A steamy August afternoon in New York, maybe ninety-five. The asphalt gives under your feet. Naked legs everywhere. Suddenly you sense a different rhythm. You hear them coming before you see them. You take in their silhouettes before they come into focus. Yeah! Big, heavy, hot engineer's boots. Dusty outside and sweaty inside. Make that 98.6. Up to the knees. Nice thighs. Crotch, waist, chest, face. One hundred eighty degrees and you are behind that bruiser for blocks.

A chilly August afternoon in Copenhagen. Sidewalk cafe on a chic cobblestone square. He strides in among the throng of blond Thor-gods of Thunder: young, dark, cocky, Italian tourist in sunglasses and T-shirt. His pant legs are rolled up. He's barefooted, for Chrissakes! Black hairs tickle his olive shins, his insteps. His arches curl up like cats ready to pounce. Your coffee grows cold.

Genital fetishists may not be conscious of it, but the foot is one potent sexual image. Society's jokes hardly conceal the fascination. Open the door to a discussion of feet and somebody will invariably stick one in; bet on it. Everybody knows a lot of straight guys lose it for women's high heels. A bigger secret - but one that's getting smaller fast - is men's desire for other men's feet. Dress shoes, sneakers, and socks have their devotees too. But among men who like leather and rough stuff, the look is unmistakably boots. GMSMA's well-attended December 4th seminar on feet and boots, held at the LURE, left no doubt about that.

Both coordinators, John and Adam, represent the locally based, internationally subscribed National Foot Network, (P.O. Box 790, Brooklyn, NY 11215) which puts out a roster of personal ads and stories. They led a discussion that touched most of the bases but focused on two aspects of foot fetishism that are often central to our kind of guys: humiliation and pain.

I polled the group at the LURE, and learned that humiliation is a significant part of the scene for almost everyone there. Judging from the ads, that does not appear to be true for the general foot-fetish population. For many people, boots represent power and the arrogance that goes with it. Boot-licking, foot-kissing, bowing and kneeling are near-universal signs of subservience. To lower yourself before another is to become vulnerable, to submit to power. Then to use your tongue to clean the lowest extremity of that person is to revel in selflessness. Polishing another's boots provides an even more concrete service, (if the job is done well). The bootblack, while serving his master keeps his own desires in check. Esthetically, these acts cover the spectrum for a fetishist: there's a beauty in the dirt and a beauty in the shine.

In principle, bootlicking is supposed to appease the top. Of course, it may not always work. If pain is your scene, a boot can easily qualify as an s/m tool. There is also a larger cultural association of boots with violence, as when they're worn by soldiers, cowboys or police. They're heavy, they're hard, and they bear the entire weight of the man who wears them. With boots you can move things around or hold them still, stroke them or kick them.

Feet and boots can play a part in related scenes as well. Boots or shoes complete a proper uniform. Bare feet are a favorite target for tickling. For water sports, well, you gotta have rubber boots. And bondage, in or out of boots, is a natural avenue to footplay.

If you're reading this, chances are you're already a taboo-smasher. You may be ripe to shed those silly inhibitions and get down and dirty. And hey, even if foot-worship is just too weird for you, there's no reason you can't enjoy the massage. If you're ignoring the erotic potential of feet, you might as well be unconscious from the knees down.

-- Joseph D.

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