[Another] area of foot fetishism is tickling. Tickling fetishists are often dominant; I call it the guilty sadist. We know that we’re inflicting pain and suffering on somebody when we tickle them, but the person is laughing. And there is control, because almost every tickle fetishist wants to restrain their victim. Personally, I don’t like being out of control, and so I don’t like people to tickle me, but I do understand that these people are my readers, and I don’t want to discriminate against any of them. I feel that I have to have compassion for all to have compassion for any.
It seems to me that there is kind of an obsessive-compulsive nature to fetishists, which goes along with power relationships: They want things black and white; they want things at one or the other extreme. Those gray areas are not as comfortable. I would probably just break it down 50-50 as far as people who say they just have a foot fetish—they like women with pretty feet, and that’s about as far as it goes; the other 50 percent are really megasexual; they’re people who are interested in all kinds of unusual sexuality. Those tend to be the people involved in power relationships.
DOUG GAINES
I want to let all people know that their sexuality is not something they’ve chosen—it’s a part of them, just like hair color or eye color. Don’t spend your life not enjoying what’s pleasurable to you. I was shocked at the number of people who were into feet. I thought I’d start this little club. Well, I have received over 20,000 requests for information over the years [just from my little ads]. People need to know that there are places to go for whatever you like, men and women, straight and gay, bi, whatever. There are wonderful people, professional people, good people [out there]. Most of my members are doctors and lawyers and accountants and teachers. We’re real people—your brothers, your uncles, your cousins and aunts and mothers. [Our] stories need to be told. We were blessed with this thing called sexuality. Don’t stick it in a closet. It’s a gift. Have pleasure with it. I guess my emotions speak clearly: You’ve got to take the risk to be yourself.
The Foot Fraternity was established as an affirmation group. I found the need to affirm [others] because I [once] needed somebody to tell me, “You want to smell my feet? That’s okay, it doesn’t hurt anybody. It’s innocent.” That was a second coming-out and happened in my 20s, when I was dealing with sexuality and being okay with who I was and accepting all of who I was—every bit of me. It took time and some counseling to realize that it doesn’t matter what I like as long as it’s between consenting adults and doesn’t hurt anyone. It took a little time in my mind to redo my Catholic upbringing—thinking of missionary position as the only right way. [Once] I was okay with it, I thought, I’m going to help other people. All people—straight [or] gay—need to be okay with what they like sexually, as long as it doesn’t infringe on anybody else’s right or intentionally hurt somebody who doesn’t want to be hurt.
I have just two small ads out, letting people know that the Foot Fraternity exists, [but] I send out no less than 25 letters a week to people [who are] requesting information. That’s a lot of people. I would say about 10 percent of my members are either married or involved with women. [Many] are married to women but need a man’s feet in their life. A small percentage [are interested in women’s feet], but the majority are into men’s feet. [We have something which corresponds to] the stereotypical woman-with-the-stiletto-heels: A lot of our members enjoy worshiping the boots of a policeman, because it’s a symbol of authority. Certain people only like Weejun penny loafers; [others] only like boots. [With] some, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s on a male foot. It’s a diverse group.
I’ve been very fortunate [because] I’ve formed some interesting hypotheses from talking to thousands of people. I believe that our sexuality is determined before we’re five years old; some significant emotional event happens to us in those years that makes that area erotic or exciting to us. I [also] believe that there’s some genetic predisposition to liking certain things. Part of it is in the genes, and part of it is that significant event. Maybe we were bounced on Daddy’s knee, or Daddy tickled us with his foot, and we were intrigued by watching Daddy’s foot come over our face. [Maybe] it was so emotional to us that we held onto that image, and that blended into our sexuality at puberty. I [still] don’t know why the foot and all the verbalization and domination that goes along with it is so erotic to me. Quite frankly, I’ve had such pleasure with it that I don’t really care why.
[The Foot Fraternity’s] major purpose is to help guys meet other guys into their fetish and fantasy, primarily dealing with the foot, but also dealing with other things—uniforms, people being wet. The organization deals with most any fetish; my only restriction is that you cannot ask for or go for somebody under 18. [But we have] gays, straights; we’ve got married men who are happy with their wives but are still intrigued by the male foot but want to keep their marriage, too. It’s simply called the Foot Fraternity because that was where the prime interest was, but [members] realized that it overlaps [into] many areas; [it] gets into wrestling [and] many other things.
[When] people write for information, I send out an application with samples of the photos and videotapes that we do: foot scenes and shoe, boot, sock, tickle scenes. [The] magazine is [quarterly]; two times a year [it] has a complete listing of all the members, not with their names but with a code number. You write a letter [and] send it to me for forwarding. From that point on, you’re on your own: I never give out any names or addresses. That’s up to the individual. We also have gatherings once a year. This year, we had a four-day weekend gathering that was more like a family reunion. We had our meals together; we talked and shared on other issues [though] there was foot play going on as well. We took boat trips; we saw the city—it was just a group of people getting together who had a common interest.
I believe that with most people [the foot fetish] leads into other areas. For me it does. The foot fetish is the primary area of interest, but my interest in bondage, humiliation, and domination is very strong. It’s not just the foot alone that I wish to serve and be beneath and worship. I consider myself to be submissive. However, in the foot scene I find that it’s very easy to play either a top or a bottom. For example, if I meet someone who is into the foot scene [and] is into working on feet, I don’t mind having him work on mine. It feels very good, very comfortable, and I can play the part very well. It’s intriguing, and I find that I can be versatile with it. However, if I had a preference as to what would be the most exciting, I would choose to be submissive.
I really enjoy and get off on smelling the feet of straight men, [because] they’re almost untouchable. If I could get down and smell their feet and worship them, and they’ll let me do that or let me buy their new shoes or socks and smell their old ones and be amused or laugh at me or call me their little faggot slave, the pleasure is tremendous! That they’re amused by my humiliating myself, by my being degraded by them, is erotic. It’s verbal eroticism. I don’t want to be hurt, but I certainly don’t mind them putting pressure on my face. I like the idea of being a footmat and being walked on, if I can support the weight of the man.
Generally, the men that I deal with are so okay with their own sexuality that it’s not threatening to them. If a man is not okay with his own sexuality, we’ll never get to the point where I’ll ask. I test his response; if it is nonchalant, I know he’s okay with who he is and not threatened. He knows what he likes, and this doesn’t bother him. It’s a little more exciting if it’s a straight man, because somehow the superiority I think they must feel places me even more in their respect. I like to hear their orders; I like to hear them laugh; I like to watch them look down at my face beneath their feet and smile [as if to say], “I can do anything to this guy.”
I worked part-time in a men’s shoe store [in my teens] because I wanted to see what it was like to be able to kneel at men’s feet and slip shoes on and off their feet. [Later] I worked in a bookstore part-time, and there was a man delivering the magazines, a truck-dr
iver-type guy. He was brand-new on the route, and I would go to the back door and open up to let in the deliveries. When he first came in, I said, “What happened to the other guy?” He said, “He was transferred to another route,” and I real quickly used that time to say, “Oh, that’s too bad! I used to massage his feet [and] get him a cup of coffee.” I was just watching his response; if the response was nothing, I knew not to pursue it. But his response was, “It sounds interesting.” So I said, “Well, I’ll be glad to give you a foot massage. I do reflexology.”
The second time he came I said, “Remember, if you ever want a foot massage, I’ll be glad to do it.” He said, “I remember; I definitely will.” The third time he came a little early and said, “I think I’ll take that massage this week and that coffee.” I ran and got him a cup of coffee. [When] I pulled off his shoes, he said, “They’re gonna smell.” I said, “That doesn’t bother me; I used to have to do this for my brother when I was young, and it never bothered me at all.” So I pulled off his sneakers and massaged his feet; then I put his sneakers back on. I didn’t go further than that. The next visit that he came, the same thing. I had his coffee waiting, and I said, “Are you ready for your foot massage?” He said, “Sure!” So I pulled off his shoes and did it, only this time I was a little bit more brazen. I said, “After I was done with my brother, he always used to make me kiss his feet and say thank you.” He didn’t say anything, so I said, “Is it okay if I kiss your feet and thank you?” And he said, “Go ahead, do whatever you want.” So I [did] and put his shoes back on. Then he sort of put it really together and knew what I liked and knew I was enjoying it.
The next week he came [and] said, “We’re going to do it a little different. We’ll continue with the coffee and the foot massages, but you’re going to unload the truck for me.” I said, “Sure!” I unloaded the magazines while he had coffee. I rubbed his feet and then without asking, I brought my face down and rubbed [his feet] against my face and kissed the bottoms. He looked down at me and smiled, and I put his shoes back on. It got to the point where he would come each week. I would have to carry the magazines, kiss his boots, and thank him for allowing me to work for him, and then I would have to massage his feet and smell them and kiss them and thank him. That experience was an absolute delight. It lasted for about three quarters of a year until, all of a sudden, his route was switched, and I lost track of him.
Another small, very short experience was when I bought a car. I usually go to the same place and know the manager of the dealership. I said, “I’ll be glad to buy this car if you let me get down on my hands and knees and kiss your feet and thank you.” So what was he going to do? He wanted to make the sale! He said, “Okay, go ahead.” I got down and kissed his feet and thanked him for letting me buy a car from him. That’s why I love car salesmen! I love to know that they’ll consider letting me smell or kiss their feet. They’re usually kind of amused by it.
MARK J.
I [may] have just a little bit of bisexual in me, but I’m mostly heterosexual. As far as my preferences, it’s mostly female feet. I will get turned on by seeing a boy’s feet, but that’s as far as it goes with men.
I’ve thought about [why I’m interested in feet] many times. I think everybody who has developed an interest in feet and other fetishes, at one time when they were young, must have had some experience happen that got them into this. I remember, very young, I was living in California, and I was standing in my driveway, and I looked across the street. There was a boy—one of my neighbors. He came out to get something on the porch, and he was in his bare feet. I saw he was wearing blue jeans, and I immediately saw his naked feet, and something just snapped in [my] mind. I said, “Oh!” I was maybe about four or five years old. It was just the nudity, the shapeliness of the feet.
I was a very shy, withdrawn child. I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My father was an alcoholic. I was different from other boys, meaning I wasn’t interested in sports. I was a skinny weakling, though I did identify with boys my age. I grew up with a low self-esteem. In fact, I had a learning problem. I’ve grown out of it since. I was placed in a special class with some other kids who were having difficulty in school. They were usually the children who couldn’t sit still. But after a period of time I was put back in a regular classroom, so I began to interface with my peers. Still, I did remain really quiet. I guess how I came out of it [was that] I just decided I’m not going to be like this anymore: I’m going to get out there and meet people and be outspoken. I’ve gone through counseling because I’ve had some failures in my life that have been disappointing; I’ve talked about how I could break out of my shell. That’s basically how I came to be the person I am now.
My first actual date didn’t come till I was 19. I wanted to get involved with the opposite sex. Other guys, they want it for their sexuality. I wanted it for my sexuality, too, but I wanted it because of their feet. So my fetish did bring me toward meeting women. I knew a girl when I was 15 or 16 years old, [and] she used to like to go barefoot. I didn’t get to worship her feet, but I got to look at them and say, “I like that.”
I feel there’s nothing wrong with it, although I don’t go tell people about my interest. If they have an interest in this area, I’m more than willing to talk about it. [The people I’ve spoken with] have been a tremendous help in identifying what it is I like, who I want to do it with. The only thing it has not helped me with, and I think this will come in time, is actually meeting a woman who has a foot fetish or wants to have her feet serviced.
Any type of foreplay with the female foot gives me [an] erotic sensation. For me, just to envision worshiping a woman’s feet, or any situation that has to do with feet, while masturbating will give me [a] climax. At the same time, if I were to have a foot-worship session with a lady, at this point, I really wouldn’t care what happened after that ended.
I am not at all interested in boots or leather. The only things that I really find sexy, as far as footwear, are sandals or some kind of open-toed shoes or a black pump or a flat. I like those because oftentimes most girls who wear flats wear them without socks, and they’re fitted where they can just easily be slipped off at any time.
It’s kind of silly, but I’ve always dreamed of a woman removing my shoes and socks and fondling my feet. Maybe going over to a friend’s house, and there’s a swimming pool in her backyard, and I accidentally fall in, and the woman says, “Let me get those wet clothes off,” and she removes my shirt, and then she goes for my shoes and socks and finds that my feet are sexually arousing her, and she ends up having a foot-worship session with my feet. My ultimate fantasy is [to] make foot worship my business: I would love to get a chance to have a bunch of women model for me and take pictures and make videos and sell them.
My ideal session would be meeting with a young woman, between the ages of 18 and 40, preferably white but it could be a black female as well. We would get together, we would discuss what we like about feet, and she would casually begin to tease me, slip off her shoe and tickle my face with her foot. I would slowly remove her hose and begin to sniff and caress and to kiss her toes and lick them and just really get into that. And then, while I’m getting into that, she would be doing the same thing, so it would be kind of a mutual session [where] we’re both enjoying each other’s feet. [This] has not happened [yet]. The closest I’ve come to foot worship is with my girlfriend. I haven’t told her [that] I am a foot fetishist, but she knows that I like her feet, and many times I will ask, “Should I give you a foot massage?” [Or] I’ll raise her bare feet up to my face, and I’ll sniff them. But as far as meeting somebody who is into feet themselves, it hasn’t happened yet.
I realized I wasn’t alone [only] about a year ago. I was in Cleveland, and I picked up this publication. It was free, and I looked in the back, and there was this ad saying they want handsome men to model shoes, socks, and bare feet. I was unemployed at the time, and I really needed the money … and to see that key [term], bare feet! I immediately
sent pictures and [Douglas Gaines] called me and told me what he was about. So I went and talked to him, and he started with the modeling of my feet and introduced me to several magazines that are exclusively for leg lovers and foot lovers.
Because it has been estimated that about 10 percent of the population harbors some kind of foot fetish, I encourage people if they do have this interest to try to explore and come out with it. A lot of people like me are looking for others who want to share [the interest]. A lot of us foot fetishists feel trapped. We’re in a closet, [and] we don’t want to be. We’d like it to be recognized that this is an interest we have and that this is okay.
ROB
I don’t have a lot of interest in [D&S] issues. I am interested in normal women but find myself attracted to women amputees with greater vigor. I also have a strong interest in women’s legs and feet. I certainly think about [these things] regularly, daily, and [they] lead me to certain activities—like I’m a volunteer with a support group for amputees. I try to get out and make contact with new amputees when I can. That’s not always easy. An amputee isn’t someone you tend to see every day.
If I meet somebody who I get along with real well and enjoy talking with, then that may be the way into a relationship, but a lot of the time you’re looking for people you’d like to meet based on what they look like. If she’s an amputee, that’s very powerful, [or] if she’s just generally attractive and likes to take off her shoes, then that’s interesting, as well. If a woman has a real pretty pair of feet, that is inherently a sexy thing to me. I want to watch her feet and play with her feet and touch her feet. Getting a glimpse of a woman kicking her shoes off at a local pub and going out on the dance floor and dancing—that’s very interesting to me. It’s particularly interesting if the woman’s in a situation where she wouldn’t normally be barefoot, like women that kick off their shoes at work or at trade shows, out on the convention floor, [when] they’re standing all day and their feet get tired. I really like that. I’d rather the shoes weren’t there anymore. [But this is] much less interesting than the amputee fetish.
Different Loving Page 48
