Shrimping
Shrimping usually refers to sexually licking, kissing, or sucking someone’s toes. It may be part of foot worship or a foot fetish, but it can also simply be enjoyed as a form of foreplay or sensory play.
Origins of the Term Shrimping
Shrimping as a term for erotic toe sucking appears to date back to at least the early 1980s. Filmmaker John Waters featured the act in his 1969 film "Mondo Trasho" and later referred to the act as “shrimping.” He also used the term in his 1981 memoir "Shock Value."
By the early 1990s, slang dictionaries were listing "shrimp" as a verb meaning to suck a partner’s toes. Shrimping entered the Chambers’ Encyclopedic English Dictionary in 1994. The term also circulated in queer underground culture, including Vaginal Davis’s 1990s zine "Shrimp: The Magazine for Licking and Sucking Bigger and Better Feet."
Why People Are Into Shrimping
People are into shrimping for many different reasons. Here are a few common ones:
Attraction to Feet
For people with a foot fetish, shrimping can be a very direct way of interacting with the body part they're already into.
Physical Sensation
For the person receiving it, toe sucking can simply feel good. Feet and toes are sensitive to touch, and sucking adds warmth, moisture, pressure, and movement that feels different from massage or ordinary touching.
Worship and Submission
Shrimping also fits naturally into foot worship and D/s. Kneeling at someone's feet, kissing them, or putting their toes in your mouth can symbolize devotion or submission. Conversely, the person whose feet are being worshipped may enjoy the attention, power, or feeling of being adored.
Taboo
Feet are generally treated as nonsexual, private, or even dirty, making sexual attention to them feel taboo. For some people, that feeling of transgression can be sexy.
Smell, Taste, Appearance, Texture
For some foot fetishists, the appeal of shrimping is very specifically sensory. They may like the shape of the toes, softness of the sole, nail polish, smell, taste, or skin texture.
Related Terms
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