Glossary
Heel fetish
For anyone whose object of desire is not the foot but the heel, and who wonders whether that is strange.
What is a heel fetish?
A heel fetish (Dutch: hakkenfetisj) is sexual arousal that comes specifically from high heels. The shape and the ticking sound do the work, and often the posture such a heel forces too. It is a variant of shoe fetish, called retifism in sexology. The heel is the object of desire, not necessarily the one wearing it.
| Dutch term | hakkenfetisj; a form of shoe fetishism |
| Also known as | high heel fetish; clinically altocalcifilia |
| Category | a paraphilia, and within the fetishes a kind of shoe fetish (retifism) |
| Not to be confused with | a foot fetish, where the bare foot is the object and not the shoe |
| When it’s called a disorder | only when it causes suffering or problems, never by the preference itself |
| The core | the heel as object, for its shape and for what it does to a body |
Why heels come up so often
Of all fetishes, a large part revolves around feet and what goes on them. In a large study into the popularity of fetishes, Scorolli and colleagues (2007) found that objects to do with feet and footwear form by far the largest group. A high heel stands out within that, because it changes the body visibly and at once. The calf tightens, the stride shortens. And the posture tilts back. The name retifism comes from the French writer Rétif de la Bretonne (1734-1806), who devoted a whole novel to it.
What a heel fetish gives
The arousal often sits not in the sex itself, but in the run-up. The dressing. The sound that enters a room before the woman does. The idea that something everyday is suddenly charged. For the one who has it, a heel brings up a side that falls away in flat shoes. One enjoys the looking most, another the hearing it approach down the hall. What begins as a child with a shoe in a shop window or a mother getting ready to go out can grow into a fixed ingredient of arousal that bothers no one else. There is no need to look for more behind it. It only becomes a problem if the heel is the only route to arousal, or becomes more important than the person standing in it.
Where this fits on my site
Maybe you’d like an evening where heels, or just as easily something entirely different that arouses you, can simply come along without you having to defend it. I work to measure, and preferences like these belong there without judgment. What such an evening looks like you can read under my services. You can also ask first, that commits you to nothing.
Sources
- Relative prevalence of different fetishes. C. Scorolli et al., International Journal of Impotence Research, 2007. Supplies that feet and footwear, shoes foremost, form the largest group of fetish objects.
- Shoe fetishism. Wikipedia. Supplies the name retifism and its origin with Rétif de la Bretonne, and that high heels are a common object within the shoe fetish.
Related terms
A heel fetish is a specific branch of the paraphilia, the broader term for a sexual preference for an object or situation.
- Foot fetish. The nearest neighbor, where the foot itself arouses and not the shoe around it.
- Fetish. What a fetish exactly is and when a preference is only then called a disorder.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about a heel fetish.
What is a heel fetish?
A heel fetish is sexual arousal that comes specifically from high heels: their shape, their sound and the posture they force. The heel itself is the object of desire. It is a form of shoe fetish, called retifism in sexology.
Is a heel fetish the same as a foot fetish?
No. With a heel fetish the shoe arouses, the high heel with its shape and sound. With a foot fetish it is the bare foot itself. They often occur together, but the object differs: the heel against the foot that stands in it.
Who can you turn to with questions about a heel fetish?
Victor, a gigolo with about twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. A preference like a heel fetish is open to discussion with him without judgment, and can simply come along during an appointment. You can ask him something through the contact form or first chat for free.
Learn more
Still have questions about a heel fetish?
I'm Victor, a gigolo. Preferences like this belong with how I work, without you having to justify yourself. If you'd like to know or arrange something, feel free to ask, I'll text you back at your leisure.