Eli5: what causes fetishes?
In: Biology
IIRC, arousal has a mitigating and even coopting relationship with disgust, making some gross things seem very sexy in the moment. I believe this plays a role in the development of sexual fetishes.
We don’t know why it happens. Medical term is “Paraphilia”. But we have some theories. Some say it’s because estrogen (hormone) exposure in the womb during pregnancy which leads to an abnormal neural development that manifests later in life. Another theory says that during early life, you experience said fetish material with an intense sexual arousal. After this, when you later masturbate to it, you reinforce the connection and make the fetish more permanent. But, right now those are both theories.
Have you ever heard of an ear worm? It’s basically a song that gets stuck in your head. Whatever you were doing when the song comes on becomes engrained deeply. It is why studying with music on can be very helpful.
Fetishes work in a similar way. An experience at just the right time and place will write itself onto your brain and you will always try to recreate that high.
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