Let’s take a deep sniff into the world of the male armpit fetish

Armpits have been turning on gay men for centuries.

“The sweat sizzling from the underarms always turns me to stone,” says Patrick O’Rourke, who has no shame describing his ultimate turn-on about a man.

Patrick lives in Ireland and happened to connect with me on 23 and me. He’s a fourth cousin who was desperately searching to learn more about his gay ancestry and connect with others in the community. I happen to know from his Instagram that he’s obsessed with guys’ armpits, so I pressed him for more, hoping to understand why this particular feature of the body is so appealing to some queer men.

“For me, armpits encapsulate masculinity,” he says. “The underarm hair and musky smell is the ultimate depiction of a ‘man’, and if you’re attracted to men, what’s a better turn-on than that?”

He goes on to explain that when watching adult films, many of the scenarios involve “strenuous activity” that ultimately might get the sweat glands in the underarms activated, so he knows this must be a common fetish for guys.

“From the vigorous personal trainer to the oh-so-helpful handyman, to even the steamy fireman… there’s always something situational going on that’s getting the sweat flowing. That’s intentional,” he says. “It’s about a gay man’s yearning for ultimate masculinity. Sweat and hair encapsulate this,” he sums up.

Let’s face it, this fascination is not bound to Ireland alone. Of course, we all have our thing. Some guys like legs; some can’t say no to a hairy chest. Some hungry eyes will immediately gaze at a muscular bicep, or a bubble butt, when new meat walks into a bar.

Other turn-ons are a bit more obscure. Think… plump nipples, happy trails, or even feet and toes.

But if the internet is any indication, the obsession that’s been causing gay men to swoon for eons is that of the male armpit. The Subreddit forum called Male Armpit Appreciation has over 50.2K members, while the PitsPervMan, just one of many armpit sanctums on the Gram, has almost 90K devotees.

 

 

 

 

 

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Armpit lovers have made their way over to TikTok as well, with TheArmpitHunter getting thousands of views on various armpit videos.

@thearmpithunter

? Tim Duncan – J-Tek

Whether you’re an out and proud armpit lover, or still in the musty gym closet, there’s no shortage of devotion to this arched wonder. Clean-shaven or hairy, freshly-washed or sweaty, guys have various preferences around the pit, with some even going so far as to enjoy licking them as part of foreplay.

 

 

 

 

 

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So what is it about the armpit, something you might initially associate with unpleasant smells and toxins being expelled from the body, that gets our blood flowing?

First, let’s back up a bit…

It’s perfectly normal for certain body parts to stimulate sexual arousal. After all, our brains are wired to see certain imagery and subsequently produce hormones that get us aroused and ready for action. (Oxytocin and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone are both important in eliciting sexual arousal, as well as testosterone).

As a psychotherapist, my belief is that early childhood images that are arousing often get “imprinted” in our consciousness, and continue to play out as “turn-ons” later in life. If we grew up watching the older boys in school playing water polo in pool… wet, shirtless, and armpits exposed before spiking the ball for the win… Well, there’s a chance that type of imagery will sustain as an attraction later in life.

In fact, when researching for this post, I stumbled upon a plethora of “straight” guys posting their concerns in a Quora forum about whether or not they were gay because they’ve always been turned on by guys’ armpits. Many of these contributors described believing they were heterosexual, but feeling confused and surprised by the fact that they were sexually aroused in the gym locker room when seeing guys’ hairy armpits in their full glory.

(Spoiler alert: Many of the responses pointed out that if they are attracted to women, but are also into male armpits, they might want to explore something called “bisexuality”.)

Sometimes, these early adolescent attractions become amplified to where they become a major desire. Other times, it can dip into “fetish” territory.

According to Wikipedia, armpit fetishism (also known as maschalagnia) is a type of partialism (“a sexual fetish with an exclusive focus on a specific part of the body other than genitals”) in which a person is “sexually attracted to armpits.” And, according to Miss Merriam-Webster herself, a fetish is “a form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object, item of clothing, body part, etc.”

Coming from a sex-positive perspective, I don’t fully agree with this definition, as it can be shaming to label something as “abnormal”. So then, how do you know if you have a full on armpit fetish?

The Kinsey Institute says, “fetish specifically refers to a strong sexual preoccupation with an object, material, or body part.” In other words, if armpits are kind of your sole preoccupation when it comes to desire, that may be a fetish. If you have traditional sex, but like to lick and smell armpits while it’s happening, that’s less a fetish and more just a thing that turns you on. Even if you have a fetish, that does not mean you have a problem (unless it somehow gets in the way of day to day life or functioning).

So why are so many driven wild by the male armpit, just like my Irish relative?

One of the critical characteristics of the male body is the pheromones that contribute to sexual attraction.

The armpits, due to their design, are a potent conveyer of those pheromones. “One thing that is of particular interest in the armpit region is the presence of apocrine sweat glands,” explains Mark Sergeant, a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University who specializes in the psychology of smell and human sexual behavior.

“These glands are well-placed to deliver odors,” he says, “especially during sex, where there’s plenty of possibilities to get intimate around the chest and the neck.” We sweat from the pits when we experience emotions such as embarrassment, stress, or fear, but, as Sergeant says, that’s not all. “The apocrine glands are activated in response to mental/emotional states, potentially including sexual arousal.”

Dr. Joe Kort, a certified sex and relationship therapist in Detroit, Michigan who works predominantly with gay men, says, “I know there is research that shows there are pheromones released, and people can become attached to someone psychologically by the smell of their armpit. Also, it’s a masculine smell, and represents manlyhood, which I think a lot of gay men are attracted to and turned on by. It represents raw masculinity.”

Others don’t view it as so scientific.

An armpit lover in the subreddit thread tells me, “Nothing says “masculinity” better than arms overstretched revealing a muscular, hairy expanse of pheromonic pleasure”.

Yet another armpit fanatic, the self-proclaimed “Pit Sniffer” named J.R., explains to me it’s all about the smell. “Sniffing is next level of ecstasy for me”, he says. “You get to inhale the pure, animalistic essence of the other man. It’s a taste of what the other person is like with their pants off. Woof. I can cum by sniffing a man and without touching myself.”

Regardless, the worship of the male armpit has been around for centuries, and I don’t expect the craze to fade any time soon. If you’re in the club, I salute you. Not only that, I encourage you to embrace your love of armpits, celebrate them, and enjoy their various manifestations. Whether it’s a fetish, or simply a turn-on, there’s nothing wrong with indulging in a healthy way.

Move over feet… it’s time for armpits to get their due!

Related:

PHOTOS: Just a gallery of some of our favorite gay celebs showing off their salty armpits

Chances are, if you are a man who has sex with other men, you’ve likely had a partner bury his face in your armpits or request that you please lick his.