Why People Are Getting Horny Over Flip-Flops - VICE

The slap of a cheap rubber sandal against a hardwood floor is doing it for some people. Yes, we’re talking about flip-flops. The same shoes you throw on to take out the trash or wear to the beach without giving them a second thought.

According to adult content platform RedGIFs, flip-flops have developed their own small fetish community. The group reportedly has around 1,200 members and 566 posts, compared with roughly 19,000 members in a high-heel community. So we’re talking about a relatively small audience here, although RedGIFs has an obvious interest in promoting what people are watching on its platform.

Sexologist Becky Crepsley Fox told Metro that some of the attraction could come from the sound, since “the slap of a flip-flop as someone walks can echo the sounds of sex.” Flip-flops put the entire foot on display, and there’s no shortage of people who find that sexy.

Foot fetishes have been around much longer than the internet’s latest fascination with cheap sandals. A 2007 study from the University of Bologna examined 381 online fetish discussion groups and found that feet accounted for 47% of the interest in specific body parts. Shoes and other items associated with feet were popular, too. The researchers were studying people already involved in fetish communities, though, so the numbers don’t tell us how common these interests are among everyone else.

Sex researcher Justin Lehmiller found something similar when he surveyed more than 4,000 Americans for his book Tell Me What You Want. About one in seven reported having fantasized about feet or toes, although having the occasional fantasy is different from having a fetish.

Scientists have spent years trying to explain why feet are sexually exciting to some people. Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran suggested that the brain areas responsible for processing sensations from the feet and genitals sit close enough together that signals could become confused.

It’s an interesting theory, but a 2014 study in Cortex involving around 800 participants found little support for that explanation. Feet received low ratings for erotic sensitivity, and the researchers couldn’t establish the proposed connection. That study focused on pleasurable touch, however, rather than the visual attraction involved in many fetishes.

As for flip-flops, there’s no evidence they’ve suddenly become everyone’s new sexual obsession. Some people love feet, some love shoes, and a small number seem especially enthusiastic about the combination.

Who knew a pair of shoes you can buy at a gas station could have such a devoted following?