Calzaer

Easily. Give me a tougher one.

One of my ex's was actually a Dominant masochist. She loved being in control, and she also liked pain. On occasion, I spent nights repeating the following phrase:

"Thank you, Ma'm, may I give you another?"

To which she'd make a sort of contented-humming sound and direct me where to use the flogger next.

One's orientation towards pain often has little to do with one's orientation towards control.

Totalitarianist

It is spelled "yea".

Calzaer

Trebexian: Just in case you were trying to talk to me, you're on my ignore list, so there's no point.

Totalitarianist

Why am I on his ignore list?

PandaJoe

My usual motto is "If she's into it!", which I guess can apply here. Honestly, as long as everyone is willing, I can't see any objection. Can I really say that someone who gets off on giving pain is wrong if their partner happens to get off on receiving pain?

Tom Sawyer

On the whole, I'd say that fetishes are fine as long as no one gets hurt or used in a way that they don't like.

That applies even if the person getting used is unaware that they are being used. If you have a fetish where you like to watch women taking showers and your girlfriend is cool with your watching her take showers, then the fetish is fine. If you install a video camera in someone's bathroom and watch them take showers when they're unaware of the video camera, then it's not fine. Even though they are unaware that anything is happening and they are not affected by it in any way, they are still being violated and that makes it unacceptable.

starling

Originally posted by //riot of disorder::
Are fetishes an acceptable human behavior?

Yep. Nothing wrong with straw or clay effigies.

Are fetishes part of the moral priniciple of our society?

No! Dolls don't teach people right, they just... sit... there...

Do you yourself have any fetishes?

Well I have a few plush cats, does that count?

Seriously, fetishes as near as I can tell are obsessions with requiring unusual things for pleasure. It's not experimenting, or being open minded. It's just straight out obsession. Doesn't make it invalid, some people are obsessed just as bad with good old vanilla flavored. Just for those who are worried the fact that something soft or smooth causes pleasure (go figure...) is a perverted fetish needn't worry. Generally people who can find pleasure only through those avenues will know they have a fetish.

Many people practice that sort of behavior in an attempt to have a secret. Secrets are fun! And my guess would be for most fetishists, being able to swap a sideways glance in the office is almost as fulfilling as the act itself.

As for its function in society, it's probably to serve as a taboo, something forbidden and mysterious. It fulfills the function both of defining what is socially acceptable, and providing a thrill for something socially unacceptable on the horizon. Even I have felt the effect of society there, something about fetishists is just... interesting.

Some of the more... violent fetishes also serve a function of redirecting aggression. Society would definitely rather you take it out on your partner than someone on the street. Some people need to feel dominating in a world where they normally have to struggle to stay on top. Some people need the relaxation of having someone else in control.

(Fetishes to BDSM... I'm only topic sliding a little )

There was a study on Dwarf Mongooses, analysing hormone levels using a new technique that involved analyzing discarded scat instead of blood samples for much clearer results. You can bet getting an accurate hormone reading from a mongoose that was just drugged, handles and pierced with a needle isn't too accurate.

(Oh my /god/ no more TANGENTS...! )

Anyway, the new findings showed that the top dog of the herd actually had the highest levels of stress hormones, almost twice the level of cortisol as lower non-breeding individuals. It actually justifies why people would not want to be the movers and shakers in things: it's stressful. Even those who do not further their own genes can help the family by operating better and living longer to protect it.

Fetishes seem like strange and senseless things, but there are reasons for even the most contrary behavior, even not fighting for reproductive rights. Though I don't know the exact function fetishes would perform (aside from removing the fetishists from the gene pool) it's important to keep an open mind in such matters.

mikester

i beleive fetishes are a natural part of the human psyche. everyone has them, and people will always have them.

it all depends on whether or not you deem them acceptable or not. i admit, there are some fetishes that really bother me (foot fetishes, for example).

abe smith

my opinion is that fetishes "occur"/happen-to those who are possessed by them; that fetishes are probably (imo) or even almost-certainly *not chosen* by those possessed by them; that being-possessed by fetish(es) is therefore not a moral matter, anymore than coming-down w/ the measles or w/ AIDS, either, is a moral matter.
It may be (I offer cautiously) that the social/ interpersonal effects resultant from one's being-possessed by a fetish may (in some few instances) be um, sufficiently-*injurious* to other persons upon whom the fetisheur may exercise (his) fetish, as to warrant preventing (how?) his expression of his fetish...
I haven't the slightest clue about how to "deal with" instances of this sort. Possibly, preventive detention....
Again, based on my own experience, I'm fairly certain that *punishment* will not suffice to deter.
Funny thing is, that ONE time at least that I know of, "solving" the fetish for "X" (= explaining the secret connexion) apparently did result in its extinction/disappearance.
Altho ,for that particular, it may have resulted from some other dynamic, not-explained.... An interesting, exotic-like-bats-and-Ornithorhyncus (sp?) subject-of-study.....

yelyos

I see no reason for the immorality of fetishes, and until I see evidence one way or another, they are morally neutral to me.