Religious fetishes include objects that have some mystical properties. Rooted in ancient times, fetishism is known to almost all peoples of the world. Personal amulets, designed to protect their owner, were worn around the neck, believing in their magical properties. They worshiped everything that seemed to people to have some kind of mystical power. It could be a piece of something large, for example a small part of a magical tree, a piece of stone, a drawing of an animal or a figurine of a bird. A statue depicting a particularly revered ancestor, made of clay, stone and wood, could also become a fetish. Any thing that people found and captured their imagination could become a fetish, which everyone subsequently worshiped.
Fetishes had their own place of action. For example, one object was credited with protecting the house, another with controlling the weather, and a third with causing rain.
In Uzbekistan, the snake was held in high esteem. She was considered the beginning of good and evil. Also known is the cult of worshiping bulls, personifying the masculine principle, horses, camels and lions. They tried to appease objects of worship with prayers and show gratitude, because the well-being of entire settlements depended on them.
One of the most striking fetish objects is a wooden doll - alela of the Yenisei Kets. Alela was made of wood and dressed in traditional Kets clothing. The doll was depicted as an old woman who protected the house and household members. The doll was passed down from parents to children; it was always taken with them when moving and was sacredly protected.
Fetishism as religion
Fetishism is attraction, veneration of an inanimate object. The object of worship is endowed with supernatural and even magical properties. Now fetishism is more associated with sexual deviations.
The concept of the word "fetish" originally meant an idol or talisman . Modern psychologists define it as an object that causes strong emotional or sexual arousal in a person .
Hand fetishists feel aroused by a beautiful manicure and other decorations on their hands.
Sigmund Freud began studying fetishism at the beginning of the 20th century. He identified several forms of the phenomenon and described their nature.
According to the Austrian psychoanalyst, fetishism is a deviation from natural sexual orientation. Their cause is childhood psychotrauma caused by grievances, misunderstandings or emotionally charged events.
Most often, fetishism develops in people with a vague gender identity. With the help of a fetish, sexual relationships are born, often distorted.
According to Freud, fetishism is not always associated with mental disorders. Only in combination with other deviations does it require correction. Getting rid of them is not so easy.
Possible causes of fetishism
When it comes to sexual fetishism:
- Child psychological trauma: a child for some reason stops trusting his parents, as well as all adults. Later, difficulties arise in building trusting relationships with adults and peers, including representatives of the opposite sex; a growing person finds sexual release using inanimate things;
- Some story that occurred during puberty and formed certain associations in the brain, for example, the association of sexual arousal with a bra carelessly left by a mother or older sister in the bathroom;
- A traumatic sexual experience in the past, after which a person is subconsciously afraid to come into contact with living partners, giving preference to things;
If we talk about religious fetishism , then the reason here is the traditions formed over the years in the human mind. Commitment to these traditions or a certain faith is formed in the child in the family in which he grows up. Perhaps a person experiences fear or loneliness, so he concentrates too much on the object of faith.
Worship of this or that thing may be associated with trauma after the loss of a loved one: the unfortunate person cherishes the things of the deceased as a memory.
The reason for commodity fetishism can be an excessive emphasis on the purchased item, especially if a person got it with great difficulty, he saved up for this item for a long time.
Normally, despite admiring certain things, a person’s priority is still people. If things occupy the main place in a person’s life, then he is most likely a fetishist. It is advisable for such a person to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist so that fetishism does not worsen the quality of his life.
Primitive religions of the ancient world and fetishism
Primitive people endowed totems with magical properties.
Ancient cults of primitive people are based on belief in patron spirits and the endowment of magical properties to material objects and natural phenomena. Early religions are divided into:
- Animism is a belief in immaterial spirits. Ancient people endowed elements, objects, and inanimate objects with magical powers and saw them as patrons. The concept is suitable to describe all primitive cults.
- Fetishism is a belief in magical properties attributed to an object. These include stones, animal bones, figurines and even natural objects. Everything unusual and incomprehensible became a fetish in ancient tribes. They worshiped him, cajoled him, asked for help.
- Totemism is a faith based on the worship of the patron saint of the clan. His role was played by animals, birds, plants. A person not only worshiped them, but also associated himself with patrons, developing certain qualities (dexterity, strength, endurance). Totems were used to worship the spirit of the clan.
Later primitive beliefs are based on magic and shamanism. Magic is belief in supernatural forces, the ability to control them through rituals. Shamanism is the worship of the spirits of ancestors and gods, with which only a shaman can interact.
Popular fetishes
- Masquis, figurines, and tom-toms were intended to provide a connection between the spiritual and material worlds. Today they are used by many peoples during ceremonies and rituals.
- Drums are treated with special awe and respect. They are considered spiritual beings. In order for the drum's strength to increase, new strength is poured into it by making offerings. Each sacred drum has a personal performer, who is allowed to touch it only after special dedication.
Modern manifestations of fetishism
Fetishism is divided into the following types:
- Commodity . Implies the reification of production relations between members of society. As a result, a person depends on goods.
- Legal . The fetishist brings his faith in legal norms to the absolute; only with the help of them is he able to resolve any issues.
- Sexy . A person experiences sexual arousal at the sight of certain things or appearance. This includes lace lingerie, stiletto heels, a schoolgirl uniform, or any other item, including jewelry. Often, without a fetish, a person cannot achieve sexual release.
One of the most popular types of fetish involves feet.
There are separate types of sexual fetishism: hand and foot fetish. Hand fetishism is a sexual attraction to hands. A person experiences excitement at the sight of a wrist or fingers, palms, or nails with a certain manicure. He is excited by non-sexual activities, such as washing dishes. Foot fetishism is a sexual attraction to feet.
FETISHISM
(French fétichisme, fétichism - idol, talisman) - identification of the social functions of an object with its natural properties.
Various forms of fetishism are determined by whether social characteristics are identified with l) a natural thing, 2) the physical-corporeal substrate of a cultural product, 3) the natural characteristics of the individual. Fetishism was considered as one of the first archaic forms of religion, which sacralized natural things and gave their natural properties supernatural meaning. This interpretation of fetishism was put forward by C. De Bros. Subsequently, O. Comte, G. Spencer, E. Taylor considered fetishism as a form of religion derived from animism. And K. Marx in his early works defined fetishism as the primary form of religion, which is characterized by direct enslavement to an object, as a religion of sensual desires ( Marx K.
,
Engels F.
Soch., vol. 1, p. 98). In later works, he characterizes fetishism much more broadly - as a social phenomenon inherent in all societies and representing a certain social norm, title, power. Thus, a chair becomes a throne in certain societies - a symbol of power. In “The Eighteenth Brumaire...” Marx draws attention to the sacralization of the authoritarian ruler, who is endowed with supernatural powers “in the form of unlimited government power, protecting them from other classes, sending down rain and sunshine from above” (Ibid., vol. 8, p. 208 ). The cult of an authoritarian and charismatic leader is one of the manifestations of fetishism. In Marx's economic works, and especially in Capital, fetishism becomes the leading characteristic of the bourgeois mode of production, combining two alternative processes - the reification of social relations and the personification of things. The development of fetishism (from the fetishism of goods through the fetishism of money to the fetishism of capital) shows that the bourgeois mode of production is inextricably linked with the fetishization of the mechanisms of social relations and the personification of impersonal social regulators. Thus, Marx analyzes not just the forms of fetishistic consciousness, but first of all the objective process of fetishization of social formations, leading to the identification of any reality (including the reality of culture) with something naturalistically given, and the subject of activity and interaction with the naturalistic individual. Fetishism also manifests itself in the value orientations that a person prefers, in the motivation for prestigious consumption, for involvement in the world of wealth and power. Marx's criticism of the fetishism of bourgeois society and consciousness forms the basis of the economic analysis of capitalism (which was not understood by Marxists, with the exception of A. Rubin). In philosophy of the 20th century. the problem of fetishism has been pushed to the periphery of social and sociological theories, and in modern religious studies fetishism is considered not as one of the early forms of religion, but as one of the structural components of any mythology and religion.
Literature:
1. Bogdanov A.
The Fall of the Great Fetishism. M., 1919;
2. Lukacs G.
Materialization and proletarian consciousness. - “Bulletin of the Socialist Academy”, 1923, issue. 4–6;
3. Rubin A.I.
Essays on Marx's Theory of Value. M. - L., 1929;
4. Shekhovtsov A.
Marx's theory of commodity fetishism. M., 1961;
5. Tokarev S. A.
Early forms of religion and their development. M., 1964;
6. Brosses Ch. de.
Du culte des dieux fétiches. Dijon, 1760.
A.P. Ogurtsov
Fetishists, symptoms of strange attractions
Fetishism becomes a problem if a person’s normal sexual life is impossible without it.
People turn to a sexologist or psychotherapist if:
- Sexual arousal and sex itself are possible only if there is a fetish nearby.
- Without thinking about it, a person cannot get aroused or have an orgasm.
- Fetishism replaces real relationships.
To treat pathological desires, various psychotherapeutic practices, psychoanalysis or the aversive method are used.
Classification
Fetishism can be pathological (deviant) and tolerant sexual behavior, depending on its manifestations and nature. The classification based on objects of desire is broad, since any object, body part, or behavioral trait can take on fetishistic characteristics. The most common, well-known forms of this disorder include:
1. Fetishism of underwear. Excitement and pleasure are associated with clothing and shoes.
- Fetishism of transvestites. Dressing in items of clothing (shoes, clothes, accessories) of the opposite sex.
- Cisvestism. Fetish clothing to denote another age group, social class, profession.
- Homelessness. Using clothing of the same gender as an object of desire.
2. Physical fetishism. Attractiveness is related to the external characteristics of a partner.
- Narcissism. One’s own body or its individual parts act as a fetish.
- Auto-monosexuality. Excitement from one's own body and identification with the body of another person.
- Heterochromophily. A fetish partner who has a different skin tone or color.
- Apotemnophilia. The presence of a partner with a physical deformity, an amputated limb, or a prosthesis is a condition for arousal.
3. Object fetishism. It is associated with everyday objects, art, tools.
- Zealousness. Leather goods become a fetish.
- Pygmalionism. Satisfaction is associated with the possession of art objects.
- Pornography mania. Sexual sensations are caused by watching pornography (films, photographs, drawings).
4. Excrementophilia. Human excretions (urine, feces, sweat, menstrual blood, saliva) serve as a fetish.
Fetishism is divided into separate groups and types
Interesting Facts
Let's get acquainted with some interesting facts about the ancient form of religion - fetishism, which has not completely disappeared in our days:
- The sacred stones of Mecca and the Vedic boulders are an example of a rethinking of this primitive belief.
- Among some nationalities, the worship of weapons and tools (axe, sword, saw, plow) was widespread; it also has its origins in fetishism and related cults.
- Some of the most amazing documented sexual fetishes include frogs and glue. And the most popular are high heels.
- Some tribes tried in a very unique way to induce the fetish to help - they tortured them, drove nails into them, believing that only with such violence can they attract the attention of a powerful force and enlist its support.
For the first time, such a religion was talked about not in relation to ancient peoples, but in relation to the tribes of Africa, remote from civilization, who made sacrifices to inanimate objects.
Is fetishism a disease or not?
Medical professionals consider modern fetishism pathological if it interferes with the ability to lead a fulfilling life or personal relationships. If a dependent person lives and enjoys the absence of the object of desire, this is not considered a deviation.
Fetishists are often not dangerous to others, but there are exceptions to every rule. Fetishistic disorders are dangerous if:
- Fetishism took the form of a pathological mental disorder.
- There are other mental illnesses: schizophrenia, depression, sadism.
These people sometimes do the most crazy things to get the object of desire, but often they do not pose a threat to society. Fetishism sometimes becomes a big problem in the life of a couple because sometimes the attraction to certain things becomes the priority of the fetishist, and he can experience sexual satisfaction without the presence of a partner. Women are shocked by the oddities of their halves, for example, by the fact that their husband wants to smell bare lingerie.
If your significant other is not bothered by the behavior of the fetishist, she may not pay much attention to him. Sometimes such attraction occurs in people and is considered normal. But if there are serious problems, immediately consult a psychiatrist or sexologist.
To live or not to live with a fetishist
Fetishism can become a serious problem in married life, since love and attraction to certain objects sometimes become paramount for the addict, and the satisfaction of physiological needs often occurs without the participation of the spouse.
Women may be shocked by their husbands' strange fetishes, which may include unwashed underwear or an attraction to a particular body part.
If the person living with the fetishist is not too bothered by this attraction, this may not be too much of a problem: sometimes such manifestations are common to everyone and are not considered strange. But in case of serious problems in a couple, you should always seek help from a psychotherapist and sexologist.
If your fetishes have negative connotations for you or your partner, then you should consult a psychologist or sexologist
Where did fetishism come from?
This term was first introduced by the French explorer Charles de Brosses in the 18th century. He described religious evolution with this concept. Then researchers in other fields of science drew attention to this interesting phenomenon.
Later, the phenomenon of “anti-fetishism” was discovered. It means certain objects (clothing, the smell of a sexual partner) that block sexual arousal.
Fetishism is a sexual perversion. Most often found in men.
Many fetishes arise from random associations between an object (situation) and sexual gratification. It is impossible to say unambiguously when and under what circumstances this relationship will arise.
