Spandex fetishism

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Spandex Zentai suit

Spandex fetishism is a fetishistic attraction to people wearing stretch fabrics or, in certain cases, to the garments themselves and to oneself wearing the garments.^{[citation needed]} Spandex garments are often worn by swimmers, dancers, rowers, contortionists and circus performers, and spandex fetishists may incorporate fantasies about these activities into their fetish.

One reason why spandex and other tight fabrics may be fetishised is that the garment forms a "second skin," acting as a fetishistic surrogate for the wearer's own skin. Wearers of skin-tight nylon and cotton spandex garments can appear naked or coated in a shiny or matte substance like paint. The tightness of the garments may also be seen as sexual bondage. Another reason is that nylon-spandex fabric (preferred by many spandex fetishists) is often produced with a very smooth and silk-like finish, which lends a tactile dimension to the fetish - as well as a visual one. The pressure of the tight garments against the genitals can become quite sensual.

In comic books, superheroes, superheroines, and supervillains are generally depicted as wearing costumes made of spandex or a similar material. The skintight, very flashy and bright-coloured costumes that often cover only just enough of the body to be presentable. Fantasies involving superheroes or the wearing of superhero costumes are commonly associated with spandex fetishism.^{[citation needed]}

Full-body suits called zentai entirely immerse the wearer in skin tight fabric.^{[citation needed]} The suits are essentially catsuits with gloves, feet, and a hood. The wearer gets to experience total enclosure and those who enjoy erotic objectification might make use of the garment's anonymizing aspect. Zentai fetishism appears to be quite popular in Japan and Europe.^{[citation needed]} The word zentai means whole body in Japanese.

Kigurumi (着ぐるみ, meaning cartoon-character costume), a form of Japanese costuming, often makes use of lycra as artificial skin.

Pantyhose fetishism can be viewed as a class of spandex fetishism.

Spandex fetish in popular culture

Anime

• Anime often includes women in spandex or spandex-like catsuits, notably Cat's Eye, Yuki Mori/Nova from Star Blazers, Cutie Honey, Birth, and the plugsuits from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Film and Television

• The spysuits from Totally Spies! are of the type.

• The Disney movie Tron also is notorious for its revealing spandex costumes.

• The two most infamous films for spandex fetishists may be Breakin' (1984) and Heavenly Bodies (1984), both of which feature attractive young women dancing in tight, brightly-colored spandex outfits in nearly every frame. Television offered the disco-inspired jumpsuits worn by Wilma Deering (played by actress Erin Gray) during the first season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979–1981).

Panelology

• While the majority of comicbook superheroines wear spandex in one form or another, several are known particularly for wearing a fullbody spandex catsuit, including Catwoman (Julie Newmar's portrayal launched the modern trend for superheroines to wear catsuits), Batgirl, Hellcat, Spider-Woman, Black Widow, Firestar, Phoenix, Black Cat, Rogue, Ms. Mystic, Dagger, Black Orchid, Empowered and the modern Invisible Woman. Miss Fury was the only well-known catsuited heroine predating Newmar's portrayal of Catwoman.

Photography

• The gay porn star Peter Berlin popularized spandex fetishism beginning in the 1970s in the many erotic photographs he posed for that were published in many gay pornographic magazines, regular gay magazines, and in the theatre magazine After Dark.^[1]

See also

References

1. ^ The February 1975 issue of After Dark magazine included a photographic portfolio of the gay porn star Peter Berlin wearing spandex: Forbes, Dennis (text and photos), "Creating Peter Berlin", After Dark, Danad Publishing Company, Inc., New York, NY, February 1975, pp. 44–51.