The Sexual Fetish -- RANDOM POST BONUS

Here are several excerpts of interest from The Sexual Fetish paperback. Click here for part one and here for part two of the main blog entries.

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Chapter I: Contemporary Definition of the Sexual Fetish

The term that one is "making a fetish out of it" is used pretty freely today, although not only in a sexual sense. The implication is that one is overly obsessed by some object or quirk. The word fetish, or fetich, actually denotes a feeling applied to a primarily non-sexual object that has, for the beholder, certain erotic and sexually stimulating connotations. This can be carried to extremes in which sexual feelings are applied to most unlikely-sounding items. There are cases of persons having erotic reactions to a roll-top desk or a can-opener. These persons are candidates for the analyst's couch.

[. . .]

Rubber as clothing material, while as prevalent a fetish item as leather, has not yet been fully accepted as a public form of dress. The one exception to this, of course, is the brightly colored rain-wear that women wear, contrasted with the more drab official coats issued to postmen. Nevertheless, there are many people who devote themselves to the wearing of clothes made of rubber, who cannot understand the attraction of leather; they feel that rubber is so much more form-fitting. These include the skin-diving enthusiasts who would never dream of actually going under water.
[. . .]

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Chapter XX The Fetish: A Summing Up

[. . .]

Fetish is derived from the Portuguese word fetico, meaning charmed. Psychiatrists believe that no person, except the very rare asexual individual, escapes the aura of fetishism. Whether he recognizes as fetishes the things that attract his attention depends upon the person's depth of self-understanding.

Some authorities suggest that an attraction for a "non-sexual" part of the body is always a fetish. If this be true then we would have to assume we are all would-be fetishists if we enjoy looking at a pretty girl. For what catches the eye first is basically non-sexual. Generally, the buttocks, breasts, hair, facial contours, and type of walk attracts the attention. None of these are absolutely essential for sexuality. [Sexuality, not eroticism: big difference.--Rubber Betty]

One is pleased by a tight sweater, a contour-clinging pair of slacks, some saucy and eye-catching footwear. Is he a fetishist? The very correct gentleman of yesteryear admired the crinoline and taffeta that fell gracefully over curving bosoms and hips. Was he a fetishist? According to current definitions, the answer is yes.

Less prevalent, perhaps, is the third category of fetishism mentioned. The sexual reaction obtained from the association of a certain material. But it must be remembered that the definitions of fetishism do not stipulate that an orgasm must be obtained, or even sexual "preparation" be present during an association with certain materials.

If one thrills to the touch of a leather handbag or the rubber gloves used for dishwashing; if the wooden breadboard gives one chills up and down the spine (it may resemble that college paddle) one has, like it or not, a fetish attachment.

By unanimous consent, however, one need not worry about the fetish if it does not replace sexual activity. And, some of the authorities in the field say, one need not worry even if the fetish does replace sexual activity. Most who do hold this opinion would prefer that the etish be a supplement to the traditional sex act, but thet feel that sexual activity of some kind is better than none at all.

Often, so say the liberals, a fetish attachment can have the same stabilizing effect that a hobby such as coin collecting or bowling can have. Indeed, some fetishists do turn their interests into an actual hobby. Collecting literature and illustrations (spankology, leather publications, bondage pictures) or fetish implements (whips, paddles, phallic symbols, special tailor-made clothing) is believed to ba a channeling of fetish desires.

The question arises as to what is fetishism's future. It is not a question as to whether fetishism will continue to be in existence (it will be as long as sex remains with us) but as to what forms it will take. Psychiatrists, backed by sociologists, say all indications are that the three forms of fetishism are maintaining their traits primarily in one combination.

Fetish materials are being made into clothing and applied to non-sexual (and sexual too, of course) parts of the body for purposes of displaying the anatomy. Thus all three aspects of fetishism become rolled into one. Fashion and clothes designers are attempting to appeal to this fetish attraction. It transcends mere surface sex appeal and becomes an appeal to sensuality.

Another phenomenon is the increasing output of fetish literature and fetish-orientated magazines. As people seek to know themselves better and to be aware of their "afflictions," they seek information about things that do or could apply to themselves. The large demand for knowledge of fetishism is noted bt psychiatrists as an indication of increased fetish existence.

As Kinsey's studies provided exhaustive information and lifted a screen that was covering sexual relations, so fetishism is beginning to grip the researcher's interest. The taboos that have long been obscuring this area of sexual activity are being dispelled.

New Blog Alert! 3xL: Fetish Rainwear

New blog in town!


The rubber fetish powerhouse that is 3xL: Love, Lust, Latex recently started a new blog called Fetish Rainwear. Oh no, you may say, not another fetish blog. Yes, and it's totally awesome. If you have not already guessed from the name, its focus is on rainwear. Rainwear is not just for old British people, it's for you and me. Rainwear, in conclusion, is awesome and so is this blog. But don't stop reading mine--because I am also awesome.

Get out your wellies, get out your SBR macs, get out your plastic polka-dotted umbrellas, and let's all sing in the rain.

Vintage Paperback: The Sexual Fetish (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from the earlier post Vintage Paperback: The Sexual Fetish (Part 1 of 2).


I forgot to include the publishing info in Part 1. The Sexual Fetish in Today's Society by Hugh Jones was published by Brandon House. Copywright (c) 1965. It boasts an introduction by Harvey T. Leathem, M.D. Oooh, an M.D.! For realz.


Harvey T. and Hugh Jones collaborated on other pulp sex paperbacks such as Sex For One, Mondo Erotico and The Act of Love. But that's not all: Harvey also authored other trash tomes including The Spankers, Sex Gadgets and Boys and Girls Who Do: An In-depth Study of Today's Mod Mini Swingers. To view some more of his very sophisticated oeuvre, go to this amazon.com page.


The second half of the chapter titled "Rubber As a Fetish Symbol" is reproduced below in light blue, non-italicized text.

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Of particular interest to the fetishist is the soft, squishing sound made when walking or bending. The female devotee rarely ceases talking about the fact that in bending, stooping or reaching, the rubber holds its resiliency like no other material she has ever worn.

As far as covering above the waist is concerned, a zipper is brought into use. All shirts or blouses have long sleeves and these are rolled in the same way as the pants are. The zippers are usually placed in the back. The fronts of the garment[s] are plain rubber, but brassiere-type pouches are included. These garments are usually specially ordered to fit the individual. There are no stock "sizes." About fifteen different measurements are required by the best rubber clothing manufacturers. The garments are so constructed that one needs help in getting into the shirts.

In fact, most rubber fetishists are married couples who indulge in this activity for mutual admiration. They pick certain days, usually weekends, when they wear the items around the house. If they do venture out of the house they wear conventional clothing over their rubber wear.

Rubber panties are popular with girls under their street clothing. The girls describe the ever-present awareness of the rubber clinging to them as "thrilling."

Fetish houses that specialize in rubber clothing indicate that not only do they fill many orders for panties, but they also manufacture men's undershorts and a rubber version of the athletic supporter. These are for men who like to wear an item of rubber clothing in their daily work. Much of the excitement of the rubber fetish seems to come from the surreptitious wearing of the material.

As stated, the rubber fetish does not seem to be related to any other type. Rubber devotees do not bind each other up. Whipping seems not to interest them, and though paddling a rubber covered pair of buttocks intrigues a small portion of the flagellant element, it is not a part of the activities of the true rubber fetishist.

As tight pants are connected to the buttocks fetish, so are rubber pants. Without the curves to "mold" itself to, the rubber pants would hold little attraction. The same is true for the shirts, which outline broad chests or swelling breasts.

Before looking at case histories, we should mention the connection that is sometimes brought to mind between rubber clothing and the male contraceptive. One or two writings indicate a relationship between encasement of the sexual organ and the wrapping of the entire body in rubber. This is, according to psychologists, pretty far-fetched. The only connection that might be termed logical is the utilitarian property of the contraceptive to cling and stretch. This is exactly the chracteristic which attracts the rubber fetishist.

The following letters were taken from a rubber devotees' magazine:

"My husband and I became interested in rubber clothing through the reading of your magazine. We happened to notice it at a friend's house and they discussed their 'hobby' with us. Frankly, we aren't sure why this material appeals to us. But we saw the order blanks in your publication for rubber outfits and we decided to give it a try.

"We took the required measurements and sent them in. After a wait of about three weeks the package came and I'll admit we were pretty excited. We had made the choice of ordering a two-piece outfit instead of the one-piece 'diving' suit. The reason for this is that we thought we might want to wear the pants seperately.

"The clothing fitted just beautifully, and we were amazed at the softness of the lining. The way the pants clung to the body left not one curve or indentation to the imagination, which is just the way we wanted it to be. We wore them around the house the entire first day. I must admit that we stopped to embrace much more than usual.

"However, my husband and I found ourselves in trouble. We were unable to fulfill our desires completely without removing the pants. As we were inspired to five or six such sessions a day, we found the act of getting dressed and undressed irritating. So I made a little modification in the pants that I thought might interest your readers.

"In order to make it easier to enjoy each other in our rubber clothing, I carefully cut speacial openings in each of our pants. The whole area is sexually very stimulating to us. We thought some other couples might be interested in the idea, if it had not occurred to them already!"---Mrs. L. W., Minneapolis, Minn.

Another letter stated:

"Hal and I have been rubber fetishists for some time. We had a mutual affection for this material before we married. I'll not go into the reasons for our liking rubber clothing items, but my husband and I have a whole closetful of them.

"However, I am writing to you now to describe one particular aspect of our devotion. My husband and I work in a real estate agency. While we spend entire weekends dressed up in our special clothes at home, we don't dare wear any of the rubber items to work for fear of being considered 'strange.' But we dearly wanted to wear something under our regular clothing.

"We finally developed an idea. Both Hal and I ordered special underpants made of rubber. Mine are cut along the line of regular panties and Hal's are skintight 'jockey' shorts, with a special rubber pouch in front. They are so tight you can feel them squeeze your buttocks together as you stand up, for instance, Hal says he can feel the increase in pressure when he becomes sexually excited. [sic]

"Just knowing that each of us has these rubber items wrapped around our sexual organs stimulates us during our work day. We exchange secret smiles when the office is crowded. What is more fun is that Hal will sureptitiously pat me on my rubber-covered fanny when no one is looking. He finds excuses to pass by. I, in turn, lightly squeeze Hal's shorts. Sometimes, though, he likes me to get rough. A hard pinch or a quick slap will light up his eyes. He has told me, though, that the pressure of the pouch interferes with the luxury of an erection. Perhaps this is just as well--in the office. But this secret sex-play during the day is lots of fun for us. Sometimes we can hardly wait to get home and into the rubber clothing which we wear until bedtime."---Mrs. A. J., Youngstown, Ohio.

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In Part 1, I mentioned that one reason of presenting the book as a series of case histories with pyschology-type commentary was to get around censorship, but I neglected to mention the most glaring reason. The case history/psychological text construct provides the sexual narrative with an a official stamp of approval. After all, science is Truth with a capital T. It's one way of making the fantasy real, and, although not necessarily more immediate, more acceptable.

I hope you've enjoyed this tiny piece of rubber history.

Let's Go For a Swim! (Rubber Duck Not Included)

Fashion sucks, but the juggernaut still rolls on, crushing the skulls of the fabulous, the innocent, the addicts, the perverted.

I don't know what's going on for FALL 2008. Frankly, right now I don't care and I don't have the time. I'm just getting caught up with SPRING 2008. The juggernaut ran over my foot and I had to spend some time in the hospital.

I was more unimpressed than usual with the fashion bullshit for SPRING '08. Most of the collections were hideous boring garbage, like if the Olsen twins were made out of fabric and not coke and bulimia. The only excitement came from the accessories, but I'll deal with that later.

Thank gawd for John Galliano. Yes, he does the same shit every year, but it's AWESOME. I worship at the alter of his derivativeness. His SPRING '08 had a few actual latex rubber pieces, namely flapper-style bathing caps. I love those!

The three pictures were ganked from style.com.

The sheeting color of the swim cap featured above and in the full body shot directly below is a bit hard to tell. I think the cap may be made from one of Radical Rubber's "Electric" colors. It looks too light to be Supatex Jade Green (4D).

The color of the swim cap above is Vibrant Turquoise manufactured by 4D.

Hey Blogger, fix the spell check!

Vintage Paperback: The Sexual Fetish (Part 1 of 2)

I forgot I had this vintage gem in my rubber history archive. "The Sexual Fetish in Today's Society" is one of those pulp paperbacks published in the 60's. I have a bunch of them that I've collected over the years. They're basically sensational "jerk-off" books masqarading as psychological tomes. What my generation may not be aware of is that censorship was a big thing way back in the day--much more than it is today. I'm guessing this was one way to kind of get around the censors.

Although this book isn't directed towards rubber people, it does have a chapter on rubber fetishism--sorta, kinda. You can get a sense of what the book is about and its overal attitude from the front and back covers. Don't expect grand prose or pyschological discoveries. Enjoy it for what it is: a little piece of rubber history and a little piece of glorious pulp trash. The chapter in question is partially reproduced below in light blue, non-italicized text.

Random Question: When did the word "latex" become common usage instead of the word "rubber" to refer to natural latex rubber sheeting and/or the garments made from said sheeting? I'm asking this because, in all of my readings of vintage fetish magazines and books, latex is almost exclusively called rubber. Did the common usage of the word latex start catching on the the late 80's/early 90's?

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Chapter XII

Rubber As a Fetish Symbol

Inevitably, comparisons are drawn between rubber and leather as fetish symbols. This is probably because these two materials are used in virtually all exotic fetish clothing. However, the attraction that leather has for many people may include areas other than that of clothing. The bondage and flagellation fetishes are manifested in leather straps and paddles. But rubber seems to hold no fetish obsessions except in the form of clothing.

Statistically speaking, the rubber devotees are much fewer than the leather fetishists. Rubber devotees claim the skintight clinging effect of their favorite material is the main source of their devotion. They feel that it is designed to be worn next to the skin, without anything underneath and, as such, functions both as outer and inner clothing at the same time.

As leather clothing touches both the exotic and the real, so does rubber clothing. But in a different manner. [sic] Such items as high-heeled boots or leather pants hover between the two fields. Not completely accepted items for street dress (they draw stares even in the most sophisticated of cities) yet not so completely bizarre that they are solely the property of the exotics. [sic]

With rubber clothing either the item functions as street apparel, such as a rubber raincoat, or as an exotic fetish item such as rubber pants. An exception to this is the rubber diving suit. This appears most often in its primary use as a protection against the ocean's cold. But it is also a favorite costume of the rubber fetishist who would not dream of going near the water.

In checking with psychiatrists to inquire as to the personality make-up of the rubber fetishist, we find them frankly baffled. Not many rubber devotees bring their deviation to the psychiatrist, nor do they steal rubber items and thus are never referred by the courts to psychiatric help.

Almost any deviation or aberration can be linked to a defect in the psyche, including that of the leather clothing addict. But the sexual attraction of rubber clothing leaves psychiatrists and psychologists merely theorizing as to the probability that it is actually an anatomy fetish. The rubber simply clings and outlines the human form and the various sexually-orientated parts. There are few case histories of rubber fetishism in their files and we have had to turn to the literature of the specialist in fetish attractions to find first-person accounts.

Incidentally, the aforementioned attraction to rubber rainwear such as coats, caps, and galoshes is outside the realm of this book. We are concerned primarily with sexual fetishes, and attachments for rubber street-wear appear to be non-sexual in nature. Descriptions of this type of dress that appear in the fetish magazines dwell more on the bright and gay colors than on sexual connotations.

Of greater interest, however, are the rubber pants, shirts, shorts, and panties. The pants, in particular, come under the name of "rolled" clothing. These pants are applied to the leg and buttocks much as a rubber contraceptive is applied to the male reproductive organ. They are lined with a soft material which is not at all harsh to the skin.

The wearer "prepares" the pants by stretchin them out and then rolling them inside out, very tightly, down to the bottom of the pants legs. Rarely are the rubber feet, so common to the diving suit, included in the fetish version. The feet are inserted into the legholes, and the pants are rolled up the body. Naturally, the rubber clings tightly to the skin, so much so that a special pouch is included in the male garment for the genitals. An elastic waist band prevents any sagging.

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The second half of this chapter can be read in this post. I appreciate, and look forward to, all of your comments.

Plastic Rainwear Pour Les Hommes

FOUND! in the February 2008 issue of Interview magazine: two natty-as-all-fuck metro-men in slick tailored plastic rainwear. The 60's never went out of style. It just comes out of hibernation once every so often.

Clothing credits: the man in black melting into a inky puddle is wearing a plastic trench and plastic tuxedo shirt by Burberry Prorsum. The man in grey is wearing an outfit by Z Zegna and shoes by Dior Homme.

The accompagning article is interesting enough and short enough for me to type out and reproduce directly below in italic text:

"Clear and Present" by Meredith L. Fisher

THINK "COO COO CA CHOO, MRS. ROBINSON"

Mr. McGuire was onto something when he advised Benjamin Braddock in "The Graduate" to listen up: "I want to say one word to you, just one word...plastics." Forty-one years and countless raincoats late, the material is making a comeback--this time on the catwalk. Thom Brown gave the trad mac a short-sleeve, plaid makeover, while Z Zegna took the synthetic material a step further and combined a blazer with a cape to create a whole new genre of outerwear. And, of course, Christopher Bailey had something up the sleeve of his plastic Burberry trench in the form of pop-colored button-downs and a high-glass take on the tuxedo shirt. No wonder McGuire was such a believer. How can anyone go wrong with plastic? It cleans quickly, is ideal for inclement weather, and serves a variety of household purposes when you've worn out its welcome.

Hmm, I don't get all this fuss about plastic. Substitute "rubber" or "latex" for plastic, then it will all make sense.

The men in the audience should listen up. Stop complaining about not getting laid at parties! Really, it's pathetic, and pathetic in a way that won't get you any pity. Here's my suggestion: buy yourself a natty rubber outfit like the ones above, and go to the next fetish party. It doesn't matter if you are a slob, are fat, or are a fat slob; the clothes make the man. Sit at the bar and siddle up to a nice, young model type broad. Be charming, ply her with drinks, and pretend you're worth a lot of money. Make sure you flatter her and talk about women empowerment and all that rot. Her legs will spread in no time. Ah! I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

Poll Results: Latex Sheeting

I must offer my apologies to my loyal guys and dolls. I once promised to put up a new poll every week. Well, I failed you. I failed all of you. The same poll has been up (and closed) for about a month. Oh, the blog horror!

Anyway, we'll get over it...together, we'll rise above.

Without further ado, and, unfortunately, no spankings, here is the results to "My favorite type of latex sheeting is"

Drumroll, please.

Out of a whopping 56 votes:

28% chose "standard/supatex"
33% chose "semi-transparent"
5% chose "vibrant/neon"
21% chose "metallic/pearlsheen"
0% chose "OK, really, what the fuck?!"
10% chose "anything with boobs behind it."

Semi-trans has won this round. Even though I tend not to wear semi-trans latex clothing--I'm a shy one--I really love the semi-trans colors, especially the traditional natural color. However, I voted metallic/pearsheen because lately I've been working with those colors a lot. Click here for a sample pic.