Air bubbles, nylon and heels submerged in water: these zines uncover the most obscure of fetishes
Fetishism can bring to mind images of dungeon-like basements and red latex gimp suits, darkened shop fronts and worn paddleboards. It’s the mainstream perception of non-vanilla sexual gratification. But what about those who crave something that contemporary porn culture overlooks?
Reba Maybury, the founder of Wet Satin Press, is exploring the private desires of men on the Internet through three different zines. It was the foray into something so completely removed from what’s perceived as sexy, yet still seriously erotic, that inspired Reba to interview each man and document each fetish.
“The reason we wanted to publish these into print was because their imagery is so outstandingly original,” says Maybury. “Their creation and existence verges on the boundaries of folk art rather than that of the volume of commercially sensational pornography that we are now so numbed to.”
Each interview with an anonymous man reveals a very personal desire: A man’s fetish for women wearing office appropriate heels submerged into water, A 60-year-old man’s ritualistic fetish for wearing nylon on his face at home, and A man’s fetish for the air bubbles trapped inside women’s dresses while swimming.
“How often do we see affluent Western men so openly create and then share without the excess of ego or socially ingrained concepts of sexuality or capitalism infiltrating them?” – Reba Maybury
In a world where we’re surrounded by sex, it would seem that there’s something for everyone who wants to be satisfied. These men found themselves at a loss for gratification, and have used online image sharing websites to invoke their individual desires.
“In this case,” says Maybury, “The internet has enabled these men to explore their private or even secret desires with other like-minded fetishists and given them an objective to create towards. How often do we see affluent Western men so openly create and then share without the excess of ego or socially ingrained concepts of sexuality or capitalism infiltrating them?”
For Maybury, it’s the lack of exploitation of other humans that makes these kind of fetishes special. “All gendered and sexual stereotypes disappear and we’re left with a utopian vision of harmless but fascinating eroticism which make us question ourselves,” she says. “These men are making images which present sexuality to us as something that it should be about.” That something is inquisitive, self-sufficient and organic.
Read our Q+A with Reba Maybury, founder of Wet Satin Press here
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