Thursday, July 18, 2013

An Explanation of the Foot Fetish Dudes?

Since becoming involved n barefoot running around 2005 or so, I've fielded a million questions covering all aspects of life without shoes. Most questions involve the logic or logistics of barefootedness. One group of questions, however, buck that trend.

I get a fair number of female friends that report a sudden increase of friend requests (on Facebook) from dudes asking to post more pictures of their feet. The requests are usually framed in a way that implicitly or explicitly indicates the piictures arouse them sexually. Almost all of these women have been creeped out by the phenomenon. After all, getting random requests from strangers that are obviously using your pictures for masturbatory practices can be a bit disconcerting for some.

I've always found this to be humorous and suggest they just block the friend requests. I also suggest the women (or other men) take it easy on the foot fetish fellows. We all have our unique turn-ons, and it's a good practice to avoid judging others. It's like offensive TV shows- instead of freaking out and calling for silly things like censorship, simply change the channel.

Anywho, the book I've been reading (How We Do It by Judy Dutton... which I would recommend for the sexually illiterate) discusses an article published in 1998 titled "Sexualization of the Female Foot in Response to Sexually Transmitted Epidemics." The authors note there seems to be an increase in female foot fetishes in response to historical STD epidemics. According to this hypothesis, the current increase in female foot fetishes is a direct result of the AIDS epidemic. 

If this is the case, the current crop of men (any maybe some women) that have developed a fetish for the female foot hit the jackpot. The barefoot running movement has produced an huge influx of easily-available female foot pictures easily accessible via the Interwebz. The ease of availability would theoretically add even more fuel to the fire that is female foot fetishes.

What do you think? Many of my readers are also current or former barefoot runners OR dudes that may have a foot fetish. Is the theory plausible? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!

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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Feeling Down? Unmotivated? Depressed? Try Swallowing. Or Perhaps a Nice Creampie?

I've been reading the book "How We Do It: How the Science of Sex Can Make You a Better Lover" by Judy Dutton. [Note- if you're interested, used copies are available for a Bareefoot Running Book-esque price of $0.01 via Amazon] The book discusses a wide variety of fascinating sexuality topics derived from research. It's an infinitely better basis for sexual knowledge than that bullshit published in puppy cage liners like Cosmo, Redbook, and Men's Health. I highly recommend the book based on what I've read thus far.

One of the first studies the author discusses is a correlational study by Gallup, Burch and Platek (2002) that discusses a positive correlation between condom use and depression. The authors of the study hypothesize the cause of the correlation could be due to prostaglandins present in semen that are absorbed into the recipient's body which wards off depressive symptoms.

I'll take a moment to let all the dudes rejoice.



If you think this is the greatest idea ever stop reading here. Print out the Gallop et. al. abstract and tactfully give it to your significant other... preferably when they're in a bad mood. Offer up a nice "deposit" for... you know, humanitarian reasons. Better yet, all the guys can now add "Bringer of Happiness" to their resumes or CVs. 

If you're more of a research geek, read on.

Like all sexuality research, it's a good idea to read the fine print. The Gallup study was correlational in nature, which means the results can't say if the lack of condoms (and accompanying creampie) caused the decrease in depression. The authors of the study did control for a variety of extraneous variables, which does increase the validity. Still, causation can't be established with correlational research.

Psychology Today posted a nice critical article, which is worth a read. The PT article does note Gallup et. al. have replicated the results with a larger sample size, but the same correational issues will still be an issue.

Could causation be tested?

It would be somewhat difficult in the lab, though I could imagine groups of subjects ingesting caplets filled with either semen or a placebo. 

It would be much easier to test this hypothesis at home. After all there's nothing more reliable and valid than the n=1 experiment. This home experiment requires a "donor" and a "recipient." If you're in a relationship without a donor, you're fucked. And resigned to spend a lot of time being angry. ;-)

Bad jokes aside, the experiment s very simple. Have sex (vaginal oral  or anal... all are acceptable methods to absorb the hormones in the semen.) About half of the time the donor will finish up inside the recipient. For the other half, the donor will finish up outside (note- some believe semen also has positive effects on skin health.) Otherwise they to keep every other variable the same. If the recipient normally orgasms as part of the sexual acts make sure they continue in both conditions. 

Record the mood of the recipient in the hours after the experiment. After a few weeks, you should see a pattern developing if one exists. If there is a pattern, congratulation! You've stumbled upon an easy route to happiness! If there is no pattern, at least you've had a lot of sex. 

It's a win-win!

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