Member Article: Sneakers & Socks – A Niche Sexual Interest
from
Recon News
27 September 2021
By NikeShoxJock
In March of this year, I wrote an article about a subcategory of the foot fetish: footwear. Nothing touched my heart more than the article's validation of a niche fetish that broadly, many kinksters didn't/couldn't understand. Now that Recon have added Sneakers & Socks to the list of sexual interests, I think it's apt to go further into what this fetish is all about – and just how versatile it really is…
Sneakers & socks illustrate the masculinity and power of one's feet. For me personally, sneakers & socks hold the power. When I wear them, I am in control. When the dom uses them against me in any way, the power exchange is immensely sexual and erotic. Sneakers, athletic ones, emanate the jock aesthetic – or in Europe, they're culturally named chavs, prolls, scallies, etc. This aesthetic is highly erotic; it portrays a masculinity that is based in athleticism and sports. Whether one is actually a sports participant is irrelevant; pulling off the aesthetic is the goal. Sneakers & socks complete the look. But to be fair, one can and does wear sneakers & socks with jeans, khakis, cargo shorts – more casual or professional-leaning leg attire. This too, ironically, promotes the sneaker & sock aura due to the contrast: jeans don't immediately equate to jocks. So, pairing them with a hot pair of kicks instead of boots is ironic and the clashing energies only emphasize the sneakers and socks more – if worn correctly, that is.
The manners wherein this niche fetish manifests overlaps and also differs depending on the fetishist's relationship to his sneakers & socks. It boils down to two kinds of kinksters: the idolizer and the demonizer, for lack of better phrasing—and yes, it's possible for kinksters to be both. Regarding sneaker & sock idolizers, these fetishists don't like the sneakers & socks to be defiled in any way, so the areas of kink manifestation are open to anything that doesn't results in the sneakers & socks being destroyed or ruined…in a permanent sense. I am an idolizer. So, I'll begin there, with my own experiences.
But I digress, for, like I said, it's time to get kinky. Let's start with the basics. The most vanilla way, per se, in which sneakers & socks are involved in play is by the simple act of leaving them on. In my experience, I typically show my partner my sneaker collection and then he decides which pair he'd like me to wear while we fuck. This does not signify he finds them arousing, however, but it does heighten the mood for me, for I know he at the very least like the sneakers in a general sense. Proving first and foremost, partners who do not have to have a sneaker & sock fetish can easily engage with someone who does.
Whether it's a dom/sub dynamic or not, I love to worship my partner's sneakers, assuming the sneakers he's wearing are ones I fancy. Like boot fetishists, some like all boots, others prefer specific kinds. "Sneakers" are designed to fit diverse categories. There are professional sneakers, the alternative to dress footwear. Then all-purpose sneakers, which one wears for casual, non-athletic reasons. Then the rest are generally for athletic purposes and vary in accordance with the sport: skating, running, basketball, football (American), football/soccer, even golf. Personally, I love basketball sneakers and certain running sneakers. The brands must be ones I like. Nike, Air Jordan, Adidas, Under Armour, and certain Puma, Asics, Reebok, even classic AND1 sneakers. However, some have no particular bias toward one purpose or brand.
Worshipping my partner's sneakers consists of kissing, sniffing, licking, and physical touching – exactly like how one would worship a bare foot. He could either rest his sneaks on my lap, lie them in front of me, or place them on top of me if I'm lying down on the floor. Regardless, once they're within my grasp, I unleash my passion. To non-sneaker fetishists, it's understandable to wonder… "aren't they drenched in the dust, germs, and grossness of the outside world?" That's a fair question. Some sneaker fetishists love when the sneakers & socks are drenched in filth, while others would only lick them in certain places. It depends on one's tolerance for what is disgusting. In the kink world, we know there's a very fine line between what is considered disgusting and what is considered erotic. For me, sniffing the scent of hot sneaks after basketball or running is inexplicably arousing. I also thrive on kissing all areas of the sneaks and groping them in my hands and feeling them up, like I would a guy's body, moreover his cock. When it comes to licking, I'm careful and take necessary precautions if I have the urge to lavish the sneaks with my saliva.
The worshipping continues with the socks. While I mainly find socks aesthetically arousing, as they outline the masculinity and contour of the foot, I do love burying my nose in smelly socks. I find myself partial to black and white ones. Other sock kinksters love a plethora of socks, especially colorful ones with unique patterns and designs. If the sock is ankle-length, the eye is focused to the foot; if the sock is higher or knee-length, the sock then helps demonstrate the strength and sex appeal of the leg, which is very erotic.
This is standard sneaker & sock fetishist behavior, like our modus operandi. But how does kink play into this? Potentially in ways one couldn't imagine. Let's start with bondage. Aside from the erotic aesthetic of leaving one's sub tied up and bound with his sneakers and/or socks on, one could use the sneakers & socks as part of the bondage. With socks, I love it when I'm gagged with a sock (mine or my dom's). I prefer my dom to tie the sock around my face. Many love it shoved in their mouths. With sneakers, tie (or tape) the sneaker around my face and make me inhale the stench of my dom's sneaker or my own. Moving downward, leave my sneakers & socks on my feet and use rope to tightly bind them as one moves the rope up my legs or makes a hogtie. Feeling the sneakers & socks constrained in the restraints is a major turn-on. But the best way to do it is to tie my sneakers together while they're on my feet. This is a form of power exchange. When the sneakers are tied individually, it allows me to be mobile, the power is still in my hands. When they're tied together by my dom's hand, I am immobilized, and the power is transferred to my dom.
Continuing with the BDSM theme, what about domination, impact play, and humiliation? The ultimate way to get me to be submissive is for the dom to physically remove my sneakers & socks from my feet, leaving them bare, thus leaving me completely vulnerable. But I won't give them up without a fight. Power exchange must be smart, psychological, slow, and painful – in an erotic way. Seduction is key. Brat subs, like me, like to be seduced and made to feel there's no other way out than to be submissive. In role play scenarios, usually there's blackmail to force me into submission. Once I'm seduced into submission, let the play begin.
Tickling: slowly unlace my sneakers and start tickling my feet by inserting one's finger into the open sneaker. This is an erotic tease. But I lose my sneakers and eventually my socks because tickling for me is a form of discipline. I know at some point I get them back once I've served my sentence, so to speak.
Spanking: use my sneakers against my ass instead of a paddle. Either my sneakers or the dom's. Either way, the sting of a sneaker against my ass is blissful.
Trampling: having a dom walk all over my back with his sneakers is highly erotic. While I do not enjoy flogging, I do enjoy the pressure and sensation of the bottoms of hot sneaks against my back, for trampling is a form of a degradation and discipline.
And finally, CBT. I am not into intense or even moderate CBT. However, light torture against my cock and balls with sneakers & socks is, too, erotic, and groping the sneaks, socks, and foot while they're against my cock and balls is tactically thrilling. Another form of sneaker & sock CBT is to tie the shoelaces around the balls and let the sneakers hang loose and let gravity do its work. Some even like to tie their socks around their dicks as some kind of cock ring.
I've covered what it's like to be an idolizer. These manifestations of the sneaker & socks fetish leave the sneakers & socks intact, or rather not physically damaged in any way. But what about the opposite?
Degradation – literal degradation of the sneakers & socks is an erotic factor of this niche fetish and I call these kinksters, demonizers. Sneaker & sock demonizers experience sexual gratification from the physical degradation of their sneakers & socks. The most common form: cum. When both dom and sub can't bear it any longer, they explode onto their sneakers & socks and usually the sub is forced to eat the cum off the sneakers & socks. Doesn't seem so bad if the sub does it quickly, right? Well, sometimes the dom forces the sub to wait until the cum leaves some kind of stain. But that's not all. It goes deeper. Sometimes, the dom cums into the sneaker & sock, forcing the sub to wear his sneakers & socks either in private or in public, soaking his bare feet in his dom's load, which in turn damages the sneakers & socks. Along with cum, there is piss. The same rules apply. Doms often use sneakers & socks (on or in the sneaker & sock) as urinals, then forces the sub the lick up the piss or drench his bare feet in them. Some subs who enjoy solo play, like to do this to themselves. They bring themselves to ejaculate and/or piss onto or into the sneakers & socks and engage in self play. They also do this through predicament self-bondage, as the restrains add to the eroticism of eventually degrading their own sneakers & socks. For those into gunge play, getting sneakers & socks completely drowned in slime and mud is also highly erotic. In this impermanent play, meaning to some extent, the damage can be reversed. But what about permanent destruction?
It's likely that randomly surfing porn, you might have come across videos wherein kinksters have either cut, crushed, slashed, or even burned their sneakers. This isn't typical with socks, however, just sneaks. Apparently, there is erotic satisfaction from the act of physically destroying one's sneakers or being made to do so.
How or why is this erotic? Good question. Once again, it's about power. Those with sneaker destruction fetishism destroy their sneakers like some kind of ritual. There is for sure an erotic undercurrent to such destructive acts. Think about it this way: impact play, but for the sneakers. Sneakers have become largely fetishized, but outside of kink, they hold status in popular culture. Compare two men, one wearing Nike Air Force 1 sneakers and the other wearing beat-up non-brand shoes; which man would one say on the surface holds more power in wealth, confidence, and social status? Obvious answer, the Nikes. The psychology of destroying sneakers is similar to gunge play, except it's permanent. The permanent destruction of high-end sneakers is a form of power exchange. The destruction takes the power from the sneakers and returns it back to the destroyer. It's a ritual designed to remove the cultural power assigned to sneakers. This is one theory; others are darker and more disturbing.
When Recon added Sneakers & Socks as a sexual interest I was overjoyed. I felt validated. I felt seen. Content makers like Recon and Sk8erboy do this fetish justice and I encourage all professional and independent content makers to incorporate sneaker & sock fetishism in their productions, instead of only giving the glory to boots and bare feet. For those who are sneaker & sock fetishists, know that you're seen. For those who are not but happen to engage with a partner who is, know that you can easily bring sneakers & socks into play. This is a versatile fetish and like with any fetish, it can be executed moderately or more severely.
Cheers to Recon and Sk8erboy and all the sneaker & sock kinksters out there!
If you'd like to share a fetish or kink experience in a member article, send your ideas or a first draft to: social@recon.com
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