Stigmatophilia: Feeling Sexual Attraction to Tattoos and Piercings

I am lucky to live on the coast, and When I go for a run on the beach I can see the number of people who have tattoos In fact, nowadays it is unusual for a person not to have a piercing or a tattoo. In my sessions running I see that both young people and adults have them.

For some, tattooing and having piercings is a lifestyle, others tattoo something symbolic such as the name of a child, and there are even online initiatives that motivate young people to tattoo a symbol with a special meaning.

Tattoos and piercings actually come from very far away.

Piercings and tattoos have been around since almost the beginning of time and have been used by different cultures and tribes around the world. The Mayans already wore piercings in their lips, ears and noses to show their status; In the Roman Empire, centurions wore nipple rings to demonstrate their courage and virility, Egyptian kings pierced their navels as a sign of distinction, and Polynesians not only got tattoos as a sign of wealth, but it was also a sign of strength and power.

Therefore, whether for aesthetics or for cultural or religious reasons, Both piercings and tattoos have accompanied human beings for thousands of years

Piercings and tattoos can turn some people on.

For three decades, researchers have tried to find answers to falling in love and attraction, since this phenomenon affects us all. There are many causes that define our tastes when it comes to feeling attracted to someone. Culture, education or our past experiences, among other factors, inflow into our mental map that will trigger the chemical cascade of attraction

You may be interested in this article: “The chemistry of love; a very powerful drug”

Some people will be attracted to physical attractiveness, others to money, and others to the leisure or exciting experiences the other person provides. But beyond an enviable body or a very desirable social life, There are people who are attracted to piercings and works of art drawn on the skin Recently, with the fashion of tattoos and piercings, experts have begun to show curiosity about the stigmatophilia.

Stigmatophilia refers to the excitement that some individuals feel about piercings and tattoos That is to say, they get crazy about people who have tattoos and piercings. But stigmatophilia does not precisely refer to a person liking tattoos and piercings on another person of the opposite sex because it is modern. “cool” and sexy, but, in addition, they are also attracted to scars and marks on the skin.

Stigmatophilia is a paraphilia

For some experts, stigmatophilia It’s a paraphilia, since it does not only refer to the person liking tattoos, scars or piercings on the body of the other sex, but also that these individuals do not feel sexual excitement if the other person does not have those characteristics. Paraphilia is a sexual behavior in which the pleasure is not found in penetration, that is, in copulation, but in the act or thing that accompanies this sexual encounter.

Stigmatophiles tend to be attracted to tattoos, piercings and scars in general, although In some cases they are also attracted to just one of these marks or piercings In some cases the stigmatophile is attracted to the pain that these marks or perforations have caused, in other cases to the story behind it.

Fetishism and stigmatophilia

Other experts classify stigmatophilia as a type of fetishism (which is a type of paraphilia). In the world of sex and pleasure, fetishes are the order of the day, and they consist of erotic excitement or achieving orgasm through fetish objects or parts of the body that cause excitement. For example: feet, heels, costumes, etc.

In the case of piercings, sexual arousal is more common in people under 40 years of age, and the preferred areas of the body are the tongue, lips, nipples and genital areas, since they are located in parts of sexual interaction.