When people see my avatar, the most common question (after the standard, “Is that you?”) is “Why fishnets?” Well geez. Do I really have to answer that? Just look at them!
But the question is, why are fishnets sexy? What makes stockings more attractive than just bare flesh?
I think it’s the tease, their peek-a-boo nature. Full nudity can be sexy, but kind of like when you’re writing erotic fiction, if you jump straight to the genitals, you’re going too fast! It’s only sexy after a little seduction, after we take our clothing off bit by bit, when buttons are popped to reveal the swell of cleavage over a bra, when jeans are wiggled out of, leaving panties rolled at the hips and a line of dark pubic hair showing just above the little white bow.
There was something to that Garden of Eden myth, but it wasn’t really about shame after all. It was about provocation. Clothing incites arousal. That’s what Eve did with that naughty apple, right? She provoked poor Adam into action. Isn’t that why they cover women in burkas? To keep the men from attacking women on the street. If they saw just a little bit of skin, it might provoke them to act on their lust.
But they got it backwards, because if we went around naked all the time, flesh wouldn’t be a big deal. You’d have seen mine and I’d have seen yours and it would just be a matter of putting all the parts together in a way that felt good for both of us. Clothing might have been been conceived (at least mythically – practically I’m sure it had more to do with temperature and the idea of getting a rash from brushing up against the wrong bush!) to introduce the concept of shame, but what it also gave us is the opportunity to reveal our sexual selves.
I like looking and wondering what’s underneath. I have the sexual curiosity of a cat. If my name was Pandora, I admit, there wouldn’t be a box left unopened on the planet. But the appeal for me isn’t ever an open box. That’s boring. Naked is kind of just… okay. Once you’re actually naked, it’s the stuff your doing that becomes the fun. But before that, it’s all about finding out what’s underneath, inside – getting to the surprise. Licking the Tootsie Pop to get to the center.
And that’s why I love fishnets. They give you a lovely view of flesh, fully intending to arouse, while not…quite…revealing everything. There’s more to be discovered through that criss-crossed window of fabric and that promise is exactly the point.
Selena Kitt
Erotic Fiction You Won’t Forget
www.selenakitt.com
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