Why Do Some People Find Santa Sexy? (Santaphilia)

Do we all just love Christmas? I do! Scribing out your Christmas list before presenting it to old Santa as you sit on his lap and explain how you deserve to get what you want because you’ve been such a good girl or boy.

Well, sexual innuendo and cheeky overtones aside, these types of things likely form the basis of some of our most cherished childhood memories. But you may be surprised to hear that some adults have a less than healthy obsession with Santa Claus. That’s right, some people are so into Santa that it becomes an actual fetish: Santaphilia!

As you would have seen we have done a whole series on ‘unusual’ fetishes – such as Forniphilia for example, Santaphilia is pretty hard to define. It doesn’t appear in the journal of clinical psychology. While searching for a definition to put into this article, the closest thing we could use was a few lines from the ever-popular and credible Urban Dictionary. It describes Santaphilia as the following:

“An unhealthy obsession for Santa Claus. It can also turn into a sexual obsession/fetish.”

Urban Dictionary

While this fetish might seem unusual, there is evidence to suggest that there are definitely some kinky folks out there who do feel a certain level of physical sexual attraction to Father Christmas! Yep – it’s true. There is clearly something about an overweight, ageing guy with a jolly laugh and big white beard that just gets people hot under the collar. 

Santa is sexy

So as with everything, there has been a study this study actually found that Santa is a secret fantasy for 20% of women! This study was conducted by a site called benaughty.com, so it does stand to reason that the types of people taking the survey were probably a little more inclined to be kinky or otherwise non-mainstream. But that doesn’t change the fact that the research revealed that of more than 1000 women who were asked whether they find the jolly, mythical figure attractive, 20% said yes!

The survey also revealed:

• In total, 12,102 female  members were surveyed through the website in Dec 08 and were asked ‘Do you find Santa Claus fanciable or sexy?’
• 11,009 male and female members were also surveyed through the website in Dec 08 and were asked ‘Have you ever dressed in a Santa Claus or Mrs. Santa Claus outfit in the bedroom?
• The survey also revealed that one in 16 (6%) men had, at one time or another, dressed up as Santa Claus in the bedroom.
• Men from Cardiff (UK) were the most prolific – more than one in 10 (11%) said they had dressed as Santa for their partner. 

On top of that, 10% admitted to dressing up as Santa themselves in the bedroom. You only need to look at the popularity of sexy Santa outfits to see that this particular kink is not anything out of the ordinary.

Why do people find Santa sexy?

So, why is it that people, women specifically, can end up developing a sexual fascination with jolly old Santa?

The answer is likely very complicated. It could be the fact that he brings presents! After all, who doesn’t like gifts?  Or it could be the fact that he smiles and laughs a lot, and is obviously kind and has a friendly nature. You feel comfortable with him. You feel at ease.

It might even be down to the fact that he is, essentially, a guy in uniform. 48 per cent of people have reported having fantasized about someone in uniform before. But simply wearing a costume and bringing people presents doesn’t automatically turn someone into an object of sexual desire. So, what other reasons could be causing people to be attracted to Santa? What, exactly, makes Santa so sexy?

Santa is a father figure

There is also the theory that some people may find Santa sexually attractive because he embodies a lot of the elements that traditional father figures do. In most accounts he is described as having a kind and nurturing personality, bringing joy and protection to children.

This idea is backed up by Debra Walsh from Instant Counselling, She believes this could all go back to childhood memories manifesting deep within:

“This perception of Santa being a ‘father figure’, representing warmth and security is a big attraction to certain people, believes Debra. And for everybody who doesn’t have “daddy issues”, Debra claims that the fetish is purely because Santa is “mythical, unobtainable figure whom they have projected their sexual fantasies towards.”

Debra Walsh from Instant Counselling

Santa ignites our inner submissive

The fact that Santa is an authority figure – requiring us to ‘play nice’ in order to get what we want might be something that appeals to the latent submissive inside all of us – and could go some way toward explaining why some of us find him so arousing. 

This article on warpedspeed delved a little further into the idea of sexy Santa, and why we may have Santa fetishes. The article touched upon the Santa fetishes of different users of the fetish website FetLife, and research conducted among its userbase.

It showed that: “People enjoyed the concepts of tickling, meeting strangers, and sitting on someone’s lap without wearing underwear, all things that Santa can provide. One group in particular shed some light on this unusual fantasy. The group called “Getting a Spanking from Santa Claus” allowed for dozens of people to explore their fantasy.”

warpedspeed

Santa is the perfect dominant

He’s both kind, and formidable – a jolly father figure, and also a big bad daddy. He’s the “ultimate dom“.

We can’t hide anything from Santa because he carefully watches us every minute of the day although the threat of being on his naughty list is ever-present and terrifying, we always end up getting rewarded handsomely in the end. Santa is the perfect mix of hyper-masculine authority and nurturing, empathetic provider.