Daddy TV cofounder Topher Cusumano is a kinky guy, but he had never explored maschalagnia — the technical term for an armpit fetish — until he was on a business trip and hooked up with a man who was “offering something new,” and he was curious to give it a try.
“We’re conditioned from a very young age to believe our bodies have a limited erotic roadmap. I think it’s generally important for people to question where their map comes from. Was it inherited from society or did they draw it themselves?”
This is the question Cusumano, a sex and sexual health writer who produces shows about queer sex and kink, started thinking about when a hot guy sucked on his armpits and rewired his brain.
“It’s like when Cali friends take you to Jack-in-the-Box to taste how good the fries are or whatever. And of course you go and say ‘Wow, delicious! Wish we had these in New York!' I don’t know, you don’t just refuse a local custom,” he tells Out. “That’s how he ended up naked in my bed with his face planted in my armpit.”
Cusumano dove right into this fetish without knowing exactly what to expect, but the experience blew his mind. “Imagine a pie-eating contest — that was the energy. His tongue was flat and he applied a good amount of pressure as he licked and sucked the center of my pit,” he says.
Many people may still consider fetishes like this to be perverse, but they are both incredibly common and can be an exciting and fulfilling addition to your sex life.
Curious about armpits? Ahead, read Cusuman's first-hand account and advice from sex experts about how to try it out for yourself.
What is maschalagnia (a.k.a. an armpit fetish)?
Maschalagnia is the technical term used to describe a sexual attraction to armpits. The armpit has apocrine sweat glands, which secrete sweat tied to stress, arousal, and hormones. And while the idea of pheromones is hotly debated, these apocrine secretions "may play some role in sexual attraction,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“An armpit fetish is far more common in the LGBTQ community than most people think,” says Dr. Michael Stokes, a sex therapist and men’s sexual health expert with Mister Health. “Maschalangia is arousal from a person's armpits. This can be visual, the feel of the person's armpit hair, armpit skin, scent, etc. This is a full sensory experience for many people, but also can be on a spectrum where there might be one of these sensory experiences an individual finds to be sexually arousing.”
If you’re not into armpits, you may see them as just another innocuous — and occasionally smelly — part of the body, but “for a person with maschalagnia, an armpit is not just some sweaty part of the body, but something very erotic and beautiful that can give lots of sexual satisfaction,” explains Sofie Roos, a bisexual licensed sexologist, relationship therapist and author at relationship magazine Passionerad.
For Cusumano, he was able to have a “very intense full-body orgasms during pit play” with the armpit fetishist he hooked up with, but also said that he likes it when armpits become part of his kinky life in other ways too. “If I'm being submissive and a dom forces my face into his armpit, that's a huge turn-on psychologically,” he says. “There’s anticipation, vulnerability — maybe a loss of control — that for me can be incredibly hot. In that case, the armpit becomes a symbol within the power dynamic. It’s not the armpit, it’s the order to be there.”
Why do armpits turn some people on?
Armpits fall outside of the usual parts of the body that people generally think of as being hot or sexy, and are often overlooked even though they can be an erogenous zone. “They occupy this weird liminal space between public and private,” Cusumano says. “We see armpits all the time. There's no stigma around them. Nobody thinks twice about a tank top or a strapless dress. Still, we’re not usually engaging with them.”
The smell also has a lot to do with it. “Full-blown stinky pits aren’t for everyone — but that little hint of musk. Someone’s natural scent. I don’t know, there’s something very primal there,” he shares.
Not only can the scent and taste be arousing, but Roos says that some people are turned on "by armpits being such a private part of the body that most often isn’t shown publicly, which gives a feeling of intimacy and even it being something taboo.” She also says that “many people with this fetish don’t even know themselves why they like armpits so much, but just accept it and enjoy it without trying to find a reason, and that’s perfectly fine.”
How good does armpit stimulation feel?
Cusumano had no idea how much he would like having his armpits touched, licked, and sucked on until that one magical hookup that has become “a green dragon” he’s always chasing.
“At first, it felt like a massage as my muscles started to relax into a very new sensation,” he recalls. “He was so hot, and I was already a little turned on just by being there, but he kept going and going — slowly working from the center of the pit toward the outer edge — until something insane happened.”
What happened next is why the experience is still living rent-free in his head. “It felt like every nerve ending lit up,” he says. “My big toe started to twitch. There was an almost electric current running from my armpit through the rest of my body. I got rock hard and I started moaning. Not one of those fake moans you do to make a guy feel good — like a real guttural, ugly-ass moan like I was being killed (but in a really hot way).”
They moved on to “oral stuff” next, but “everything felt out of this world after that. Like he flipped a switch that stayed on until we came."
6 ways to explore your armpit fetish
If you're really into armpits or Cusumano’s experience of having sex with someone with an armpit fetish sounds like something you want to try, there are plenty of easy ways to incorporate your love of pits into your sex life.
1. Take your time
“Go slow! Our bodies aren’t used to having our armpits touched, so you may get a sudden giggle just from the anticipation," Cusumano says. "Take a deep breath, and relax into it. Those nerves are just starting to wake up.”
2. Try it, but don’t be disappointed if your partner isn’t into it
"Not everybody responds the same way, and that's part of the fun,” he says. “Some people discover they love the sensation immediately, some folks need to sit with it. Others are gonna say, ‘Nope. Get the hell outta here with that.’”
3. Add it to what you already like
“Think of armpits as an addition rather than a replacement for something," Cusumano says. "They can fit into sensual play, D/s dynamics, body worship, bondage, vanilla oral stuff, the list goes on and on. The point isn't that everyone should be into armpits. I think it’s about discovering parts of yourself you haven't explored.”
4. Curiosity is key
“If you have an interest in armpits, I would encourage you stay curious and allow yourself to explore,” Stokes says. “You might want to start with acknowledging this curiosity within yourself and then share this with your partner(s). Next, you might want to explore with light touching and/or sensory experiences.”
5. Experiment with grooming
“Explore smells, either natural ones or with perfume or deodorant,” Roos says. “Experiment with different kinds of hair cuts. You can shave, save a little, grow a bush or cut different hairstyles.”
6. Don’t just use your tongue
“To enjoy the physical contact of an armpit, either to touch it with your hands, penetrate it with your penis, rub your clit against it, or lick it,” Roos recommends.
Sources cited:
Topher Cusumano is the cofounder of DaddyTV and a sex and sexual health writer who produces shows about queer sex and kink.
Dr. Michael Stokes is a sex therapist and men’s sexual health expert with Mister Health.
Sofie Roos is a bisexual licensed sexologist, relationship therapist and author at relationship magazine Passionerad.
