What becomes, quite scarily, more and more apparent as you read up on different fetishes is how many there are and how many of them you may have without even realising!
There is also a huge online world of people who share your fetish, from Facebook groups, to Tumblrs and Twitter feeds, for you to indulge your fantasies. Here are a few of the more interesting fetishes…
Agalmatophilia aka mannequins turn you on
If you have ever enjoyed Henry Moore a little bit too much at school or if you wish you were sitting on the lap of Rodin’s famous statue ‘The Thinker’, then perhaps you are an agalmatophile.
Agalmatophilia is when sexual arousal is derived from seeing and touching statues, mannequins and other figurative objects.
The first recorded instance was in 1877 when a gardener fell in love with a statue of Venus de Milo and was caught trying to fornicate with it.
Gerontophilia aka not too old to hold
Are you a big fan of DILFs? Got a soft spot for silver daddies? If these are your kind of guys then the technical term for you is gerontophilia.
Gerontophiles are people who only get turned on by people who are significantly older than them.
Gerontophiles are often the subject of the deepest psychological probing as people are often puzzled as to why they find grey hair and wrinkles so appealing.
An article by The Times Online called ‘Gerontophilia is all about revenge, not sexual desire’ suggested that those who chase the greying ones do so because of childhood issues. For example, they may have suffered very strict parents and are often found in strictly disciplinarian societies and cultures.
Gerontophiles are often clinically classified as being impulsive, aggressive, and obsessive and with little or no ability to consider their own behaviour (sound like anybody you know?)
One of the most famous gerontophiles was the late (and great) Anna Nicole Smith.
When she was just 26 years old she married 89-year-old super rich oil tycoon James Howard Marshall II and, after he died just fourteen months after the marriage, she became embroiled in an infamous lawsuit for his fortune.
Scouring some of the many online forums that are devoted to gerontophilia it seems that there are a few downsides to pursuing this fetish; the chance of breaking your lovers hip or accidentally knocking out a pair of dentures often kill the mood.
Mechanophilia aka VROOM VROOM!
Motorcycles are famously fetishized as the sexiest thing to come on two wheels and a hot guy decked out in his motorcycle leathers is usually enough to make most people swoon, but full-on mechanophiles take his a little further.
Mechanophilia is when you are aroused by machines and vehicles. Mechanophilia was the subject of a 2008 Channel 5 documentary called ‘My Car Is My Lover’ where people confessed the sexual arousal they feel from cars, trucks and motorcycles.
Movies such as Herbie and Knight Rider transformed cars into loveable, huggable characters that people could fall in love with.
Mechanophiliacs give their cars genders, names, personalities and can often have whole conversations with them quite easily.
Somnophilia aka Sleeping Beauty has a lot to answer for
Being sexually aroused by sleeping or unconscious people.
People have often realised their partner is a somnophile when they have awoken to find their partner masturbating beside them or having full on sex with them while they were happily dreaming away.
Teratophilia aka Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Teratophiles will argue that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder as they are solely sexually attracted to deformed or monstrous people.
Autassassinophilia aka being held up gets you hot
If you think the old Hollywood films where a damsel in distress is tied to a train track, squealing as impending death roars towards her, you may not be watching the iconic piece of cinema that you think you are! What may be more likely is the thinly veiled autassassinophilia of the director.
Autassassinophilia is when sexual gratification is achieved from being in life-threatening situations.
So what most people would find horrifying would get some others all hot under the collar. Scientific studies suggest a very logical explanation for this common fetish: the locations in our brain for sexual arousal and fear are actually very close and can sometimes overlap and merge together.
However, some people have found autassassinophilia a very useful tool to manipulate for their love lives, for example, if you take a date to see a scary film, then you are more likely to score a second date!
However, the downside to pursuing this fetish is the high risk of serious injury as lots of people get killed in the process of trying to fulfil their sexual fantasies.
Typical scenarios in which people suddenly realise they may be an autassassinophile often include being mugged at an ATM machine or being help at knifepoint, in the aftermath of such attacks the victim may realise that they have actually become sexually aroused by the experience.
Frotteurism aka Rush hour is your favourite hour of the day
Frotteurism is rubbing against a non-consenting person for sexual kicks.
It is a particular problem in Japan where it is called ‘chikan’, so much so that some stations have had to employ women-only train carriages during rush hours to combat the problem.
Packed public transport and concerts are common problem areas.
