Definition

1. Verb:
   • To treat or regard something with excessive, irrational, or obsessive devotion or reverence, often attributing to it a power or importance it does not inherently possess.
   • To make an object, concept, or part of the body the focus of one's sexual desire in an obsessive or compulsive manner.

Usage

The verb "fetishize" describes the act of assigning an exaggerated, often unhealthy, level of significance or erotic attention to something. It is commonly used in social, cultural, and psychological contexts to critique the over-idealization of objects, traits, or ideas.

Examples

• General/Cultural Context:
  • Some critics argue that modern society tends to fetishize productivity, equating busyness with worth.
  • The film warns against the danger of fetishizing the past, portraying it as a perfect era.
• Psychological/Sexual Context:
  • The article discussed how certain media can fetishize specific body types.
  • He realized he had begun to fetishize her kindness, seeing it as her only valuable trait.

Advanced Usage

• "Fetishizing the exotic": Refers to the problematic practice of obsessively romanticizing or desiring cultures, places, or people perceived as foreign or "other."
  • The travel writing was criticized for fetishizing the exotic, reducing a complex culture to a simplistic fantasy.
• "Fetishizing suffering": Describes the act of glorifying or obsessively focusing on pain or hardship, often to the point of dismissing other aspects of experience.
  • The artist rejected narratives that fetishize suffering, seeking instead to portray resilience and joy.

Variants and Related Words

• Fetish (n): An object, body part, or activity that is regarded with irrational reverence or is the necessary focus of sexual desire.
  • In anthropology, a fetish can be an object believed to have magical power.
• Fetishization (n): The process or result of fetishizing.
  • The fetishization of youth is a common theme in advertising.
• Fetishistic (adj): Characterized by or relating to fetishism.
  • His collection had a fetishistic quality, with every item meticulously cataloged.

Synonyms

• Idolize: To admire or revere someone or something intensely, often to an excessive degree.
• Glorify: To represent something as admirable, especially unjustifiably.
• Obsess over: To preoccupy or fill the mind continually and to a troubling extent.

Antonyms

• Disregard: To pay no attention to; ignore.
• Normalize: To treat as normal or commonplace.
• Devalue: To reduce or underestimate the worth or importance of.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Commodity fetishism: A Marxist concept where social relationships are mediated by and perceived through the relationships between commodities (objects for trade).
  • The lecture explained how commodity fetishism makes us value the price tag over the labor behind a product.
• Fetishize authenticity: To obsess over the idea of something being "genuine" or "original" in a way that is often unrealistic or exclusionary.
  • The food critic warned against the trend to fetishize authenticity, arguing that all cuisines evolve.

Verb

1. make a fetish of