Retifism
Related: foot - Restif de la Bretonne - fetishism
The Balcony (1963) - Joseph Strick
L'Age d'Or/The Age of Gold (1930) - Luis Buñuel [Amazon.com]
According to the Surrealists, nothing can counteract the deadly burden of institutions and Establishment except irrational, anarchic, wild love. In a film devoted to this theme, a frustrated, sexually aroused woman passionately sucks the toe of a statue in a display of foot fetishism quite typical of Bunuel's work; further implications are inevitable. --Film As a Subversive Art (1974) - Amos Vogel
Fetishism [...]
Restif de la Bretonne is described by Havelock Ellis as the first well-documented case of a shoe- and foot fetishist. The (rare) term „retifism“ for shoe and foot fetishism is derived from his name. (Encyclopaedia Britannica) (Ellis, Havelock: „Studies in the Psychology of Sex“. Random House, New York 1942, Vol. II, part 1, p. 18 ff.)Richard von Krafft-Ebing considered the majority of shoe fetishists were masochists. Wedeck (1963) described this behaviour as someone who would steal shoes from their victim and tear, slash or burn them to attain a sexual climax. Famous retifists include: Publius Ovidius Naso (or Ovid), Omar Kayyam, Restif de La Bretonne, Leo Tolstoy, Feodor Dostoevski, Paul Murphy, and Oled Cassini. --http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/fetish.html [Nov 2005]
Profile of a retifist
Brame, Brame & Jacobs (1996) stated that many foot fetishists felt uncomfortable with tastes which seemed extreme or kinky. Many foot lovers were repelled by D & S or acts considered unclean , such as sniffing socks. This may be a manifestation of their internal conflict i.e. if foot fetishism was shameful then other kinky desires were even less acceptable. As a group gay men seem to be the most at ease with foot /shoe fetishism. The belief is since homosexuals men have already come to terms with a momentous social challenge in their sexuality then acceptance of stimuli is no major drama. Retifists usually collect women's shoes and have exquisite taste for elegant style. Their preference covers the seven basic shoe styles described by Rossi (1993) and materials such as leather and furs often influence their choice. Retifists will personalise their collection by giving names to their favourite shoes. Possession of shoes is important to the retifist and in cases of paraphilia, men may steal the shoes they are attracted to. Kiernan (1917, reported in Rossi, 1990) first described the term kleptolagnia which was used when theft took place when associated with sexual excitement. "Hephephilia" is a term used when there is an uncontrolable urge to steal the objects of specific focus. Many hephephiliacs are ordinary people with no criminal intention other than a compulsion to possess the object of their desire due to a repressed or complicated sex life. Theft from shops is common as is robbery from private property. Many retifists keep copious records of their activities all of which adds to their excitement. Shoe snatching, including foot assaults, have been reported around the world. When these cases do come to court however the behaviour is often dismissed as a trivial deviation. Most medical authorities agree such behavioyur signifies power and indicates domination. Richard von Krafft-Ebing considered the majority of shoe fetishists were masochists. Wedeck (1963) described this behaviour as someone who would steal shoes from their victim and tear, slash or burn them to attain a sexual climax. Famous retifists include: Publius Ovidius Naso (or Ovid), Omar Kayyam, Restif de La Bretonne, Leo Tolstoy, Feodor Dostoevski, Paul Murphy, and Oled Cassini --http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/fetish.html [Sept 2004]Restif de la Bretonne [...]
Foot fetishism in Luis Buñuel and Alain Robbe-Grillet
Fragola, Anthony N., 1994
From the ecclesiastical to the profane: Foot fetishism in Luis Buñuel and Alain Robbe-Grillet
In: Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 22, No. 4, 1994, pp. 663-680
Abstract: "The Spanish surrealist L. Bunuel and the French writer/director A. Robbe-Grillet, who shares surrealist affinities with Bunuel, reveal the presence of feet and foot fetishism (FF) throughout the body of their work. Bunuel believes that sexual compulsions and deviations originate from the repressive teaching of Catholicism that equates sex with guilt. He demonstrates that the fetish is a substitute for intimacy evolving from an overpowering fear of castration rooted in the anxiety of women as being biologically separate from men. For Robbe-Grillet, FF serves as a means to both construct and deconstruct narrative and his use of it as punctuation is far more extensive than that of Bunuel. Whereas Bunuel treats FF and other compulsions as deviancies whose origins are religious, Robbe-Grillet presents them, if society were more truthful, as the norm." (APA/PsycINFO) --via Datenschlag.org [Oct 2004]
Elmer Batters (1919-1997)
Elmer Batters: Legs That Dance to Elmer's Tune (1998) - Elmer Batters [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Elmer Batters (1919-1997) was a fetish photographer who specializes in capturing images of women with an empasis on stockings, legs, and feet.
He started out publishing his photographs himself, and since the late 1960s his work has been featured in magazines such as Leg-O-Rama, Nylon Doubletake, and Black Silk Stockings, to name but a few. Taschen has published several books featuring the work of Elmer Batters. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Batters [Apr 2005]
See also: fetish photography - leg
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