The Fat Fetish, Explained (2024)

While researching a previous post on fat fetishes, I came across the practice of "gut flopping." According to Urban Dictionary, gut flopping is“where a large bellied individual raises his or her stomach and allows it to drop upon his or her sexual partner in a way that creates a smack sound [and] is an act performed for sexual pleasure." There is an infamous clip on the internet featuring gut flopping, but there is little written about it academically (or non-academically for that matter).

However, one variant of this that appears to be very popular among a minority of men is "BBW squashing" (i.e., men being squashed by one or more "big beautiful women" for sexual pleasure) and also known as "crushing" or "smashing" by squashing enthusiasts. One such BBW appeared on Dr. Drew’s US television show in October 2011 talking about her experiences as someone who catered for men’s fetish to be sat on and squashed by very large women. "Massive Mocha" revealed that men ask her to sit on them until they feel they are going to pass out from loss of breath.

According to the Squashing Fetish website, there are many variations of the fetish. Heterosexual squashing comprises very obese women squashing smaller (typically thin) men. hom*osexual squashing comprises very obese men squashing much smaller men. For some, fantasizing about being squashed may satisfy the fetish. This may include someone (weighing anything from 200 pounds to 600 pounds) sitting, standing, jumping, and/or crushing their face, belly, and/or chest (resulting in the person being squashed while squirming). The relationship (concerning control) is psychologically similar to the dominant and submissive in sexual sadism and sexual masochism. Being unable to breathe (or breathe properly) appears to be critical in the fetish and in that sense shares similarities with hypoxyphilia (i.e., autoerotic asphyxiation in which individuals derive sexual arousal and pleasure from the restriction of their oxygen supply).

A couple of years ago, Channel 4 (in the UK) screened Nick Betts’ documentary My Big Fat Fetish. One of the women interviewed at length in the show was BBW Reenaye Starr. She was interviewed by a British tabloid newspaper prior to the show being aired and was asked whether the physical contact associated with a squashing was seen as the ultimate prize by men who pay to be squashed by her. Starr was reported as saying:

“It depends. There are so many different kinds of ‘fat admirers.' Some men are not interested in squashing at all. Some men are just into big ladies looking cute. And then there are some into hardcore p*rnography who want to see big ladies having sex. It all depends on what your sub-fetish is—but to these men, being with a big woman in any capacity is their ultimate desire. [My] subscribers come from all over the world. But there is definitely a huge following in the UK…I personally—other than my husband—have two feeders who send me money for food online. They don’t physically feed me as they’re too far away but one is based in the US now so he does come in for squashings.”

An article on BBW squashing (which looks as though it was written by BBW squashers themselves but I can’t be sure) noted, “We may not be able to explain how being squashed can be sexy, but it is an important part of foreplay for those who have this kind of fetish." The (anonymous) writer confirms my own view that BBW squashing is on the same spectrum as sexual behaviours such as sadomasochism, bondage, and domination, “which means that in order to find sexual pleasure, one must feel pain from lack of oxygen, beating, among others."

The article also claims that BBW squashing “is not as life-threatening as autoerotic asphyxiation since the man can tap the BBW anytime he feels that he’s close to passing out." It claims that most BBWs engage in squashing for financial reasons and that their primary aim is “to concentrate on the sexual gratification of their clients … Others like Queen Raqui, it’s more like a sport in which she also earns money, without the pressure of having sex with her clients." The article mainly concerns all the different types of ways that men can be squashed by BBWs.

• Face-Sitting: This position involves the man lying diagonally across a bed with his head at the corner of the bed. The BBW squasher (BBWS) then sits on the man’s head with the man’s face in the BBWS’s crotch. Some BBWs may move or shake about to enhance the man’s pleasure.
• Sixty-Nine (69): This position involves the man lying flat on the bed while the BBWS lies on top of him so that her face is in the man’s crotch and is facing his legs (and vice-versa). Either partner may stimulate each other’s genitals while in the 69 position.
• Back-Lying: This position involves a man lying on his back with the BBWS sitting on him and crushing his chest and/or face.
• Leg-Captivity: This position involves the BBWS wrapping the man’s head between her legs with the man facing either her crotch or her buttocks. The BBWS may completely suffocate the man in this position (and has to rely on the man to signal to her to let her know when to let go).
• Riding Horse Man: This position (as might be expected from the name) involves the BBWS riding the man like a horse while he is on his front. This is said to increase the man’s sexual arousal.
• Double Trouble: This is not a position as such but involves two BBWs sitting on a man in any variation of the positions outlined above.

In previous articles elsewhere, I examined both macrophilia (i.e., sexual pleasure and arousal from giants) and crush fetishes (i.e., sexual pleasure and arousal from crushing or being crushed), and there seems to be some psychological similarity between BBW squashing and these other sexual paraphilias and fetishes.

For instance, some macrophiles date extraordinarily tall women (so-called "Amazons") even if they have to pay for the privilege to do so. For instance, Mikayla Miles (who, when wearing her fetish boots, is nearly 7 feet, and 6 feet 4 inches without the boots) provides private sessions with macrophiles to engage in behaviours such as trampling. This has a lot of resonance with BBW squashing. Research has been carried out into both sadomasoch*stic sexual activity and fat fetishes, but little on where they intersect. This would certainly be a fruitful area for further empirical investigation.

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