Stimulating Conversations

This week, I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how a fetish, fetishism, and paraphilia differ in a town called Bel-Air. First off, let’s discuss clinical definitions. The DSM-IV-TR (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) states that fetishism is the use of inanimate objects (excluding devices intended to cause sexual pleasure such as vibrators) as a stimulus to achieve sexual arousal or satisfaction for at least 6 months, with the affected person experiencing impairment and/or distress in several functional areas; paraphilias are “characterized by recurrent, intense sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve unusual objects, activities, or situations and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” What do either of these have to do with my column though? What we think of as “fetishes,” and what I write about here, are actually considered normal variations of sexual behavior. The only way a fetish can be considered an actual disorder is if it fulfills the criteria of causing distress or impairment in daily life. Fetishes are technically paraphilias (even if they don’t affect the person’s function), though not all paraphilias are considered fetishes.

Hope that clears up any confusion.