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Articles on kinks and fetishes, page 2
Longer pieces built from the KINKSpec catalog. The ranking of 486entries, the population surveys behind it, and the diagnostic manuals it cites, put to the questions a single entry cannot answer.
17 articlesUpdated 27 Sep 2026RSS
Older articles
Origins7 min read
Why do people have kinks? Where the evidence runs out
Why do people have kinks? What conditioning, excitation transfer and the trauma story each explain, and the point where the evidence stops.
Definitions8 min read
What BDSM stands for, and what it covers
What does BDSM stand for? Bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism: what each pair means, how common it is, where the lines are.
Mental health9 min read
Voyeurism: when watching is a kink and when it is a crime
Voyeurism is arousal from watching. With consent, 46% of adults want it; without it, voyeuristic disorder and a crime. The surveys, the forms, the line.
How common8 min read
Why feet are the most common fetish: the surveys, the theories and the parts
Why are feet the most common fetish? They lead every study that counted, 47% of body-part preferences and one adult in seven. The surveys, theories and ranking.
Mental health7 min read
Is my kink normal? One answer from the surveys, another from the manuals
Is my kink normal? By the surveys, yes for nearly everyone: two fantasies of 55 are rare. By the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11, a disorder needs distress or harm.
Definitions8 min read
Kink vs fetish, the difference and where the words come from
Kink is the everyday word for any unconventional sexual interest. Fetish means arousal tied to an object or body part. Where they overlap and where they part.
How common7 min read
The most common kinks, ranked by what the surveys found
The most common kinks, ranked by evidence: dominance and submission, bondage, foot fetish, roleplay and voyeurism lead 474 entries, read tier by tier.