When I was in high school, I discovered a perfume called “Fetish.” It was a flash-in-the-pan late-nineties scent, but I loved it. (In fact, I still have a bottle, since I rarely wear perfume.) I think it was a harbinger of things to come: I’ve never been particularly kinky, and I don’t have any true sexual fetishes. But I have always been fascinated by those who do, and by trying to step into their shoes. I have a passion for pulling the things we’re ashamed of out of the closet they live in, giving them a hug, and presenting them to the world in better light. Demystifying them, as it were. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks at Vice and Men’s Health!
Vice: Sex Rules
First, Vice published my a Q&A with Janice Zarro Brodman about her new book, Sex Rules. The book explores sexual cultures from around the world, where gender roles and sexual practices are wildly different from ours! Some might seem bizarre to us in Western culture…but to them, we sound just as weird!
A teensy taste:
“There are things I like because they’re counterintuitive for someone brought up in the United States. The Biwat of Papua New Guinea think women are the sexual aggressors and men are the receivers. They have this saying: ‘Of course the female is the aggressor and aggressive. Has she not a vulva?’ It’s just such a great comment.”
Men’s Health: Macrophilia
Then, I was thrilled that Men’s Health provided a home for my Q&A with a giantess fetishist! This little-known fetish has hardly been studied by scientists, but it’s a flourishing subculture. There are forums, video producers, artists, models, and thousands of fans who celebrate the idea of massive women. This fetish requires a lot of imagination—since fifty-foot women aren’t easy to find—and that’s one reason it intrigues me so much. So I spoke with one fetishist about what gets him going so much about giantesses.
A tidbit:
“Having the fetish helped me to become more comfortable with myself, and more accepting of others who are just as unique in their own ways. It made me realize that the best part about diversity is how different, and equally wonderful, people are.”
Read the whole piece at Men’s Health!