Introduction: Before we begin dividing fetishes and sexual practices into groups, we should first explain the meanings of the categories. For simplicity, I have chosen 'White', 'Black' and 'Grey' as designations. This system is based on the labels 'White Magic', 'Black Magic' and 'Grey Magic.'
For our purposes, the term 'White' refers to fetishes and sexual practices which are generally considered to be benign, life giving/life oriented, harmless, 'playful' and constructive.
The 'Grey' designation encompasses fetishes and practices that are considered by most folks to be 'kinky', 'odd', 'unusual' reasonably 'disturbing' and 'off the beaten path.'
'Black' refers to those fetishes and sexual practices that are death related. This term includes feces and anal based fetishes as fecal matter is essentially a waste byproduct. Fetishes that are destructive in nature are also included in this group as are any that involve any appreciable degree of decay or degeneration.
A point that needs to be emphasized is that this article is being written in America the year 2008. Fifty years ago, much of what society would categorize as 'acceptable' today would have been considered 'taboo' under the morals of those times. It follows that much of what is deemed 'taboo' by today's standards may not be considered so 'off limits' 50 years in the future. This is also not meant to be a one man project. Readers are encouraged to submit and label their own fetishes if they are not found herein.
Finally, please understand that as I write this piece, I'm making no value judgments. Further, this is not being put forth as some sort of pseudo-'authoritive' or 'definitive' piece of work. Everyone has different standards in life (sexually as well as in general day to day ways) and this is merely a rule of thumb guide, a snap shot of where we as a society are, sexually speaking, at this moment in time. If this document is somehow located decades down the road, the readers will no doubt laugh at many of the points I'm making. Such is life, and the scoffers should consider that I've been laughed at by much better than themselves. - MichiganGhoul. November 8, 2008.
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White
* Spanking - Generally regarding as a corrective (therefore constructive) action.
* Panty Whiffing - Harmless and usually confined to a solo act, this action can be considered benevolent by any rational definition.
* Tickling - As this fetish almost always involves laughter and more often than not ends in cuddling and/or 'normal' intercourse, we can safely put this one in the White category.
* Frottage - Rubbing up against another for sexual pleasure (usually while one or the other partners is at least semi clothed) is harmless, inherently involves no coercision and has no connection to death. Moreover, it is usually one of the first overtly erotic acts one enjoys during childhood or the adolescent period. (Also known as Frotteurism)
* Exhibitionism - Showing off one's self is playful and need not even involve sexual activity.
* Phone/Cyber Sex - Harmless and disease/risk free.
* Menstruation - Although many would consider lapping up the blood of a menstruating woman to be repulsive, the underlying interest is decidedly life oriented since it relates directly to the process of conception. (Menophilia)
* Feet - Although this one makes people squirm a bit at times, it is a very harmless (almost self satirizing) form of sexual arousal. (Podophilia)
* Pregnant Women - The ultimate life/White oriented fetish. Self explanatory.
* Breast Milk - Closely related to the pregnancy interest. Milk itself is also historically associated with life and innocence. (Lactaphilia)
* Fat Partners - Whimsical and harmless in nature. (Lipophilia)
* Adult 'Baby' - Acting out infantile fantasies is as innocent and 'light hearted' as it gets. This is also a very non-threatening/non
coercive fantasy. (Infanitilism)
* Balloons - Harmless, sexless and (some may say) pointless, this fetish involves nothing destructive or death oriented unless we want to consider the occasional popping of a balloon to be such.
Grey
* Golden Showers - Considered 'extreme' by some, this fetish is not destructive, degenerate (urine can even be used as a last ditch antiseptic in extreme conditions) or death oriented. (Urophagia is the clinical term for urine drinking.)
*Armpit licking - 'Kinky' by contemporary American standards, the licking of another person's underarms may cause one to ingest
small amounts of perspiration which is itself a waste product. Still, this practice is not nearly as 'severe' (relatively
speaking), as the consumption of human feces. (The clinical term for an attraction to hairy armpits is Hircusophilism)
*Transexuals/Ladyboys - This is one of those sexual 'kinks' that is greeted more so with giggles and whispered jokes than with actual
disgust or hatred in most circles. (Gender Dysphoria is sometimes used, although this is considered a pejorative term by some)
*Beastiality/Zoophilia - Of all the fetishes listed in this article, this one caused the most debate in my mind. Even though it is considered almost universally to be a 'sick' and 'disgusting' sexual practice, there is nothing that I can find in it to justify placing it into the category of 'Black' as far as it having a 'death' or 'degenerate' orientation. Also, as is the case with Pedophilia, while nearly everyone condemns it in name, it is and has been practiced on at least a semi regular basis throughout all cultures in history.
* Retards- This was another toss up in terms of placing it in the Grey or Black category. Some may argue that having sex with the mentally retarded (or even writing/fantasizing about the same) is 'taking advantage' of the person with the lower IQ. Also, the state of being retarded is, mentally speaking, a degenerative (or defective if you prefer this term) condition. Still, as long as no literal, physical rape takes place, I couldn't quite see putting this one in the Black category. I suppose this is one of those fetishes that, like beastiality, we could say is borderline gray/black.
* Incest - (Note: This also includes role playing and/or fantasies). Yet another genre that is basically a coin flip. Incestuous elements are included in ancient Greek, Norse and Roman mythology, the Christian Bible, old English tradition and (in contemporary terms) in sections of rural America. Also, there are professional psychiatric opinions that indicate that (subconscious) incestual feelings are widespread and not indicative of anything particularly 'abnormal.'
* Biting - As it involves some degree of pain, this fetish cannot be considered White, yet since no lasting destruction takes place (except in extreme instances), Black doesn't seem fitting either. Also, inflicting pain is generally not the main reason for this practice.
* Prostitution - While society at large has never quite been comfortable with this one, its presence as the world's oldest profession makes it an ideal candidate for the Grey area. (See the Crack Hooker/Street Trash designation in the Black area as well)
*Group Sex/Multiple Partners - 'Naughty' and 'slutty' may come to mind when this concept is mentioned, but decidedly more life/White oriented than Black/death. As taboos in society melt away, this form of action may even be considered to be a celebration of life/being alive which would them bump it into the White category.
* Cheating/Cuckold - While far from 'innocent', this is another of those 'tsk tsk!' pursuits that, while controversial, is not necessarily destructive and certainly not death oriented. It is also very widely practiced to one degree or another. The very idea that this practice involves elements of lying, deception and jealousy will most likely always keep it within the grey area.
* Cat Fights - This voyeuristic fetish would be considered gray UNLESS the primary reason for the viewing of the act was to see actual harm/bloodshed and/or if the exclusive reason was to see real pain in action. It would then be bumped into the Black category
* Uniforms - Although some may consider the donning of Nazi, religious or medical garb to be controversial or even tasteless, few would argue that it qualifies as 'dangerous', death oriented or excessively 'negative' in nature.
Black
*Necrophilia - This is the most morbid and death oriented fetish of all time, arguably sharing a first place spot with snuff.
*Scat/Coprophagia/Shit - Playing with/consuming human waste. Self explanatory.
* Snuff Role Playing - As this one involves a clear fascination with death (and in most cases suffering, torture, intimidation, violence
coercion, pain, blood letting and/or gore), it falls decisively into the Black category. (Erotophonophilia)
*Crush - The killing of any entity for sexual pleasure falls under this heading. Although the kinds of crushings that I have done and enjoyed on film involve roaches, crickets, worms and other lowly and easily expendable forms of life, this fetish still qualifies as Black due to its decided death orientation.
* Cock and Ball Torture (CBT)/Hard S&M - Because the primary object of these practices is to inflict pain (consensually or otherwise) on a partner, I felt they fit in with the dark side mode.
* Crack Hookers/Street Trash - I put this one in as a separate category from the Prostitution designation. Prostitution in and of itself
usually involves a man paying for sexual favors from an attractive, healthy and typically young female. In this case, we're talking about the pursuit of strung out, drug addicted, sometimes diseased low lifes who are often best described as marginal both mentally and economically. This is clearly degenerative in nature and is therefore included in the Black area.
* Abandoned Structures/Desolate Areas - Although not destructive or even sexual (strictly speaking) in nature, longing to be in the presence of a building that is essentially 'dead' is necrophilic in origin and therefore Black.
* Vandalism - The destruction of property and/or personal items is a source of arousal for some people. It is obviously Black in nature.
* Kleptomania - Stealing from another even if justified (for example, an under paid employee who secretly steals items from his work place to balance out his or her low wage) is always a 'negative' (by contemporary standards) and therefore Black.
* Horror - Typically harmless (examples of this fetish can be horror comics/stories/movies, Halloween costumes and zombie walks)
in practice but decidedly Noir by nature.
* Car Crash Fetish - Destructive and sometimes fatal, this fetish is clearly in the Black.
* Rape (Real and fantasy) - This involves distress (even if simulated) which is destructive. (Clinical term: Biastophilia)
* Pyromania - Although fire is necessary and useful to our daily lives (for example, gas stoves would not function without pilot lights), the fetish of setting fires (or fantasizing about the same) is necessarily destructive and often death oriented.
* Autoerotic Hanging - This fetish is in the Black category not just because of the extreme danger it involves but also because the deprivation of oxygen is, in and of itself, a denial of life. (Asphyxiophilia)
* Abortion Fetish - The concept of when life begins has never been objectively answered to everyone's satisfaction, yet few would argue that abortion terminates the existence of SOMETHING (baby, fetus or otherwise defined object or person)
* Autoassassinophilia - Killing one's self in public. Clearly destructive/death oriented.
* Mysophilia - A love of filth. This is degenerative and therefore Black.
*Fisting - As this fetish involves the anus, it is scatological in nature. It also (in at least some cases) leads to a degeneration of the anal/sphincter muscle tone. Some, however, may feel this belongs in the gray area and it is clearly open to debate and interpretation.
* Satanism - Inherently dark in its nature, this belief system often is the religion (or anti-religion) of choice for those of a decidedly noir persuasion.
* Cannibalism - The eating of another human requires that person's physical destruction and is therefore Black.
* Amputees/Disabled/Scars - As this directly or indirectly involves damage or the glorification and eroticizing of such , it can be counted as destructive.
* Hybristophilia - Generally speaking, this is an attraction to serial killers. Decidedly death oriented.
* Symphorophilia - Sexual arousal from catastrophies. Death oriented to be sure.
