How/Why do I have this Pantyhose fetish?

Robin Maryland,
president, ActSensuous

One of the things I enjoy most about writing this blog is the feedback I get from you in the form of comments you make about my various posts.  I can’t tell you how meaningful that is.

First, I need to feel that someone really cares about what I’m doing here.  Second, it would be no fun writing award-winning-quality pieces and not hear your reactions.  Third, reading your opinions, questions and experiences not only help me to stay motivated, but often gives me ideas for new posts.

Case in point:  Our newest reader/commenter, Richard, wrote yesterday that he first developed his love of pantyhose during his 4^th grade through 8^th grade school days, as a pretty teacher wore dresses or skirts with high heels and pantyhose all the time.  He added that she even wore hose the few times she wore slacks.  And he said that sometimes she slipped out of her high heels and walked throughout the classroom in just her pantyhosed feet.

Richard, like so many other longtime ActSensuous Blog readers ponders how and why he has a pantyhose fetish.  This phenomenon seems to plague hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world.  They question it and seem almost tormented by it.

I’m certainly no expert, but it seems to me that we start to become who we are at an early stage in life, and one of the biggest influencers on us besides our parents (especially, before cable TV and the Internet) was our elementary and middle school teachers.  And back in the day (before cable TV and the Internet, and “Sex and the City”) teachers, like all professional women wouldn’t dream of not wearing pantyhose.

Women in Japan are much more prolific wearers of pantyhose, than those of most other nationalities, especially, in business environments, including the class room.

It happened that way for me.  I can’t remember what grade I was in, but I’m guessing 4^th or so.  There was a pretty young teacher who always wore dresses or skirts with heels and nylons, and under her desk we could see her shoe-play, and she had pretty feet.

I think it was the last day of school, when the teacher was seated at her desk occupied by papers and a couple of kids talking with her at her desk.  One boy lost all control and parked himself in a prone position under her desk and kissed her feet for a few minutes.  He later said he was kissing her shoes, but none of us bought that.

I hadn’t thought about that in a hundred years, but Richard’s comment brought back those memories.  I am still amazed that the teacher was unfazed by the thing (maybe it happened to her all the time), and that none of the other kids seemed too shocked by it either.  Most just laughed, but I am sure there were some among us who couldn’t believe that kid had the nerve to act on his fantasy right there for the whole class to see.

I don’t know about the other kids in that class, but I was probably ruined for life after witnessing that scene.  A couple of years later, 6^th grade I think, I began to notice other teachers who always wore dresses, complete with high heels and pantyhose.  Of course, that was just the way it was back then, but it still was pretty exciting to see, especially when some of the teachers seemed to tease a little by frequently running their hands over their nylons to feel the silky fabric on their legs.  I always thought that was sexy.  I wondered how any of the boys learned anything (academically) during those classes.

Back in the day, what a beautiful sight it was to see a teacher in a white skirt, white heels and sheer suntan pantyhose.

That was a great time (notice I’m not revealing the year so as not to age myself).  Looking back, I see things for what they might have been.  We were so young that to us teachers were just adults.  But I’m betting that the teachers were probably fresh out of college and they might have been just starting their professional careers.

And back in the day, dressing professionally and wearing pantyhose might have been new and exciting to them, too.  They probably enjoyed being looked up to by the kids, and wearing the proper business attire likely contributed to their own self-esteem.  That, and the attention they probably got from students, as well as from other teachers and faculty, couldn’t have hurt.

Did those pretty teachers know they were making an impression among many of the students in ways other than academically?  Maybe, but it was a more innocent time, so perhaps some of those teachers thought they were looked upon as goddesses, but I doubt back then, they had any idea they were the cause of many kids developing a pantyhose and/or foot fetish for life.

But, in many cases, that’s exactly what they were doing.

While a teacher dressed in a skirt and jacket, with high heels and sheer pantyhose, is very professional, she might also be the first influence of the concepts of beauty, class, elegance and femininity on young students

I don’t think that’s a bad thing in any sense.  While there is no doubt that today millions of us find pantyhose, and sheer nylons over pretty feet, extremely sexy, I still believe that wearing pantyhose makes a woman stand out from those who don’t.  To me, when a woman chooses to wear pantyhose when she goes to work, out to a nice restaurant, or just out and about, she is professional, classy and beautiful.

How sad it is that probably the majority of today’s teachers don’t wear pantyhose.  Heck, today’s teachers probably don’t even wear dresses or skirts.  They are at the front lines, charged with educating and setting an example for today’s youth.  And the decisions these teachers so recklessly make to dress in jeans or pants outfits only reinforces in our kids’ minds that the school system is a casual experience that carries with it not much in the way of expectations.

It’s so nice to see a young actress, such as Vanessa Hudgens, dressed so elegantly, including wearing sheer pantyhose, during a motion picture premiere event recently in Paris.

How sad it is that seemingly most women today don’t get it.  It seems so many women have been poisoned about the very concept of wearing pantyhose by negative influences created in Hollywood and filtered into mainstream life.

It’s sad that something as beautiful and decidedly feminine as pantyhose has been villified in the fashion world to the point that otherwise normal women think they hate pantyhose now.

But the true haters notwithstanding, I can’t help but feel there are millions of women out there who have no negative agenda against pantyhose, yet, because they believe that pantyhose are “out” today, they feel obligated to go “bear”-legged because “everyone else is doing it.”  That’s why we see women who should know better, such as celebrities, lawyers, real estate agents, and corporate executives ditching the pantyhose with their dresses, skirts, suits and pumps.  They know it’s the right thing to do to wear those outfits, but they have been brainwashed into thinking that it’s OK to skip the hose.

I really think that secretly many of them don’t feel comfortable dressed up but with bear legs, yet, they don’t have the courage to go against the grain.

I can’t help but believe that some day, they’re going to look back at old pictures of themselves in a beautiful dress, high heels and bear legs, and say to themselves, “What was I thinking?”

Polls reflect your views

Another recent comment from a reader, libertariangman, posed the question: “Do Men PREFER Women in Hosiery over Bare Legs?”

That comment/question inspired a recent post from me, “Future of Pantyhose in Men’s Hands?” (03/12/2012).  Attached to that post is a poll: “Do Men PREFER Women in Hosiery over Bare Legs?”

As of this writing, 161 individuals have weighed in.  Assuming the voters are who they say they are, so far, 154 men have voted Yes (95%); 4 women voted Yes (2%) that they think men prefer women in hosiery; and 3 men (Tabitha’s “special” friends) voted No (2%).  Surprisingly, not a single No vote was cast by a woman.

Wow, 95 percent of voters believe that men prefer women in hosiery over bare legs!  That’s pretty good.  But what does this mean?  Perhaps not much.  Most of those voting were (ostensibly) men.  I think the world pretty much knows that men prefer women in pantyhose.  And 161 votes aint gonna make the Guinness Book of World Records.  Still, I believe that if there were 161,000 votes, it would still work out that 95 percent of them favor women in pantyhose.

To me, the troubling reality is that women get that men prefer them in pantyhose, but they still aint gonna do it.  Shouldn’t you guys be highly insulted here?  I’ve said it before, and I guess I’m going to keep saying it: Men need to communicate better with women.  Somehow, you’ve got to make it clear that you love them in pantyhose, and you have to make them care.

It might be difficult for men to get any work done at the office with a coworker dressed this way, but employee morale likely would soar.

I’m curious, do you guys ever fantasize that you’re the hiring authority of the most highly-sought-after corporation in your city, where everyone wants to work.  It’s a highly-successful and extremely professional business that enjoys the best reputation in its industry.  You run an ad for a female Vice President of Marketing, and you get a lobbyful of qualified applicants.  You do a quick scan and see that 90 percent of the women aren’t wearing pantyhose.

What do you do?  You very professionally and charismatically single out the women wearing pantyhose (without acknowledging the fact) and ask each one to sit on this side of the lobby, while those not wearing, are to sit on that side.  Then, you retreat to your office and ask your assistant (who knows better and always wears) to one-after-another escort the women in pantyhose to your office for the interview, completely ignoring the nonwearers, regardless of who was there first, or who might have the stronger resume.

After a while, one those with bear legs questions your assistant about what’s going on, and she tells those women that they really should go home and come back another time when they are dressed professionally for the executive level position and the nature of the corporation.

The women in that group look at themselves and each other and see that they are all wearing perfectly tailored corporate grey or black business suits and skirts with white blouses and closed toe pumps.  What the heck is this lady talking about?  But one or two of them get it.  A few of them knew better.  They knew they should wear pantyhose, but they chose not to, figuring it just doesn’t matter in today’s world – even at a highly-successful and extremely professional business environment.  Because they know they screwed up, they don’t say anything, but one of the young, hot-shot, overly-aggressive corporate fireballs, speaks up:

“Is he (you) not seeing us because we’re not wearing pantyhose?  That’s ridiculous.  Pantyhose are so outdated.  They’re irrelevant today.  No one wears them anymore.”  And another chimes in: “He can’t do that.  (Yes he/you can.)  That’s illegal. (No it’s not.)  That’s discrimination. (Yeah, so what?  It’s the right of any business to establish a dress code, and if you don’t agree with it, no one’s forcing you to work here.  Bimbo!)  I don’t want to work for a place like this.  I’m out of here.”  (Good.  Go!)

Just a thought.

OK, how about this:  You’re deep in the throes of the zombie apocalypse.  There are only a few survivors.  You are holed up in a makeshift fortress.  Two women on foot have stumbled upon your sanctuary, and are pounding on the door pleading to be let in, as the zombie horde closes in.  Unfortunately, there is room for only one more person.  You see that one is an absolutely gorgeous woman wearing a dress and high heels, but no pantyhose, while the other is semi-attractive, wearing a dress and high heels AND sheer suntan pantyhose.  The gorgeous woman expects to be let in because, well, she’s always gotten preferential treatment her whole life.  The undead are closing in. What do you do?

Simple.  You let the one wearing pantyhose in, and say “Missed it by THAT much” to the beauty with bear legs.

OK, OK, fine.  You let them both in.  But to make a point, you first say “Wow, you’re gorgeous, but I’m gonna have to go with her because she’s got the class, elegance and femininity to wear pantyhose with that pretty outfit, and you don’t.”  Then, you let that girl in, closing the door on the one with bear legs.  The brain-munchers are almost on top of her now, and she’s crying out, and you say “Alright, I’ll let you in on one condition:  First time we come across a store that sells pantyhose, you grab a pair and put them on. Deal?”  She agrees and you let her in.  I mean c’mon, you’re a reasonable fellow.

You guys get me here?  You’ve got to deliver the message:  We are sick of the bear legs look.  Enough already.  We want you wearing pantyhose.

Hey, it’s worth a try.  What ideas do you have?  Let’s get a forum going about the ways men can get the point across to women.

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