Vorarephilia: The Erotic Desire To Literally Eat (Or Be Eaten By) Someone Else
August 21, 2015 by Justin Lehmiller
In my line of work, I’m always learning about new and unusual sexual desires. One of the most intriguing ones I have ever come across is vorarephilia, which has been described as “the erotic desire to consume, or be consumed whole and live by another person or creature” [1]. That’s right—we’re talking about people who derive sexual arousal from the thought of literally eating (or being eaten by) someone or something. There isn’t much research out there on this topic, but I happened to see a presentation on it at the International Academy of Sex Research conference earlier this month [1]. In this post, I’ll share a few of the most interesting findings from it.
The study I came across involved an online sample of 113 vorarephiles aged 18-46, most of whom were men (83%) and primarily attracted to the other sex (69%). These individuals were asked to describe what the content of their vore fantasies were like, the ways in which they have attempted to act out these fantasies, as well as how long they have had fantasies of this nature.
Before I go on, I should mention that the authors of this study made an important distinction between vorarephilia and sexual cannibalism. Sexual cannibalism is just what it sounds like—someone who simply finds the thought of eating human flesh to be sexually arousing. To be clear, this study doesn’t necessarily shed any light on sexual cannibalism. Instead, it only speaks to those with an interest in vorarephilia, which typically involves a “predator” eating/swallowing/absorbing live human “prey” through the mouth or through another orifice. Obviously, due to the nature of vorarephilia, it is generally not feasible to practice it in real life, so it tends to be enacted through fantasy, animation, role-playing, etc.
The results of this study revealed that, for most vorarephiles, their desires for erotic consumption began very young. In fact, the median age at which participants first recognized having this interest was 12.
The form/content of vore fantasies described by participants varied considerably. Among the many different themes to emerge in these fantasies were predator/prey scenarios (sometimes consensual, sometimes not), being “unbirthed” (i.e., being swallowed whole by a vagina), and engaging in erotic consumption as either an extremely large or extremely small person.
In addition, participants reported acting on their vore fantasies in many different ways. This included engaging in role-playing with puppets, swallowing small animals or insects that are still alive, watching animals get eaten by other animals, as well as “fashioning a makeshift predator’s stomach out of blankets, pillows, or sleeping bags.”
It is also worth noting that participants in this study tended to report having other unusual (but related) sexual interests beyond vorarephilia, including bestiality and zoophilia, being a furry, feederism, and certain forms of dominance and submission.
Overall, this study offers a fascinating look into a little-known, little-studied, and extremely unique sexual interest. To learn more about the psychology behind unusual sexual interests, check out these articles:
- Why Do Men Have More Unusual Sexual Interests Than Women?
- Rats With Jacket Fetishes? What Animal Sex Studies Reveal About The Origin Of Unusual Sexual Interests
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[1] Nothman, P.J., & Lykins, A.D. (2015). Get in my belly! A qualitative exploration into vorarephilia. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Academy for Sex Research (Toronto, CA).
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Dr. Justin Lehmiller
Founder & Owner of Sex and PsychologyDr. Justin Lehmiller is a social psychologist and Research Fellow at The Kinsey Institute. He runs the Sex and Psychology blog and podcast and is author of the popular book Tell Me What You Want. Dr. Lehmiller is an award-winning educator, and a prolific researcher who has published more than 50 academic works.
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