Okay, somebody spank me for bringing up this up.
Fetish: noun: a) an object believed among a primitive people to have magical power to protect or aid its owner. b) an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion. c) an object or bodily part whose real or fantasied presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification.
You may think the primary definition of fetish has fallen by the wayside–that a fetish merely connotates people who get their cookies from some sexual aberration. So we don’t talk about it. Ain’t polite. But wait. Our own primitive society is awash in fetishes of the primary definition: money, clothes, jewelry, trucks, guns, television, cell phones….shamans with carved spirit beads have nothing on social media fetishes with cell phones. So get out the riding crop and let it all hang out, it’s International Fetish Day.
Started in the UK in 2008, International Fetish Day is intended “to increase awareness and support of the fetish community.” Most people would pay money to decrease their awareness of other people’s fetishes but hey, none of my business. If this isn’t your thing, be advised, there’s a code for insiders on Fetish Day, ‘Perverts wear purple’. If you wear purple socks and someone tries to sniff them, they probably think you’re game.
Ahead of their time, back in 1979, the immortal Ian Dury and the Blockheads from the UK came out with ‘Hit me with Your Rhythm Stick’ which really ought to be the theme song for this holiday. I was living in New Hampshire at the time near UNH where the student radio station played it like a mantra. It was the ’70’s. I still listen to it every year on the third Friday in January. Here ’tis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WGVgfjnLqc
