Armpit fetishism (also known as maschalagnia) is a type of

partialism Partialism is sexual fetish with an exclusive focus on a specific part of the body other than genitals. Partialism is categorized as a fetishistic disorder in the DSM-5 of the American Psychiatric Association only if it causes significant psyc ...

in which a person is sexually attracted to

armpits The axilla (also, armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm and the thoracic cage, bounded superio ...

, which may lead to axillism, or armpit intercourse (

sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) ...

with one or both armpits).

Smell

The natural body smell is a powerful force in sexual attraction, and can be focused by the strong pungent odor of the armpit:

Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, ''The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologist, ...

considered that for a woman to shave her armpits was “simply ignorant vandalism”, obliterating a powerful sexual tool, and praised the French for greater sexual awareness than American deodorant culture in this regard. A woman's armpits, armpit hair, and secretions can be seen as essential components of their femininity, whether this is positively or negatively valued.

Havelock Ellis Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...

found evidence that (in a non-sexual context) smelling one's own armpit could act as a temporary energy boost. Certain pheromones found in armpit sweat, namely

androstadienone Androstadienone, or androsta-4,16-dien-3-one, is a 16-androstene class endogenous steroid that has been described as having potent pheromone-like activities in humans. The compound is synthesized from androstadienol by 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydro ...

is shown to improve mood when smelled or licked according to a 2013 study.

Fetish

Those who have a mild fetish for armpits often enjoy licking, kissing, tasting,

tickling Tickling is the act of touching a part of a body in a way that causes involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English ''tikelen'', perhaps frequentative of ''ticken'', to touch lightly. In 1897, psycholo ...

and smelling their partner's armpits during sexual foreplay, perhaps asking partners not to shower or wash their armpits nor wear deodorant for a period of hours or even days. The

symbolic equation Symbolic equation is the term used in Kleinian psychoanalysis for states of thinking which equate current objects with those of the past, rather than finding a ''resemblance'' between the two sets. Origins Hanna Segal developed the concept of the ...

of armpit and vagina may underpin the fetish, as also the odor.

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

however saw such fetishism as becoming problematic only when such preparatory acts substituted totally for intercourse as a final goal.

Axillism

Stressing the importance in axillism of the (unlubricated) friction being confined to the penile shaft, Alex Comfort saw armpit intercourse as "Not an outstandingly rewarding trick but worth trying if you like the idea". Problems may, however, arise in a relationship when penis to armpit contact (axillism) becomes an exclusive sexual necessity for the armpit fetishist – something which can produce long-term sexual desire disorder in a couple.

Literary associations

* The French novelist Huysmans wrote an essay 'Le Gousset' on the various smells of what he called the "spice-boxes" that were women's armpits. * Havelock Ellis quotes a Chinese poet writing to his lover of "your odorous armpit ... that embalsamed nest".Havelock Ellis, ''Studies in the Psychology of Sex'' (2004) vol. 4, p. 65

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armpit Fetishism Sexual fetishism Human body Non-penetrative sex

Smell

Fetish

Axillism

Literary associations

See also

References