The Perversion of Fetishism in Women

This paper attempts to demonstrate that fetishism as defined by Freud in males also exists among women. Freud described fetishism as a defense against castration anxiety arising from the perception of the female genitals. It is suggested that the main difference between male fetishism and female fetishism is that because of developmental factors involving the phallic phase, for women the fetish represents the penis of the father, not of the mother. Clinical material is presented to support these hypotheses.