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Despite the growing interest in the experiences of transgender individuals, the phenomenon of fetishization of transgender bodies and identities has been overlooked. The present study was aimed at investigating the experiences of fetishization of transgender and nonbinary TGNB people. The results demonstrated that, in most cases, fetishization was understood by TGNB people as a negative experience of sexual objectification, although some individuals experienced fetishization as a positive experience, perceiving the sexual desire of the other person or living it as a kink.
Implications for clinical work with TGNB individuals are discussed. The term fetishism has a complex history. Its origins date back to colonialism when it was used to refer to pagan cult objects of African cultures for an in-depth review, see Iacono, The term has evolved over time and was adopted in psychology and psychoanalysis. Within Freudian tradition, fetishism refers to the investment of a non-genital object to achieve sexual gratification, where erotic attraction is conferred to an inanimate object or a body part not typically considered erotic Iacono, From its etymological origin, the term fetishism maintained a negative connotation as a pathological attraction for non-erotic objects.
However, within some gay cultures, fetishism has since been assimilated in a depathologizing framework. Within some gay cultures, fetishism is intended as a creative transformation of objects that do not have a primary psychic value for the purpose of sexual pleasure Amin, Thus, an object devoid of any personal value is transformed into something to which an emotional value is attributed; in this case, it is linked to sexual pleasure.
The argument in support of this new vision of fetishism is noteworthy, because the fetishistic investment of an object is compared to the erotic investment of the genitals, arguing that there is no automatic erotic investment for genitals either, but that this also follows a psychic elaboration. This reclamation of fetishism within some gay cultures is not universally shared within the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer LGBTQ culture.
