In the past, admitting to having a fetish was not common place as societies view was not always welcoming. Fetishes not being revealed openly in society does not mean they were not practiced behind closed doors. History reveals a few fetishes that have been around for centuries.

Autoerotic Asphyxiation
Autoerotic Asphyxiation is the act of depriving the body of oxygen while pleasuring oneself. This act can be performed alone or with a partner by either sexes. According to FBI statistics, autoerotic asphyxiation has lead to 1000 US accidental male deaths per year.

This fetish has been noted in history as far back as the 17th century. Many hanging victims were found to have an erection in the 1600's. Doctors took this observation to believe strangling a patient would cure erectile dysfunction, of course this did not result in their desired affect.

Foot Fetish
Sexual arousal caused by the interest in feet. Often an admiration, worshiping and sexual attraction to specific features such as size, shape, treatment (painted toes), jewelry, state of dress or interactions with the feet. This fetish is more commonly found in men.

Some believe this fetishism grew as a response to sexually transmitted disease for a alternative sexual iteration. It is seen more often through history in times when STD epidemics arose. In 1220 AD, Bertold of Rehensburg, a German preacher wrote of his love of feet, this is the first know public recording of this ever growing fetish.

Necrohpila
One of the oldest recorded sexual fetishes, this is attraction or sexual acts involving a corpse.

The act of necrophilia was popular in Ancient Egypt and Greece. The Egyptians would leave their deceased for 3 days before handing them over to embalmers to discourages intercourse with the bodies. Herodotus writes that Greek tyrant Perianders 'baked his bread in a cold oven' when referring to his deceased wife.

Rubber and Latex
This is a fetishism to people wearing rubber or latex clothing or in some cases towards the garments themselves. This fetish is not found as far back in history as other fetishes since the materials are more modern.

In 1824, fetish magazines began publishing women sporting shiny raincoats, following the craze of the newly designed raincoat by Mackintosh in Glasgow. In the 1940's more magazines began to promoting latex. These trends have come to spawn an entire sub-culture for rubber, leather and latex communities.

Sadomasochism
Otherwise known as S&M, is the giving or receiving of pleasure by inflicting pain or humiliation on a submissive person.

This is found through out history but was first seen in 470BC in Italy at the Tomb of the Floggings. One of the earliest erotic images was found here of a women being whipped while mounted by two men.

Freud stated that the attraction to the acts of sadomasochism was cause by childhood traumas. This declaration cause the public to become weary of these acts, viewing them as a perversion. However today most psychologists do not agree with Freud's assumptions and say that the enjoyment and safe practice of S&M can be perfectly healthy.