Challenging the perception of scat fetishes

Disclaimer : This post contains mature content.

Shit fetishes are still primarily perceived as a disgusting taboo in even the most liberalist societies. While we have come a long way on people talking a lot more about shit (literally) as an essential topic, the conversations are still limited to gut health, colon disorders and poo analysis, or the humour side of it we see from comedians and the like. Yet no one talks about the complexities of shit and how it is also linked to sexual desires, fantasies and behaviours because it is still such an uncomfortable topic that we don’t yet fully understand.

If you hear the words: Coprophilia, scat fetish or “being into shit”, it tends to conjure up such negative associations. It sounds perverted and even somewhat criminal. People hear the “phile” in coprophile and think of ‘paedophile’ and assume they are directly related. They may be both classified under the cluster of paraphilias, but they are otherwise not linked.

We have become conditioned to associate most things related to shit with disgust. When you pair it with a fetish or paraphilia, you tend to lose people, and they don’t want to be associated with this type of conversation. Since a scat fetish tends to fall within abnormal psychology, it is still a topic shrouded with plenty of myths and misinformation to the general public. The go-to assumption is that it is a terrible psychological affliction that must be kept away from normal society.

The idea that anyone would find any form of attraction to shit appealing in any way raises lots of judgment. People who may have accidentally or by curiosity stumbled upon hardcore scat porn assume that it is one nasty shit fest of people eating and smearing themselves in one another’s shit and things getting incredibly messy. Thoughts of being psychologically disturbed, parasitic infections and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) comes to mind. It is no wonder many would find it dangerous and extreme. While there is no denying that with any kind of sex, there are always the high-risk factors; scat play is not just about getting down and messy with each other’s shit that one sees in those hardcore scat porn videos. There are many different nuances to this fetish, of which many of them do not even involve any form of contact with shit. The truth is, the porn world is not the real world, and if you assume that what you see about scat porn is the only reality for people with this interest, then you are mistaken. Creating awareness and understanding can help break those beliefs and misguided facts, and while this won’t happen overnight, one has to start somewhere.

In the psychiatric and psychological circles, an interest (note they do not use the word fetish) with shit is classified under the term “Coprophilia”. According to Wikipedia.org, the word “Coprophilia” comes from the Greek word “kopros”, meaning excrement and “philia”,meaning a likeness/fondness, which makes sense that it would be used to describe an interest or fetish for shit. If you do a google search of this term, you find several definitions from various dictionaries that mostly define it as an “abnormal attraction” or use of faeces or filth for sexual excitement. Other words such as obscene, mental disorder, sexual deviance all tell you just how big a taboo it is perceived to be.

Coprophilia is actually classified as a type of paraphilia. In layman’s terms, it refers to getting sexual arousal and satisfaction from fantasising or taking part in sexual behaviours that are perceived to be unusual and often extreme. It can revolve around a particular object (e.g. leather boots, whips, underwear) or certain behaviours (e.g. inflicting or being inflicted by pain, touching people without their consent). If a person becomes dependent on these objects or behaviours to become the only way they can achieve sexual gratification, it is regarded as a paraphilia.

Now some may think, is a fetish and a paraphilia not the same thing? As I understand, a fetish is also regarded as a type of paraphilia (Fetishism), but it’s not quite the same. The difference appears to be that one can have a fetish but also achieve sexual gratification from other forms of sexual fantasies and behaviour such as regular intercourse or masturbating to other fantasies that are not focused on your fetish. It becomes a paraphilia when you become dependent on the fetish as the only way to achieve sexual gratification.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or otherwise referred to as just the DSM, is the “bible” used by Psychiatrists and Criminologists to diagnose mental disorders and psychopathology. There is still a lot of debate around how the DSM defines and classifies psychological disorders and how the diagnostic criteria are setup. It is so contentious because a diagnosis can be used in a court case as a basis to commit a person to a psychiatric institution or potential life imprisonment. If you consider that the DSM version 2 classified homosexuality as a paraphilia up until 1973 and transgender as a gender dysmorphic disorder, it does make you wonder just how much of it is based on the attitudes and beliefs of the time and just how valid and reliable is it still today?

The DSM, now in its 5th version (DSM-V released in 2013), has also moved with the times and attempted to remove the stigma attached to paraphilias by acknowledging that people can be into “atypical sexual interests” (e.g. being into shit or leather etc.), but it doesn’t mean they have a mental illness. If, however, this sexual interest or arousal pattern is accompanied by clinically significant distress or impairment, meaning that it disrupts the person’s life so that they cannot function effectively, so to speak. It starts becoming an issue of psychopathology. To make this distinction, the DSM-V now distinguishes between paraphilias and paraphilic disorders. This means that you can display the interest (arousal patterns/desires/fantasies) of a specific paraphilia and not be diagnosed as having a psychological affliction. It is only when your paraphilia significantly affects your behaviour that it becomes classified as a paraphilic disorder. This means if it affects your ability to function from day to day and causes you or anyone else any distress or harm or the threat thereof. There are diagnostic criteria attached to this to clarify what it is. For the purpose of this article, I am not going to elaborate on it, but my point is we are making good progress as our understanding starts to expand on the complexities of our sexual desires and behaviours.

One of my favourite books on poop, based on extensive research and is one fascinating read, is Dave Praeger’s Poop Culture: How America is shaped by its grossest national product. In his book, he addresses, among others, the topic of coprophilia or, as he terms, “Faecal attraction”. I would like to provide a direct excerpt from Dave’s book on faecal attraction, which wonderfully captures the essence of what this scat fetish is all about.

“Poop fetishism, or scat, comes in many degrees and has many nuances. Some scat aficionados are content simply to observe people on the toilet. Some just want to smell it. Some want to actually see it coming out, or see the end product in the toilet, or even reach in and grab it and touch it and, in the extreme cases, eat it. Some want to poop on others; some, vice versa. Some people want to rub their Poop all over their bodies; others enjoy pooping in diapers and walking around with it squishing in their pants all day.”

“Like its manifestations, the unconscious roots of the scat fetish also vary from person to person. While psychoanalysts can probably trace each variation on the scat theme to one or another particular childhood event, there is a unifying theme. We’re taught that Poop is the ultimate negative; at the same time, the experience of pooping is a pleasurable sensation, in proximity to the sexual organs. Scat fetishes come from the contradictions between the positive and the negative, between the repressed and the accepted. It may occur from anal fixation or because of some psychological trauma during potty training, but it may also originate in the phallic or genital stages.”

“Like any other fetishist, a scat-lover will argue that he’s not alone in his desires, only in his candor and freedom about them. And like other fetishists, scat-lovers are likely to confine their activities to the bedrooms (and bathrooms) of consenting adults. The creepy guy in the gas station bathroom might be a scat fetishist, but so might the well-dressed banker filling up his BMW at the pump. And like other fetishists, their affinity is not a danger to society or even to themselves—one’s own Poop can’t hurt you, and others’ Poop is only dangerous if they have a fecally transmitted disease. If the participants are clean and consenting, the only real danger in scat fetishes lie in society’s reaction if they’re found out.”

In essence, Dave’s message here captures what the complexity of the scat fetish is all about. A struggle between indulging in a pleasurable sensation (shitting) that is viewed as both positive (good for your health) but also negative (why would you sexualise shit, it is abnormal) and is accepted by some (similar like-minded people who have positive associations with shit) and repressed by others (those who view shitting as a dirty act or a topic not worthy of ever talking about). It is similar to other fetishes in that they usually take place behind closed doors with consenting adults and does not pose any danger to society. The real threat lies in how the general society reacts to these fetishes, which is often with disgust and disdain.

The power of educating people and creating awareness around topics that are misunderstood and shrouded in taboo can start shifting our perceptions and preconceived ideas. If I think of how far we have come in just the last few years of understanding what it means to be transgender and all the other colours of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow, it is fantastic to now see the shift in people not referring to trans gender people as “transvestites” because they realise it is actually demeaning. Also, we have come a long way in no longer referring to gay people as “homosexuals” or where the word “Queer” has taken on a far less negative connotation. Mainstream media is slowly starting to edge away at these stereotypes by depicting trans people in the more positive and usual way of life stories. Thanks to these new narratives and celebrities who have come out and become role models for the community, younger and older generations are becoming educated and aware of the complexities of modern sexuality and different family setups. Today’s youth are far more accepting and understanding of the LGBTQIA+ community than previous generations have ever been, and it is wonderful to see.