Flip Flops And Armpits And Corpses, Oh My! Guys Describe Favorite Fetishes

From: Queerty

What is a fetish?

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a fetish is “a need or desire for an object, body part, or activity for sexual excitement.”

How normal is it to have a fetish?

According to Jake Myers, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Los Angeles, fetishes are a totally natural part of being human.

“Fetishes, while often seeming strange to many of us, are most often harmless,” Myers tells Queerty. “In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) does not include them as a disorder unless they cause significant distress, in which case they are classified as a paraphilia.”

Myers continues: “Research is still being done about fetishes and what causes them, and while results are still confusing and inconclusive, many theorize that they are the result of an early ‘imprinting’ in the brain, where sexual stimulation was somehow merged with a particular image, act, body part, or idea in while the brain was in development phases.”

“From a therapy perspective, I think it is important to remove the stigma that many fetishes often have,” Myers continues. “It’s not ‘perverted’ to be attracted to a particular thing or idea (while some things are weirder than others!), as long as it’s harmless. In fact, often where the worse damage can occur is from repression of that desire and the shame that one can carry around because of that.”

Here’s what five different guys had to say about their fetishes…

Nolan

Age

24

Location

New York

Sexual orientation

Gay

Fetish

Armpits 

A.K.A. maschalagnia

I’d been curious about armpits since I was in middle school. I was still figuring out my sexuality and sometimes seeing or smelling a guy’s armpit in the locker room really aroused me. Throughout high school I lusted after pits from afar, and kept it very much to myself. Then I was hooking up with a guy in college and he just started licking my pits, which I took as an invitation to return the favor.

There is something about armpits that I find particularly masculine–something to do with the hair, the sweat, the smell, or a combination of all these things. I also have a bit of a submissive streak, and licking and smelling a guy’s pits has undertones of submission (at least to me). I love burying my face in a guy’s armpits, inhaling his scent, and licking and tasting them. It feels somewhat primal, and there’s something about the dirtiness of it–that it’s not supposed to be a desirable thing–that makes it hot as well. To a certain extent, the sweatier and stinkier the better.

Alex

Age

37

Location

Los Angeles

Sexual orientation

Bisexual

Fetish

Flip flops 

A.K.A. retifism

I am from Brazil and everybody there wears Havaianas flip-flops. Those are the only ones that I have a fetish for. I remember playing checkers with a friend in my bedroom when I was 10 or 11. We decided that the loser had to pull his pants down and the winner would smack his ass with his Havaianas. I would always try to lose because I used to get erections from getting smacked. Maybe it stems from that.

Just looking at a guy wearing Havaianas turns me on. I like guys to wear them when we have intercourse. I also like them to smack my ass with them. I am not sure why, but I think it might have to do with the submissiveness of it that excites me.

Very few times has someone called me a freak because my fetish. Usually guys who go along with it also want for me to perform their fetishes. Once I met a guy that was totally into socks and made me wear them the entire time we hooked up. He even picked out the socks for me, I guess, to make sure I met his fetish expectations.

Gustavo

Age

26

Location

New York

Sexual orientation

Gay

Fetish

Dentistry 

A.K.A. odontophilia

There’s just something about watching a hot guy in dental scrubs put on a tight pair of gloves. I love watching him snap them on and then hearing them being taken off. I usually watch YouTube videos of guys “gloving” instead of porn.

When I go to the dentist, I love sitting in the chair and waiting for him to get his needle and numb me up. I don’t know why. There’s just something about watching him with the syringe that I really, really like.

It is not easy finding guys who are in to my fantasy. It’s very specific and some would say “extreme,” and it’s almost impossible to find dentists in New York to go along with it. I used to live in Dallas and found it easier there. Mainly now all my play has come from Craigslist. I’ve found a couple on Recon and FetLife, but mainly I have to use Craigslist.

Michael

Age

29

Location

Los Angeles

Sexual orientation

Gay

Fetish

Water sports 

A.K.A. urolagnia

I’ve been into water sports for about six years. I think seeing it done in porn planted the seed for my fetish. My first actual experience with it was after I replied to a Craigslist ad of someone looking for a “recipient” partner in a NSA anonymous setting. I replied, exchanged the usual details as one does when responding to a Craigslist post of this nature, then had him over.

I really enjoy the submissive aspect of water sports. My favorite scene to do water sports is in a group setting. I’ve found that when it’s 1-on-1, the water sports part only lasts a couple of minutes at the most. When there’s a group setting, there are more people so the play lasts longer. I’ve found several sex parties that host water sports events. I’ve also found some bars in Europe that have tubs in their backroom sections. The crowds at these places are usually into pig play/fetishes which makes it easier to find like-minded people to play with.

This isn’t something I’ve shared with any of my friends. As for lovers, I’ve found it difficult to bring it up with guys I date/have stronger emotions towards. I find it frustrating how difficult exploring and enjoying fetishes can be when sex culture is kept “hush hush” and underground. It’s really refreshing when you meet people who have similar tastes in fetishes.

Bill

Age

49

Location

New Jersey

Sexual orientation

Gay

Fetish

Playing dead 

a.k.a. tier 1 necrophilia

My interest in death goes back for as long as I can remember. Definitely back to childhood. I can remember pretending to “kill” my friends in some sort of play mode. I was, like, 10 years old. It was definitely not sexual at that point. I also remember having a fascination with pictures of dead people, too.

I didn’t come out until I was 24. Once I became sexually active, it wasn’t long before I started acting out my fetish. Probably 25 to 26 years old. I prefer men pretending to play dead over pictures of real dead people. I like to undress the “corpse” and feel them and move them around and manipulate them. It’s about having complete and utter control over someone.

I spent years in therapy and doing self-help to try and understand all of this, and really drove myself crazy for a while. Here is the outcome I’ve come up with after 35 years of self-analyzation: All this is is a sexual desire. It does not define me, own me, run my life. It’s just a fetish and there is nothing wrong with it.

20% Of LGBT Voters Choose Donald Trump

From: NewNowNext

 A surprising number of LGBT voters are backing Donald Trump in the upcoming election.

An NBC News poll indicates 20% of queer voters would pull the lever for the Republican nominee if the election were held today. Hillary Clinton has the support of 72% of those polled.

 Trump has stated he would be better on gay issues than Clinton—and in his convention speech, he promised “I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.”

But the 2016 Republican platform has been condemned as the party’s most homophobic ever.

And many advocates are disturbed by Trump’s choice of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence—who backed his state’s “religious freedom” law—as running mate.

 When outlier candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were added to the mix, Johnson and Trump were nearly tied. (The former garnering 13% and the latter 15%.)

Green Party candidate Stein only received the support of 8% of those polled.

 The poll, conducted between September 5 and 18, included 1,728 LGBT respondents—or about 7% of the total sample. Of those, 70% said they were registered Democrats, while 18% were registered Republicans and 13% were registered as Independents.

Asked how favorably they viewed each candidate, an overwhelming 82% said they had an unfavorable impression of Trump, compared to 41% who had a negative take on Clinton.

In the 2012 election, Barack Obama received approximately 76% of the gay/bisexual vote. (National polls at the time did not track transgender voters.)

‘New York Times’ Endorses Hillary Clinton, Plans to Eviscerate Trump on Monday

From: Towleroad

The New York Times endorsed Hillary Clinton in a lengthy op-ed today, promising to explain in another editorial on Monday “why we believe Mr. Trump to be the worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history.”

Writes the NYT:

We’re aiming instead to persuade those of you who are hesitating to vote for Mrs. Clinton — because you are reluctant to vote for a Democrat, or for another Clinton, or for a candidate who might appear, on the surface, not to offer change from an establishment that seems indifferent and a political system that seems broken.
Running down the other guy won’t suffice to make that argument. The best case for Hillary Clinton cannot be, and is not, that she isn’t Donald Trump.
The best case is, instead, about the challenges this country faces, and Mrs. Clinton’s capacity to rise to them.
The next president will take office with bigoted, tribalist movements and their leaders on the march. In the Middle East and across Asia, in Russia and Eastern Europe, even in Britain and the United States, war, terrorism and the pressures of globalization are eroding democratic values, fraying alliances and challenging the ideals of tolerance and charity.
The 2016 campaign has brought to the surface the despair and rage of poor and middle-class Americans who say their government has done little to ease the burdens that recession, technological change, foreign competition and war have heaped on their families.
Over 40 years in public life, Hillary Clinton has studied these forces and weighed responses to these problems. Our endorsement is rooted in respect for her intellect, experience, toughness and courage over a career of almost continuous public service, often as the first or only woman in the arena.

Read the full endorsement here.

In related news, the Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed Clinton on Friday, the first Democrat the Ohio newspaper has endorsed for president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

'It Has to Be Hillary Clinton': Cincinnati Enquirer Endorses First Democrat for President Since 1916

Newspaper Calls Trump 'Clear and Present Danger to Our Country'
From: The New Civil Rights Movement

The Cincinnati Enquirer, published daily and since 1841, announced Friday it is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. The newspaper has not endorsed a Democrat for president since Woodrow Wilson one hundred years ago, in 1916.

“The Enquirer has supported Republicans for president for almost a century – a tradition this editorial board doesn’t take lightly,” the board began in its editorial. “But this is not a traditional race, and these are not traditional times.”

They continued, “our country needs calm, thoughtful leadership to deal with the challenges we face at home and abroad. We need a leader who will bring out the best in all Americans, not the worst,” before concluding that “there is only one choice when we elect a president in November: Hillary Clinton.”

The board cited Clinton’s time as a senator in New York, in which she passed bills with “conservative lawmakers,” her history with 9/11 first responders where she ensured they received proper care following their time at Ground Zero, and her “more than 40 years fighting for women’s and children’s rights.”

They turned further to her time as first lady, citing her creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which provides care to over 8 million children, her fight to close the gender wage gap and “[standing] up for LGBT rights domestically and internationally, including [her] advocating for marriage equality.”

In contrast, the editorial board asserted that “[Donald] Trump is a clear and present danger to our country,” citing that he has “no history of governance that should engender any confidence from voters.” They referenced his lack of foreign policy experience and referred to his “reckless, cowboy diplomacy” as something that “Americans should fear from a Trump presidency.”

The board further celebrated Clinton’s time as secretary of state, asserting that she “[has] far stronger diplomatic skills than she gets credit for.” They caution that “yes, mistakes were made in Benghazi, and it was tragic that four Americans lost their lives … But the incident was never the diabolical conspiracy that Republicans wanted us to believe, and Clinton was absolved of blame after lengthy investigations.” They further credit her role in the decisions that led to the death of Osama bin Laden and the U.N. sanctions that led to the Iran nuclear deal.

“We have our issues with Clinton,” the board admits, but advises that any issues they may have “pale in comparison to our fears about Trump.” They further remind readers that they have consistently criticized his temperament and policies since the beginning of the Republican primary, in which they endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich.

“We’ve condemned [Trump’s] childish insults; offensive remarks to women, Hispanics and African-Americans; and the way he has played on many Americans’ fears and prejudices to further himself politically,” they asserted.

They further questioned Trump’s business acumen, his refusal to release his tax returns, and his praise of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Saddam Hussein “while insulting a sitting president, our military generals, a Gold Star family and prisoners of war like [Senator] John McCain.”

While the board noted that Trump had “of late… toned down his divisive rhetoric,” they were quick to point out that “going two weeks without saying something misogynistic, racist or xenophobic is hardly a qualification for the most important job in the world.”

In Clinton, they wrote, America would have “a brave leader, not bravado. Real solutions, not paper-thin promises. A clear eye toward the future, not a cynical appeal to the good old days.”

“It’s time to elect the first female U.S. president,” the board concluded. “Not because she’s a woman, but because she’s hands-down the most qualified choice.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer further explained its endorsement via Facebook Live, the full video of which can be seen below:

I'm Proud To Be A Man

From: Brent's Auto Wall

September 25th is Psychotherapy Day

If you tell someone that you are celebrating Psychotherapy Day they will probably say ‘you need your head examined’ or some other joking remark, or maybe they will say that people who can afford psychotherapy don’t need a special day. Psychotherapy Day was founded in 2012 by a group of professionals and students and is designed to combat misconceptions and raise awareness of the vital work that is done by therapists in helping the one in four people who suffer from mental illness as well as those with emotional problems. The color turquoise is worn to show support for Psychotherapy Day and can be combined with their logo of a turquoise counselling chair on a black background. It is an ideal time to talk, write, read or blog about psychotherapy in order to break down stigmas and worries, to volunteer or donate to community mental health centers and to share psychotherapy research.