Plushophilia (from "

plushie A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...

" and "

-philia The Greek root "-Phil-" originates from the Greek word meaning "love". For example, Philosophy (along with the Greek root "-soph-" meaning "wisdom") is the study of human customs and the significance of life. One of the most common uses of the ro ...

") is a

paraphilia Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...

involving stuffed toy animals. Many plushophiles modify their plushies with a hole or holes reminiscent of those found in

sex toys A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating ...

, to allow them to sexually interact with their plushies. Plushophiles are sometimes called ''plushies'', although this term (plushies) can also refer to non-sexual stuffed toy animal enthusiasts, and to stuffed toy animals in general. It is a form of

object sexuality Object sexuality or objectophilia is a group of paraphilias characterized by sexual or romantic attraction focused on particular inanimate objects. Individuals with this attraction may have strong feelings of love and commitment to certain items ...

Furry fandom

Plushophilia is sometimes assumed to be a practice common within

furry fandom The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The term ...

, due in part to a 2001 article by ''Vanity Fair'' that linked various members of the furry community with plushophilia. A 1998 survey of 360 members of the furry community suggested less than one percent (that is, fewer than four people) attested to being plushophiles. Pornography and sexual activity involving animal anthropomorphism (including plushophilia and paraphilias involving

fursuit Fursuits are custom-made animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in 1993 by Robert Kin ...

s and

cartoon animal Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales, children's literature, and modern comic books and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities (such as bipedal walkin ...

s) is known in the furry fandom community as "

yiff ''Yiff'' is a slang term used in the furry fandom to refer to pornographic content. It is considered a tongue-in-cheek term in the furry fandom. The term is also used as a way to insult members of the furry fandom, such as in the phrase "yiff in ...

" (and sexual acts as "yiffing").

Being in another form

Anne Lawrence Anne Alexandra Lawrence (born November 17, 1950) is an American psychologist, sexologist, and former anesthesiologist who has published extensively on transsexuality. Work Lawrence is a proponent of Ray Blanchard's transsexualism typology theo ...

has proposed that sexual arousal that depends upon imagining one's self as plush or "representations of anthropomorphic animal characters in

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

s" be termed autoplushophilia.Lawrence, A. A. (2009). Erotic target location errors: An under appreciated paraphilic dimension. ''The Journal of Sex Research, 46,'' 194-215. Paraphilic interests that involve being in another form have been referred to as

erotic target location error Erotic target location error (ETLE) is a hypothesized paraphilia defined by having a sexual preference or strong sexual interest in features that are somewhere other than on one's sexual partners. When one's sexual arousal is based on imagining o ...

References

External links

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Museum of Sex Exhibits Modified Plush Toys
at WikiFur {{paraphilia Paraphilias Sexuality and society Sexual attraction Sexual fetishism Sexual roleplay

Furry fandom

Being in another form

See also

References

External links