ABSTRACT
A posting from an online message board beckons "Wanted: Female Feedee - Reward: Lifetime of Pleasure and Passion." Elsewhere on the web, a site advertises "Click Flere to Watch My Belly Grow!" Both sentiments refer to feederism - a phenomenon which incorporates the eroticization of body fat and the act of feeding, along with disciplined weight gain for participants' sexual gratification. Individuals engage in feederism in a multiplicity of ways - through the internet, while fantasizing, with their partners. Who are the individuals participating in this activity? What sexual/bodily acts do these participants actually engage in? What are the motivations behind their involvement? Are these individuals dabbling - so to speak - in certain forms of sexual play, or are they constructing their sexual identities around their sexual behaviors? Is feederism a fetish or a subculture - or is it perhaps something more complex? Most importantly, what does feederism tell us about dominant cultural norms and practices surrounding food and sexual behavior?
