Pantyhose fetishism

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Pantyhose fetishism is a relatively mild sexual fetish involving women's pantyhose (sheer tights in UK). The fetish commonly starts in childhood (or less so in adolescence).

Commonly a pantyhose fetishist may also often engage in stocking fetishism, the uniquely silky sheer aspect, feminine 'association' and allure of both being the link. Many current day males' fetishistic preference for pantyhose over stockings may be related to the fact that pantyhose are in almost direct contact with female genitalia and are the preferred item for most females when skirts and dresses are worn.

These facts may also go some way towards explaining the apparent increasing incidence of pantyhose as a more prevalent contemporary fetish item despite the commonly held belief that stockings are 'sexy' and pantyhose are not. Today both are considered to be so. (It is thought that women's pantyhose are now the third most popular female clothing fetish item within the male population of the western world ^{[citation needed]}).

[edit] Categories

Pantyhose fetishism usually manifests itself in one or more of the following ways:

• Wearing pantyhose during sexual activity either with a sexual partner or alone.
• Interacting with pantyhose in some form during such sexual activity.
• Observing/admiring females who are wearing pantyhose.
• The wearing of pantyhose has been known to make wrestling more pleasurable between two women, and even two men. It has been said that the feel of the nylon clad legs rubbing together as they get tangled up, can be a very arousing, and very pleasurable feeling, for the two wrestlers.

In the first two instances, during the lone activity of a young fetishist it is often desirable for some that the pantyhose have been worn/owned by a specific 'role model', be it a neighbor, aunt or friend, i.e. an 'attractive' female. This sometimes leads to a habit of the fetishist stealing pantyhose from sock drawers, laundry baskets, trash bins, and the like. This is as suggested perhaps far more common during earlier years of childhood and adolescence when a youngster is still 'exploring' his whole sexuality as an aspect of growing up.

The sub-categories and degrees of pantyhose fetishism are far too many to list as it can be endlessly sub-divided and is in many cases combined with other fetishes or paraphilias of the fetishist (and often his partner too) so as to make an individual's preferences as with many other common fetishes unique.

(A few examples of sub-categories would be: a focus on certain areas of the body whilst wearing pantyhose, e.g. feet (a variation of the very common foot fetishism), genitals/posterior; wearing pantyhose with other specific garments; e.g. shoes, uniforms [office girl/secretary, flight stewardess, Hooters waitress, and cheerleader are very common 'triggers']; certain styles eg. sheer-to-waist, opaque, textured, patterned, specific deniers (predominantly sheer), brands, or shades, or simply admiring women who wear pantyhose (a mild form of voyeurism) or finding the wearing of them to be primarily sensual and pleasant (not a fetish item) the latter feelings (if not already omnipresent) tending to emerge in later rather than earlier life as sexual drive decreases).

[edit] Origins

The fact that pantyhose are normally a female garment and are invariably in the eyeline of a small young child and feel soft to the touch can initiate the naive interest of a young boy. However, often if not always, the fetish is first encountered and experienced due to an entirely random trigger (e.g. the innocent witnessing of a pair being pulled on or taken off, i.e. an early intimate feminine experience for a youngster). This can serve as a catalyst for such a child in his formative years and may progress to an increased admiration and focus on the aforementioned particular role model(s).

Thus pantyhose fetishism most often starts in or significantly before puberty, perhaps also instigated by events of a major emotional, sexual or sensual nature. It is also suggested that some may start as a young child by pure instinct alone, "exploring softer things in life" from as early as 5, 6 or 7 years old. The child, perhaps even years before his first 'normal' sexual encounter can then become almost mesmerised and obsessed with looking at women's pantyhosed legs, observing for example such outwardly superficial nuances as the 'swishing' sound when legs are crossed, the soft touch when sitting on a lap, the silky appearance, a run ("ladder" in UK) etc.

Throughout his mid-teens, the young male could in all probability progress on to experiencing the most deeply powerful confusing sexual and sensual emotions he will ever know. A typical scenario would be that of having a girlfriend within a 'normal' relationship, but finding her more 'sexy' when she wears a dress/skirt with a pair of pantyhose (or stockings).

In adult life, males with this common fetish, not unlike many other fetishists, will be predominantly respectable and responsible heterosexual family men. They may covertly and innocently enjoy admiring women's pantyhosed legs, and may wear pantyhose themselves.

[edit] Men wearing pantyhose

See also: Transvestic fetishism

Men who enjoy wearing pantyhose for fetishistic purposes if 'discovered' will almost invariably be labeled as transvestites by their partners, families, workmates and society as a whole, most of whom will be somewhat understandably ignorant of the subject and its degrees of incidence, regularity and patterns of variation. Also, there are different reasons for cross-dressing, most of them not as part of a fetish. A man may be deeply anxious and worried about being associated with homosexuality or transsexuality, and as such most will endeavour to keep the fetish totally private, commonly hiding it from their wives/partners (though many do have an ultimate trust and understanding of their partners who are happy include it within their relationships) due to such enormous fears that are invariably and totally out of context with such relatively mild desires.

The wearing of pantyhose by men is a strong fetish which consumes many men, and often opens up a transvestite fetish in itself. The fantasy of wearing pantyhose, especially when strongly visible (ie wearing pantyhose with a short skirt or dress) remains one of the leading "kicks" for men with this a cross-dressing fetish. The thought of being seen in such attire can be a huge turn on for men of this inkling.

For a discussion of the non-fetish aspects of male pantyhose wearing, see Pantyhose for men.