As someone who isn’t into feet, I’ve always just assumed it’s because uncovered feet are vaugely intimate. As in feet are mostly covered by shoes but when you get to see them uncovered it might just mean the situation has gotten intimate. I mean that’s basically the idea behind any societal view which dictates that women should cover any particular part of their body, it’s not that muslim people inherently find hair sexy, it’s the societal norms which attached an intimate meaning to hair.
many people wonder that, why are feet so desired? sure, there are people that are into every crevice of the body, but feet seem to be winning the popularity race by a lot? hell, even otherwise vanilla people like them sometimes
the answer issss… (probably) that our spaghetti wiring of the nerves is to blame. you see the nerves responsible for feet connect to the spinal cord riiiight next to where our genitals connect as well. so sometimes the more intense signals tickle the unintended paths next to their intended one. some people when they orgasm (myself included) can feel a wave of electricity running down into their feet, even making one or multiple of their toes curl.
Lumbar spine L1 – the first lumbar nerve is responsible for sensations around the groin and genitals, and has a role in motor control of the hips. L2, L3, L4 convey sensation for the front and inside of the thighs, and extend to the inner aspect of the lower legs. L5 nerve region covers the outside of the thighs extending into the outer aspect of the top of the lower legs.
Sacral Spine S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 nerves provide some nerve supply to the genitals, as well as the anus, sacrum, buttocks and the backs of the thighs. The pudendal nerve is the nerve bundle comprising nerves from S2-S4 and which is the primary nerve of the perineal area.
I think the more important overlap is in the brain itself. We have known that regions of cortex that register genital stimulation are adjacent to/overlap with the area hat registers foot stimulation since Penfield did the first mapping of cortex in the 1930s.
In answer to “that’s true for perception, but why the excitement for looking” lays in that the homuncular representation is not a simple one. We know that there are multiple homuncululi tied to different types of perception, and there is more modern work that ties the planning and goal systems to the functional centres around key points of the homonculi. The physical closeness of the two is possibly responsible for the mingling of the two representations. Back in the day there was even a mechanism for it - “ephaptic excitation” - where axons running in a bundle could activate neighbouring fibres through changing the ionic composition of the fluid around them.
That explains it from a having your feet played with side, but not really from the finding feet hot side.
I think shitting on Americans for every little thing they handle differently is moronic but I will say I won’t ever order food that’s advertised as “footlong”. That’s just needlessly gross. I don’t like to imagine the cashier lining up a sandwich with their bare sole for quality control but that’s the kinda mental image the term conjures up.
How about a sandwich shop where you can order a Big Italian?
Well if it’s a sandwich shop you’d really need two Italians, even big ones.
Wait to you find out how they measure the 6 inch ones.
