Sexual fetishism is a sexual preference in which sexual arousal is experienced by an object or non-genital body part.

A link is often made with experiences gained in childhood. An example of this is that if a boy had a dominant mother who often wore high-heeled boots, the boy in question can later develop a fetish for this. It gives the fetishist a certain arousal or pleasant feelings, which can go as far as ecstasy.

There is often a connection with the manifestations of sadomasochism.