“If the shoe fits …”: Exploring male homosexual foot fetishism

This study of 262 respondents from an organization for homosexual and bisexual foot fetishists provides information from a broader sample than clinical cases and was guided by major ideas found in the literature on sexual fetishism. Some researchers see fetishism as the product of early learning experiences. Results of this study showed such experiences to occur around puberty and to be predominantly positive. Sources of learning were experiences with their father, other male adults or older peers, and especially same‐age peers. Suggested conditions for learning, viz, restrictive sexual socialization and social isolation during adolescence, did not appear to be common occurrences. Other researchers see fetishism as a correlate of a particular personality profile. Results of this study showed that some respondents fit such a profile, but they were in the minority. Finally, how closely these men fit the profile was found to be unrelated to the salience of fetishism in their lives.