the significant engineering challenges involved in creating wearable sensors that are sufficiently robust to operate within leisure contexts (although personally I don’t think there are many implications for sexual use from an engineering perspective).

Marshall and his colleagues concluded that many popular entertainments involve people voluntarily undergoing fearsome experiences (and my own take on this is that it can involve sexual behaviour and experiences). Ultimately, they argued that the creation of scary experiences has to take account of the multi-faceted nature of fear, that involves cultural, visceral, social, and control factors outlined above.

I’ve yet to come across any focused research on gas mask fetishes and/or sexuality. There are a few first person articles examining the issue although not from the user perspective. I’ll leave you with perhaps the most interesting by artist Callidus who examined gas mask fetishism from an aesthetic perspective after coming across (by accident) some gas mask imagery:

“I’m not sure why gas mask imagery has never really appealed to me; any more than I understand why its such a turn-on for others…When I came across this particular series of images, what really grabbed my interest was the contrast…Contrast is the foundation of all design. Whether its contrast between form, color, or aesthetic, the difference between A and B is where interesting things happen. In this case, I found the contrast between the beautiful lines of the female form and the harsh, industrial design of a gas mask to be very striking…I find bondage to be especially potent here. The image of a woman encased in this foreboding mask, unable to shut out the sights or sounds engulfing her senses while her limbs are restrained from affecting any sort of aid. It works for me”

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Bebbington, P.E. (1977). Treatment of male sexual deviation by use of a vibrator: Case report. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 6, 21-24.

Callidus (2011). I don’t have a gas mask fetish…and yet. August 3. Located at: http://callidus-mc.com/animated-manips/i-dont-have-a-gas-mask-fetish-and-yet

Love, B. (2001). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. London: Greenwich Editions.

Marshall, J., Walker, B., Benford, S., Tomlinson, G, Egglestone, S.R., Reeves, S. Brundell, P., Tennent, P., Cranwell, J., Harter, P. & Longhurst, J. (2011). The gas mask: A probe for exploring fearsome interactions. Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp.127-136). New York, NY.

Nation Master (2012). Mask fetishism. Located at: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Mask-fetishism

Skugarevsky, O., Ehrlich, E., & Sheleg, S. (2011). Accidental strangulation resulted from hypoxyphilia associated with multiple paraphilias and substance abuse: a psychological autopsy case report. Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine, 19, 249-252.

Flat mates: A brief look at BBW squashing fetishes

While researching a previous blog on fat fetishes, I came across the practice of ‘gut flopping’. According to the online Urban Dictionary, gut flopping is “where a large bellied individual raises his or her stomach and allows it to drop upon his or her sexual partner in a way that creates a smack sound [and] is an act performed for sexual pleasure”. There is an infamous clip on the internet featuring gut flopping (which you can check out here if you are so inclined), but there is little written about it academically (or non-academically for that matter). However, one variant of this that appears to be very popular among a minority of men is ‘BBW squashing’ (i.e., men being squashed by one or more ‘big beautiful women’ for sexual pleasure) and also known as ‘crushing’ or ‘smashing’ by squashing enthusiasts. One such BBW (‘Massive Mocha’) appeared on Dr. Drew’s US television show in October 2011 talking about her experiences as someone who catered for men’s fetish to be sat on and squashed by very large women. ‘Massive Mocha’ revealed that men ask her to sit on them until they feel they are going to pass out from loss of breath.

According to the Squashing Fetish website, there are many variations of the fetish. Heterosexual squashing comprises very obese women squashing smaller (typically thin) men. Homosexual squashing comprises very obese men squashing much smaller men. For some, fantasizing about being squashed may satisfy the sexual fetish. This may include someone (weighing anything from 200 pounds to 600 pounds) sitting, standing, jumping, and/or crushing their face, belly and/or chest (resulting in the person being squashed squirming). The relationship (concerning control) is psychologically similar to the dominant and submissive in sexual sadism and sexual masochism. Being unable to breathe (or breathe properly) appears to be critical in the fetish and in that sense shares similarities with hypoxyphilia (i.e., autoerotic asphyxiation in which individuals derive sexual arousal and pleasure from the restriction of their oxygen supply).

Last year (May 22, 2012), Channel 4 (in the UK) screened Nick Betts’ documentary My Big Fat Fetish. One of the women interviewed at length in the show was BBW Reenaye Starr. She was interviewed by a British tabloid newspaper prior to the show being aired and was asked whether the physical contact associated with a squashing was seen as the ultimate prize by men who pay to be squashed by her. Starr was reported as saying:

“It depends. There are so many different kinds of ‘fat admirers’. Some men are not interested in squashing at all. Some men are just into big ladies looking cute. And then there are some into hardcore pornography who want to see big ladies having sex. It all depends on what your sub-fetish is – but to these men, being with a big woman in any capacity is their ultimate desire. [My] subscribers come from all over the world. But there is definitely a huge following in the UK…I personally – other than my husband – have two feeders who send me money for food online. They don’t physically feed me as they’re too far away but one is based in the US now so he does come in for squashings”

In an online article on BBW squashing (which looks as though it was written by BBW squashers themselves but I can’t be sure), it noted “we may not be able to explain how being squashed can be sexy, but it is an important part of foreplay for those who have this kind of fetish”. The (anonymous) writer confirms my own view that BBW squashing is on the same spectrum as sexual behaviours such as sadomasochism, bondage, and domination “which means that in order to find sexual pleasure, one must feel pain from lack of oxygen, beating, among others”. The article also claims that BBW Squashing “is not as life-threatening as autoerotic asphyxiation since the man can tap the BBW anytime he feels that he’s close to passing out”. It claims that most BBWs engage in squashing for financial reasons and that their primary aim is “to concentrate on the sexual gratification of their clients…Others like Queen Raqui, it’s more like a sport in which she also earns money, without the pressure of having sex with her clients”. The article mainly concerns all the different types of ways that men can be squashed by BBWs.

• Face-Sitting: This position involves the man lying diagonally across a bed with his head at the corner of the bed. The BBW squasher (BBWS) then sits on the man’s head with the man’s face in the BBWS’s crotch. Some BBWSs may move or shake about to enhance the man’s pleasure.
• Sixty-Nine (69): This position involves the man lying flat on the bed while the BBWS lies on top of him so that her face is in the man’s crotch and is facing his legs (and vice-versa). Either partner may stimulate each other’s genitals while in the 69 position.
• Back-Lying: This position involves a man lying on his back with the BBWS sitting on him and crushing his chest and/or face.
• Leg-Captivity: This position involves the BBWS wrapping the man’s head between her legs with the man facing either her crotch or her buttocks. The BBWS may completely suffocate the man in this position (and has to rely on the man to signal to her to let her know when to let go).
• Riding Horse Man: This position (as might be expected from the name) involves the BBWS riding the man like a horse while he is on his front. This is said to increase the man’s sexual arousal.
• Double Trouble: This is not a position as such but involves two BBWSs sitting on a man in any variation of the positions outlined above.

In a previous blog I examined both macrophilia (i.e., sexual pleasure and arousal from giants) and crush fetishes (i.e., sexual pleasure and arousal from crushing or being crushed), and there seems to be some psychological similarity between BBW squashing and these other sexual paraphilias and fetishes. For instance, some macrophiles date extraordinarily tall women (so called ‘Amazons’) even if they have to pay for the privilege to do so. For instance, Mikayla Miles (who when wearing her fetish boots nearly 7 feet in her fetish boots, and 6 feet 4 inches without the boots) provides private sessions with macrophiles to engage in behaviours such as trampling. This has a lot of resonance with BBW squashing. Research has been carried out into both sadomasochistic sexual activity and fat fetishes, but little on where they intersect. This would certainly be a fruitful area for further empirical investigation.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

All Experts (2009). Fetishism/BBW. September 16. Located at: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Fetishism-2835/2009/9/BBW-1.htm

Call Escort Girls (2012). BBW squashing. February 28. Located at: http://callescortgirls.com/bbw-squashing

Leigh, R. (2012). “I work with attractive women who love themselves – what could be more empowering than that?” My Big Fat Fetish’s Reenaye Starr on squashings and whether she feels exploited. Daily Mirror, May 22. Located at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/my-big-fat-fetish-bbw-model-844022

Monaghan, L. (2005). Big handsome men, bears, and others: Virtual constructions of ‘fat male embodiment’. Body and Society, 11, 81-111.

Murray, S. (2004). Locating aesthetics: Sexing the fat woman. Social Semiotics, 14, 237-247.

Swami, V. & Tovee, M.J. (2009). Big beautiful women: the body size preferences of male fat admirers. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 89-96.

Terry, L.L. & Vasey, P.L. (2011). Feederism in a woman. Archives of Sexial Behavior, 40, 639-645.

Getting a face lift: A beginner’s guide to mask fetishism

Back in 2005, the BBC reported on the case of Norman Hutchins, a 53-year old man with a fetish for surgical masks. He constantly phoned hospitals and dental surgeries pretending that he needed the masks for charity events. For instance, he would tell medical staff he was doing a ‘fun run’ in fancy dress or that he needed the masks for amateur dramatics. However, he used the masks for his own fetishistic sexual kicks. He was described in court as “a menace to anyone involved in medical or dental institutions”.

Mask fetishism involves individuals who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from either wearing masks and/or seeing others wearing masks. There is little in the way of academic or clinical research on the topic and much of what is known can best be described as anecdotal. The masks that form the basis of the sexual arousal are often vary specific and may overlap with other types of paraphilic and/or fetishistic behaviour. For instance, those individuals into coulrophilia (sexual arousal from clowns) will prefer clown masks, furries will prefer animal masks, sexual sadists will prefer leather, PVC or rubber masks (e.g., ‘gimp’-type masks as featured in Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction), and those into medical fetishism will prefer surgical masks.

However, there are many other types of mask that may stimulate sexual arousal including gas masks, hangman’s masks, Ninja masks, leather masks (such as the archetypal ‘rapist’s mask), rubber face masks (some of which may be a famous celebrity), oxygen masks (as popularized in David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet), porcelain masks, and novelty masks (e.g., Halloween characters, alien characters, horror movie characters). There are also individuals who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from women wearing Muslim and harem-type face coverings although this is usually deemed to be a veil fetish rather than a mask fetish.

Dr. Brenda Love in her Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices has a small section on masks and hoods. Dr. Love notes that from a sexual perspective, masks were popular in Europe during the 18th century. She also reported that prostitutes originally used them “to hide their identity but later they became popular among women of higher social status”. In the context of sado-masochistic bondage, Dr. Love writes that hoods and masks are used to “depersonalize a partner” and that anonymity it affords gives the dominant partner more power and also gives both parties fewer inhibitions.

A 35-year old male Cypriot posted a query on mask fetishes to Dr. Allan Schwartz’s Sexuality and Sexual Problems online Mental Help website because he was on the brink of suicide. The Cypriot man talked about his mask fantasies that he had dating back to early childhood. He talked about how sexually turned on he was seeing women wearing scarves around their faces. His fiancé tried to share his sexual fetish (and wore a cat-suit hood for him) but ultimately decided that she got little from it. However, it got to the point that the man couldn’t get sexually aroused unless his fiancé was wearing a mask. Dr. Schwartz replied:

“The human face represents the very essence of a person and most intimate lovers would want to have their face seen while making love and to observe the face of their partner. Yes, a mask sometimes, if that is your wish, but not always. In a way, the mask causes you and her to not really be there together…I suspect that you are conflicted about your sexual feelings and about sexuality as a human means of communication. The mask, something you always must have your partner wear, may hide the real and personal woman, rendering the sex anonymous. This is only a guess but I suspect that something of the kind is going on”.

Nick Brown’s blog, How To Ask Out A Girl, featured an article on mask fetishes. He had overviewed other blog stories on mask fetishes and came the conclusion that the content was “mainly negative”. He claims that the negative outlook on masks more generally comes from the horror-film culture. I have also done my own research on the topic and my own view is that there is a lot of negativity about mask fetishes but mainly from women who do not share their partners’ desires. Here is what I feel is a typical story I came across:

“My partner has a mask fetish. He desires to put on masks and have sex. He has been purchasing masks and accumulates them. I believed they were a pastime but he truly will get turned on by it.  I consider it quite creepy and I personally do not enjoy clowns or masks. He buys latex masks, Halloween masks, and those ballroom/fantasy masks. He also has a porcelain one. It is out of my scope of tolerance and I normally have attempted covering them because he likes to hold them on display. The porcelain one was hung up in the kitchen, really creepy to me”

There are passing references to mask fetishism in the sexual paraphilia literature but the primary focus of the papers they appear in are not mask fetishes but something else. For instance, a paper by Dr. Paul Bebbington in a 1977 issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior described the case of a 44-year old male fetishist who had an unusual vibrator fetish but who also had a “mild mask fetish” that eventually “abated of its own accord”. He was described as a “careful, orderly, pedantic man with little social life” and was sent for treatment because he was a civil servant and his fetishes were considered to be a security risk by his employer. However, no further information was given regarding his ‘mild’ mask fetish.

Another paraphilia that is associated with mask fetishism is hypoxyphilia (deriving sexual pleasure and arousal from oxygen deprivation). For instance, a recent 2011 paper in the Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine led by Dr. Oleg Skugarevsky examined a couple of deaths due to hypoxyphilia, one of which was wearing a gas mask at the scene of death. They noted that:

“[Hypoxyphiliacs] use a variety of techniques to produce the hypoxia like strangulation, suffocation or reduction of the oxygen in the inspired air that may be achieved with plastic bags or gas masks that may allow inhaling some anesthetic gases (chloroform, nitrous oxide) and volatile chemicals (isopropyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite (“poppers”)”.

The incidence and prevalence of mask fetishism is unknown although the ALT Experience website claims that it is “a common paraphilia” (although no statistics or evidence is provided for the claim of being commonplace). The site also claims (again without any supporting evidence) that:

“The psychological factors behind this have to do with society’s idea of the face as a focal point of beauty. By covering up the face, sexual play not only hides a person’s appearance, but creates a degree of anonymity. Without being able to see facial features, it is more difficult to read responses of pain, fear, pleasure, and so forth. This, in a sense, creates an aspect of anonymity that goes beyond just the physical features of a person’s face. Thus, the mind is more open to imagination and fantasy”

In 2002, Finnish researchers led by Dr. Kenneth Sandnabba examined the sexual behaviour of sado-masochists in the journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy. The paper summarized the results from five empirical studies of a sample of 184 Finnish sado-masochists (22 women and 162 men). More specifically, the examined the frequency with which the respondents engaged in different sexual practices, behaviours and role-plays during the preceding 12 months and reported that 66% had used masks and/or blindfolds at least once. Given the lack of empirical data on mask fetishism, such claims may well be verified as true by future research, but unlike the hypoxyphiliacs, I’m not holding my breath!

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

ALT Experience (2012). Masks. Located at: http://altexperience.com/masks/

BBC News (2005). Surgical mask fetishist jailed. January 20. Located at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4191969.stm

Bebbington, P.E. (1977). Treatment of male sexual deviation by use of a vibrator: Case report. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 6, 21-24.

Benomran, F.A., Masood, S.E., Hassan, A.I., & Mohammad, A.A. (2007).  Masking and bondage in suicidal hanging: a case report. Medicine Science and Law, 47, 177-80.

Brown, N. (2011). You can’t make love without wearing a mask. December 11. Located at: http://www.howtoaskoutagirl.info/tag/mask-fetishThere

Love, B. (2001). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. London: Greenwich Editions.

Marshall, J., Walker, B., Benford, S., Tomlinson, G, Egglestone, S.R., Reeves, S. Brundell, P., Tennent, P., Cranwell, J., Harter, P. & Longhurst, J. (2011). The gas mask: A probe for exploring fearsome interactions. Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp.127-136). New York, NY.

Nation Master (2012). Mask fetishism. Located at: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Mask-fetishism

Nation Master (2012). Veil fetishism. Located at: http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Veil-fetishism

Richters, J., de Visser, R.O., Rissel, C.E., Grulich, A.E., & Smith, A.M. (2008). Demographic and psychosocial features of participants in bondage and discipline, ‘‘sadomasochism’’ or dominance and submission (BDSM): Data from a national survey. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7, 1660–1668.

Schwartz, T. (2009). Mask and encasement fetish, Mental Help. April 29. Located at: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=advice&id=6613&at=7&cn=10&ad_7=1

Sandnabba, N.K., Santtila, P., Alison, L., & Nordling, N. (2002). Demographics, sexual behaviour, family background and abuse experiences of practitioners of sadomasochistic sex: A review of recent research. Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 17, 39–55.

Skugarevsky, O., Ehrlich, E., & Sheleg, S. (2011). Accidental strangulation resulted from hypoxyphilia associated with multiple paraphilias and substance abuse: a psychological autopsy case report. Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine, 19, 249-252.

Appliance fiction? A beginner’s guide to mechanophilia

My partner is a Frank Zappa fan and one of her favourite albums is his 1979 rock opera Joe’s Garage. On the LP, Joe is described as an “appliance fetishist” by the ‘Church of Appliantology’ (and ends up having a gay relationship with an industrial vacuum cleaner). Although Joe is a fictional character, appliance and machine fetishes aren’t. According to Dr. Anil Aggrawal’s 2009 book Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices, being sexually turned on by machines is a sexual paraphilia called mechanophilia. Cynthia Ceilán in her 2008 book Weirdly Beloved: Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings, and Love Gone Bad describes the same sexual paraphilia as ‘mechaphilia’. The online Urban Dictionary has a more encompassing definition, and defines mechanophilia as:

“The love or sexual attraction to computers, cars, robots or androids, washing machines and other domestic appliances, lawn mowers and other mechanised gardening equipment. Sexual relations between living organisms and machines”.

I briefly mentioned mechanophilia in a previous blog on the relationship between sex and cars, but the paraphilia not only includes individuals who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from cars (such as the American man Edward Smith who has who has had sex with over a 1000 cars), but also to bicycles (such as the British man Robert Stewart who ended up in court after being caught having sex with a bicycle), and aeroplanes and helicopters (according to Ray Broadus Browne in his 1982 book Objects of Special Devotion: Fetishism in Popular Culture). A paper published in 2000 by Dr. Steven Thompson in the journal Technology and Culture argued that motorcycles are often portrayed as sexualized fetish objects by their owners. There would also appear to be some structural and psychological overlap with technosexuality/robot fetishism and objectum sexuality (i.e., having sexual and/or romantic relationships with inanimate objects) that I examined in previous blogs.

According to Dr. William Hickey in his 2006 book Sex Crimes and Paraphilias, in some jurisdictions mechanophilic acts are treated as crimes with perpetrators being placed on a sex offenders’ register after prosecution. The Wikipedia entry on mechanophilia mostly concentrates on references to mechanophilia in art, culture, and design. It noted that:

“Mechanophilia has been used to describe important works of the early Modernists such as the 1922 FEKS ‘Eccentric Manifesto’ of Leonid Trauberg, Sergei Yutkevich, Grigori Kozintsev and others,a modernist avant garde movement that spanned Russian futurism and constructivism. The term has entered into the realms of science fiction and popular fiction. Scientifically, in ‘Biophilia, The Human Bond with Other Species’, Edward O. Wilson is quoted describing mechanophilia, the love of machines, as ‘a special case of biophilia”,whereas psychologists such as Erich Fromm would see it as a form of necrophilia. Designers such as Francis Picabia and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti have been said to exploited the sexual attraction of automobiles”.

I have yet to come across any empirical research specifically on mechanophilia beyond case studies. Dr. Ian Kerner, a New York sex therapist told CBS News that among mechanophiles there is generally “an exhibitionistic element for the person being stimulated by machine, as well as general submission [and] domination themes”, although I am unsure as to whether this is based on anyone Dr. Kerner has treated or whether this is just pure speculation. (I suspect the latter).

In a previous blog I mentioned a 1992 case study by Dr Padmal De Silva and Dr Amanda Pernet published in the journal Sex and Marital Therapy. The case involved an unusual sexual deviation in a young 20-year old British man (‘George’) who had little social interaction and was incredibly shy. They reported that his main sexual interest and excitement was from cars – particularly Austin Metro cars. George’s family belonged to a strict religious sect who strongly disapproved of any sexual involvement by their son with women. Things changed for George when his parents bough an Austin Metro car. George began masturbating inside the car, and then outside masturbating outside the car while crouching down next to the car’s exhaust pipe. So that he couldn’t be caught masturbating, he would go to great lengths to find deserted places to engage in his sexual activity with the car.

George used to become very sexually excited when the car’s exhaust pipe was running and pumping out car fumes. This aspect of “elimination” – according to De Silva and Pernet – was an important central element in George’s other sexual preferences – particularly his fascination of urination. As a very young child he had an unusual interest in dogs urinating. After the age of 10 years, he was more interested in children and adult women urinating. The authors also speculated there may have been an increase in George’s arousal due to a “reduction of oxygen intake and related asphyxiation”. This was possibly seen as a mild form of hypoxyphilia.

In 2003, a man simply calling himself ‘Schlessinger’ published a book called Mechaphilia: Sexual Attraction to Machines. The (non-academic) book charts Schlessinger’s “personal journey” of coming to terms with his sexual desire for machines and his quest to seek acceptance from his family and friends about his sexual love of machines. The book is detailed in his description such as his detailing of the curves of a reel-to-reel recorder that he fell in love with. Schlessinger ends the book by saying that he has happily come to accept his ‘quirky sexuality’. In relation to the more cultural aspects of mechanophilia, the Wikipedia entry notes:

“Culturally, critics have described it as an ‘all pervading’ within contemporary Western society and that is seems to overwhelm our society and all too often our better judgement”. Although not all such uses are sexual in intent, the terms are also used for specifically erotogenic fixation on machinery and taken to its extreme in hardcore pornography as Fucking Machines. This mainly involves women being sexually penetrated by machines for male consumption,which are seen as being the limits of current sexual biopolitics. Arse Elektronika (organized by Austrian art-tech group ‘monochrom’) is propagating a DIY/feminist approach to sex machines. Authors have drawn a connection between mechanophilia and masculine militarisation, citing the works of animator Yasuo Otsuka and Studio Ghibli”.

In one of the few articles written on mechanophilia, Symone Nelson appears to speculate about the psychological reasons for engaging in such paraphilic behaviour but claim there is no single reason as to why someone becomes a mechanophile. Nelson claims:

“Some mechanophiliacs enjoy the engineering aspect of their object, how it works, moves and is built. While others are fascinated with the effect it produces for example the noise and warmth that comes off of a drying machine. There is a niche of porn called ‘machine porn’ where women and men are involved in erotic acts with machines that are made for the purpose of sex…You can probably find a mechanophiliac using sex toys and machines on their partners or on themselves during sex…On the extreme end mechanophiliacs NEED the presence of their object to reach sexual gratification or ONLY the presence of their object will bring them sexual gratification and another person is not able to do so…A mechanophiliac will have a relationship with their machine object as a person would with another person. All the elements of dating are involved in a mechanophiliac relationship from courting, to the first date and even the first kiss and sexual encounter…When the hospitals get odd cases like a man being treated on his penis after getting it “stuck” in a vacuum cleaner or a woman who has injured herself using a electric mixing spoon for masturbation doctors usually chalk it up to the fetish”.

These latter speculations about people ending up in hospital when things go wrong don’t appear to be about mechanophilia at all. Personally, I believe that people who use the vibrations of a washing machine or vacuum cleaner as part of masturbatory sex are not mechanophiles (otherwise anyone who used a vibrator would be classed as a mechanophile). Mechanophiles have sex and make love to the machine (and may even develop emotional attachments) rather than using the appliance simply to heighten sexual pleasure during masturbation. Although mechanophilia appears to be rare, as far as I am concerned it’s far from fiction. It’s certainly an area that would benefit from more empirical and/or clinical research, although there needs to be consensus from those working in the field as to what mechanophilia actually is.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Aggrawal A. (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Browne, R.B. (1982). Objects of Special Devotion: Fetishism in Popular Culture. Popular Press.

Ceilán, C. (2008). Weirdly Beloved: Tales of Strange Bedfellows, Odd Couplings, and Love Gone Bad. The Lyons Press.

De Silva, P. & Pernet, A. (1992). Pollution in ‘Metroland’: An unusual paraphilia in a shy young man. Sexual and Marital Therapy, 7, 301-306.

Hickey, E.W. (2006), Sex crimes and paraphilia. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Marsh, A. (2010). Love among the objectum sexuals. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, 13, March 1. Located at: http://www.ejhs.org/volume13/ObjSexuals.htm

Nelson, S. (2012). Fetish spotlight: Mechanophilia. Located at: http://www.thehoneybunnys.com/fetish-spotlight-mechanophilia/

Schlessinger (2003). Mechaphilia: Sexual Attraction to Machines. Please Press.

Thompson, S.L. (2000). The arts of the motorcycle: Biology, culture, and aesthetics in technological choice. Technology and Culture, 41, 99-115.

Wikipedia (2012). Mechanophilia. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanophilia

Sexual healing: A brief examination of medical fetishism‬

I’m sure most of us can remember playing ‘doctors and nurses’ when we were kids but there are some people who never seem to grow out of it and engage in what has been termed ‘medical fetishism’. The fetish appears to be quite inclusive and wide ranging because the activity can comprise those (i) individuals who are sexually attracted to people in the medical profession, (ii) people (usually heterosexual males) who derive sexual pleasure from their female sexual partners to dress up in a nurse’s uniform, and/or (iii) individuals who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from actually being the recipients of a medical or clinical procedure (usually some kind of bodily examination). Some of these behaviours may be paraphilias or specialized fetishes such as klismaphilia (i.e., sexual pleasure from the receiving of enemas) that I examined in a previous blog. There are also those whose fetish only concerns a very particular branch of medicine (such as dentistry).

The types of activity that have been reported as medical fetishes include genital and urological examinations (e.g., a gynecological examination), genital procedures (e.g., fitting a catheter or menstrual cup), rectal procedures (e.g., inserting suppositories, taking a rectal temperature, prostate massage), the application of medical dressings and accessories (e.g., putting on a bandage or nappy, fitting a dental retainer, putting someone’s arm in plaster), and the application and fitting of medical devices (e.g., fitting a splint, orthopedic cast or brace).

Some of these activities such as having a nappy, catheter, or orthopedic brace fitted may overlap with other sexual paraphilias listed in Dr. AnilAggrawal’ Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices, such as infantilism (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure from being an adult baby), catheterophilia (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure from catheters), and apotemnophila (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure from the thought of being an amputee). In the most extreme cases of medical fetishism, more invasive medical acts may be performed for sexual pleasure including giving injection, anaesthesia, and actual surgery. The sexual pleasure and arousal may occur in the giver and/or receiver, and much of the activity may be in the form of sexual role-play. As one online essay on medical fetishism noted:

“People with an extreme medical fetish use torturous medical devices, speculums, mouth and anal spreaders, enema kits, probes etc. They may even consent to false operations where they are surgically opened, and with nothing fixed or removed, sutured closed. An extreme medical fetish can be a dangerous thing…A medical fetish can include a sexual attraction to medical people. Doctor and nurse porn movies, people receiving medical examinations and so on. Most are simply role play”.

There are also sub-branches of medical fetishism that may have overlaps with sadomasochism and BDSM where (for instance) a female dominatrix may inflict a medical procedure on their willing submissive individual. Such activity often centres on sexual and/or sensitive body parts including the penis, testicles, nipples and anus. The instruments used may also be heated or cooled to heighten the pain/pleasure sensations. Given the potential danger involved in some of the activities performed and the fact the person administering the procedure (e.g., anaesthesia, surgery) may not have any formal medical training, the risk of permanent body damage – or in extreme cases, death – is a possibility. Here, the risk of something going wrong may also be sexually stimulating to the person, and there appears to be both physical and psychological overlaps with paraphilias such as hypoxyphilia (i.e., deriving sexual pleasure from restricting oxygen supply to heighten sexual arousal).

Medical fetishism within sadomasochistic activity would therefore constitute ‘edgeplay’. This is a term used within the BDSM community that refers to sexual activities that push the boundaries of safety and are sometimes referred to as RACKs (Risk-Aware Consensual Kinks). Those involved in edgeplay are fully cognizant of the fact that their sexual behaviour may result in serious bodily harm and permanent damage.

In the Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Dr. Brenda Love notes that some people are sexually aroused by exposing themselves to medical practitioners, and that this is called ‘iatronudia’.  She claims that such people will pretend to be ill just so that they can undress in front of a doctor. This echoes with some online sources claim that those with medical fetishes may also feign injury and illness, or give themselves self-inflicted wounds just so that they can receive genuine medical help. Such activity would appear to have psychological overlaps with Factitious Disability Disorders such as Munchausen Syndrome (i.e., feigning illness to draw attention or sympathy from others). This type of behaviour may be considered somewhat safer for the medical fetishist (as the procedures would be carried out by someone who is medically trained) but is an abuse of others’ time and expertise.

Although there is almost no empirical research on medical fetishism, it would appear that most fetishes – particularly when they are very specific and specialized – are rooted in early childhood experiences and most likely caused by behavioural conditioning processes. For instance, those individuals who are only sexually turned on by being anaesthetized not only enjoy the act itself but will usually be sexually aroused by the sight of all the aneasthetic equipment and accessories (e.g., black rubber anaesthetic masks).

As with many other fetishes, the internet has fostered whole online communities of medical fetishists (such as the Gynecology and Medical Examination Fetish Forum or the My Male Medical Fetish; please be warned that these are sexually explicit sites). There is little scientific research on the etiology and psychology of medical fetishism although Dr. Brenda Love speculates that sexual games involving medicine are popular because of the anxiety connected with visiting a GP that “leads to a natural increase in energy in a sexual experience”. I can’t say I’m overly convinced by this explanation, but in the absence of anything more empirical, it’s one of the few views that a clinician has put forward.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Aggrawal A. (2009). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Bizarre Magazine (2010). Medical fetishism. December 1. Located at: http://www.bizarremag.com/fetish/fetish/10393/medical_fetish.html?xc=1

Love, B. (2001). Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices. London: Greenwich Editions.

Midori (2005). Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink Educational, Sensual, And Entertaining Essays. Daedalus Publishing.

Streetsie (2011). Disability fetish and medical fetish. August 19. Located at: http://www.streetsie.com/disability-fetish-medical-fetish/

Wikipedia (2012). Medical fetishism. Located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_fetishism

Wear you bin? A brief look at trash bag fetishism

Sex and bin liners (plastic trash bags for my North American readers) are probably two things that rarely occur in the same sentence let alone an individual’s sexual behaviour. However, I was surprised to find that fetishistic behaviour concerning trashcans and bin liners is more common than I ever thought. I’ll start with a true story from here in the UK.

Back in February 1993, Karl Watkins, a man who was 20 years old at the time, appeared at Hereford Crown Court charged with five counts of outraging public decency. The first set of charges related to making love to pavements. Although his defence claimed a case of mistaken identity, Watkins was found many times by by-passers face down on the pavement with his underpants and trousers around his ankles, thrusting up and down into the ground. He was sentenced to go to prison and served 18 months. However, in April 1995, Watkins was back in court this time charged with simulating sex with black plastic bin bags in front of adolescent girls. In court he revealed a nine-year fetish with the plastic sacks in which he stated that he loved the “feel and touch of the bin liners”. The court heard how he went out nights and spent his time in rubbish piles. He was also found having simulated sex inside wheelie bins, and the back of dustbin lorries. He admitted that his “ultimate sexual fantasy” was to be in a dustbin lorry as the bin bags were being crushed. Once again he was convicted of outraging public decency, but was put on probation for three years and ordered by the judge to seek psychiatric help for his sexual proclivities.

Obviously, this is an extreme case and is someone that was caught engaging in his preferred sexual behaviour. However, this may be just the tip of the iceberg. To further highlight what I am talking about, here are a few self-confessions that I have found online (from people who have presumably never been caught in public having sex with a bin bag:

• Extract 1: “I am a 22-year old male from the UK and I was wondering if it is normal to have a fetish for bin bags or what you Americans call ‘Hefty Bags’? I have had this fetish since I was a little boy and have often wondered if this is normal?”
  
• Extract 2: “For some reason I have always liked the look of black trash bags, of course not ones that actually have trash in them (trash is disgusting). I have always liked how the bags themselves are shiny, soft and I love the sound of the plastic. Is this normal?”
  
• Extract 3: “I’m a 24-year old guy. I just wondered is my fetish OK. I love the feel of plastic it feels so nice (plastic sheets + wearing plastic bin bags etc) and I like to see girls wearing bin bags as well. Also I like girls having paint poured over them too whether it ruins their clothes or not, and one girl I know says she will get wrapped in a plastic sheet and have paint poured over her. Am I a freak?”
  
• Extract 4: “I have a sexual fetish that seems quite unique (I would be pleased if anyone else told me otherwise). I like to put my penis through a bin bag and thrust until I climax. I have no idea where this came from or how it developed. I think it may be the mystery of what my penis is rubbing against (Oh! What’s that broken glass or some ash?)…I have a healthy relationship with my girlfriend who has no idea (an ex girlfriend caught me once but I pretended I was sleepwalking). Sometimes I don’t wash my penis after bin bag sex and then enjoy the thought of my dirty penis entering my girlfriend during sex. I even think of bin bags while having sex with her (she is very pretty). What’s wrong with me?”
  
• Extract 5: “I’m a single straight twenty-something-year old guy who loves wearing clean unused plastic garbage/trash/bin bags as shirts in private. I’m even wearing one right now as I write this. I wear them because I like the feel of them on my skin. They’re more comfortable to wear than others think. I also think they turn me on if worn by the opposite gender. I’m totally serious about all of this”.
  

When I first started looking into this sexual practice, I thought confessions like the ones above would be a rarity, but I was surprised to find quite a number of online sites and discussion forums dedicating to the practice of ‘trashbagging’. For instance, one site that appears to get a lot of traffic is the Trash Can Stories site. There is a helpful FAQ page that includes some operational definitions of their practices including ‘trashbagging’,  ‘bagging’ and ‘trash fetish’:

• Trashbagging: “This is where people love to enclose themselves; be enclosed or enclose someone else in plastic garbage bags (or several), they love the feel of the smooth, slippery plastic. Sometimes involving breath-play, others more into messy situations with food or garbage thrown in with them. The fantasy may also involve being placed in a trashcan; garbage-bin or dumpster, to await their fate at the hands of the garbage truck”
• Bagging: “Enclosing either yourself (solo) or being enclosed inside one or more plastic garbage or trash bags. Possibly bound, gagged or made immobile, or just left inside naked and left as trash. This may also involve breathplay, or the moving of the bagged person to another loacation of even to a dumpster for disposal as trash”
• Trash Fetish: “The appeal of being enclosed inside a trashbag or several, dumped with rubbish or have rubbish dumped in with them, and/or just left sometimes just inside the bags themselves or disposed of inside a dumpster”

Sites such as the Choc Mess website also have pages devoted to “Plastic Trashbag Play” that seem to be closely related to trashbagging. They define ‘trashbag play’ as:

“Using the polyethylene bags you find in a grocery store for fetish clothing and for bondage purposes. Folks with plastic fetishes, folks who love encasement play, and folks who just like to see shiny material on a body get into this a lot. You can find plenty of people wearing trash bags by searching Flickr and DeviantArt websites!”

As fetish outfit material, Choc Mess assert that trashbags are “glossy and thin, clinging to curves and sensual on the skin”. For encasement play, the trashbags “provide a wonderful sense of confinement, one that has a certain feel of permanence to it even when it really won’t be”. They also make the point that trash bags have the advantage of being cheap and disposable, and that little is lost if one is cut or torn.

The descriptions of trashbagging suggest overlaps with other fetishistic and/or paraphilic behaviour such as salirophilia (in which individuals experience sexual arousal from soiling or disheveling the object of their desire). Another obvious overlap is with hypoxyphilia (in which individuals experience sexual pleasure from having their oxygen supply restricted which heightens their sexual arousal). Both the high profile autoerotic asphyxiation deaths in the UK of journalist and Tory politician Stephen Milligan (in 1994), and television presenter Kristian Digby (in 2010) involved plastic bin liners being found over their heads at the scene of death. Whether trash bag fetishism ever becomes the topic of serious scientific investigation remains to be seen. There are certainly no academic studies on the topic that I am aware of.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Gambling Studies, International Gaming Research Unit, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

Further reading

Choc Mess (2012). Trashbag Play FAQ. Located at: http://chocmess.com/trashbag/trashfaq.htm

Daily Mail (2010). Millionaire BBC TV presenter Kristian Digby suffocated to death accidentally ‘when sex game went wrong’. December 29. Located at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1327843/BBC-TV-presenter-Kristian-Digby-died-accidentally-sex-game.html

Montgomery, R. (undated). True weird sex stories. Located at: http://www.ssrichardmontgomery.com/download/weirdsex.htm

Trash Can Stories (2012). FAQ papge. Located at: http://www.trashcanstories.net/trashcanstories_faq.html