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Second Skin: Inside the Worlds of Fetish, Kink, and Deviant Desire

Second Skin: Inside the Worlds of Fetish, Kink, and Deviant Desire

by Anastasiia Fedorova

Catapult ·2026 ·256 pages
New Release
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
68/99
Top of the Pile

78/99

Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

57/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

34/99

Volume of Reviews

46/99

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About This Book

The smell of leather. The flash of a harness. The snap of a latex glove. Welcome to the radical, vibrant world of sexual fetishists. In 21st century commodity culture, we are all intimately involved with we covet a Birkin bag; we keep trainers box-fresh. We are, in a sense, all fetishists. But occasionally this desire spills into something more subversive. SECOND SKIN offers a tour through the materials, objects and power dynamics commonly fetishised, unpacking their histories, their expressive potential, and the communities they give rise to. Drawing from her encounters with fellow fetishists and kinksters, it is also the story of Anastasiia Fedorova's own of what it means to come to terms with one's sexuality. Brave and searching, Second Skin reveals how what we deem 'taboo' is never static, while do we have the courage to look at these desires directly, and express them unapologetically?


Reviews

"The book gathers a cumulative force in shedding light on sexuality more broadly — the power dynamics baked into desire of all kinds ..."

Mia Levitin· Financial Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"In a certain sense, Fedorova's project is of the best kind: it takes our most uncanny attractions and reveals their eminent humanity ..."

Lillian Fishman· The New Yorker Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Fedorova convincingly makes the link between her own heritage, a lifelong struggle with anxiety and gradual immersion in the fetish world."

Rowan Pelling· The Telegraph (UK) Read review ↗ Near the Top

"More significantly, in this American era, with basic human rights being violated in our legislature and on our streets; when being 'different' and/or challenging the powers that be is punishable by death, this British-born book advocates for a person's right to like what they like and to get it consensually."

Meredith Maran· Los Angeles Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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