It is more and more common to see people with tattoos and piercings, whether they are young or adults. Now, how far can this worship and attraction to this “art” or “lifestyle” go? There are those who feel sexual attraction to these people, and this is when we are in the presence of stigmatophilia.

Stigmatized people not only like tattoos and piercings of a person of the other sex because they look cool or sexy, but they feel sexual excitement towards these marks on their skin. Of course, there is no reason to consider this type of paraphilia as a harmful or deviant tendency, since it does not imply any disorder for the person who feels it, much less for the person who is the object of such desire.

Now, why can piercings and tattoos be the target of desire? Well, some specialists start from an anthropological explanation, since both are ancestral practices. In some centuries-old civilizations, tribal paintings and piercings were linked to the concept of beauty, while in men they were a symbol of virility and courage.

Situating ourselves in our times, it must be said that both tattoos and piercings not only decorate the body, but also say much about the people who possess it. In fact, many times they can transmit from principles and promises of fidelity (tattoos of the couple’s name, for example), to indelible memories -literally- of events that marked their lives.