Fat fetishism or adipophilia (Latin - "fat" and Greek - "love") is a

sexual attraction Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or m ...

directed towards

overweight Being overweight is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. , excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than ...

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

people due primarily to their weight and size. A variety of fat fetishism is 'feed(er)ism' or 'gaining', where sexual gratification is obtained from the process of gaining, or helping others gain,

body fat Adipose tissue (also known as body fat or simply fat) is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. It also contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, Blood vessel, vascular endothel ...

, not necessarily from the fat itself, though there is much overlap between these groups. Fat fetishism also incorporates '

stuffing Stuffing, filling, or dressing is an edible mixture, often composed of herbs and a Starch#Food, starch such as bread, used to fill a cavity in the preparation of another food item. Many foods may be stuffed, including poultry, seafood, and v ...

' and '

padding Padding is thin cushioned material sometimes added to clothes. Padding may also be referred to as batting or wadding when used as a layer in lining quilts or as a packaging or stuffing material. When padding is used in clothes, it is often done in ...

', whereas the focus of

arousal Arousal is the physiology, physiological and psychology, psychological state of being awoken or of Five senses, sense organs stimulated to a point of perception. It involves activation of the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) in the hu ...

is on the sensations and properties of a real or simulated gain.

As a subculture

The fat fetishism community has overlapped with

body positivity Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...

and fat feminism movements. The

National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is a non-profit, fat acceptance civil rights oriented organization in the United States dedicated to improving the quality of life for the obese. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination ...

(NAAFA) has worked as an advocacy organization for fat people, but was partly formed to help male fat fetishists and other fat admirers (FAs) find fat women to date and have sex with. Fat fetishism as a community is predominantly heterosexual, focusing on fat women and thinner men. Fat fetishism includes both real-life and internet communities. Fat fetishism practices and subcultures include internet porn; "gaining" and "feeding", which involves eating to intentionally gain weight; " hogging", which is when men seek out fat women to sexually exploit; and "squashing" which is sexual attraction to the idea of being crushed by a fat person or people. According to ''The Routledge Companion to Beauty Politics'', "the gendered, raced, and classed power dynamics of many of these subcultures often mirror, reinforce, and even exaggerate existing racial, gender, class, and sexual inequalities." Sociologist Abigail C. Saguy has proposed that by objectifying women's weight, they are reinforcing the cultural importance of women's weight to their physical appearance, therefore also reinforcing gender inequality.

Feedism

Gainers and feedees are people who enjoy the fantasy or reality of being fed and/or gaining weight themselves. Encouragers and feeders typically enjoy the fantasy of helping someone else gain weight. 'Gainer' and 'encourager' are common labels among

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

, while both straight men and women as well as lesbian women often identify as feeders and feedees. Some prefer the term "feedism" over feederism, as it suggests a more equal relationship between the feeder and feedee. While gaining and feeding are often considered fetishes, many within the gainer and feedism communities report viewing them more as a lifestyle, identity or sexual orientation. Feedism is portrayed by media as a

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

or a niche interest. Negative media portrayals include the 2005 film ''Feed'', which is an example of non-consensual feedism. Research has shown that the overwhelming majority of feedism relationships are fully consensual and immobility is mostly kept as a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

for participants. The gay gainer community grew out of the Girth & Mirth movement in the '70s. By 1988 there were gainer-specific newsletters and in 1992, the first gainer event, called EncourageCon, was held in

New Hope, Pennsylvania New Hope is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,612 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Hope is located approximately north of Philadelphia, and lies on the west b ...

. In 1996, GainRWeb launched, the first website dedicated to gay men into weight gain.

References

Sources

* Giovanelli, Dina and Natalie Peluso. 2006. "Feederism: a new sexual pleasure and subculture" pp 309–314 in ''The Handbook of New Sexuality Studies''. Edited by Steven Seidman. Oxford, UK: Routledge. * Kathleen LeBesco. 2004. Revolting Bodies?: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity. Univ of Massachusetts Press. *Don Kulick and Anne Meneley. 2005. Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession, . * Charles, K and Palkowski, M. 2015. Feederism: Eating, Weight Gain and Sexual Pleasure, Palgrave, .

As a subculture

Feedism

See also

References

Sources

Further reading