Smoking Fetish: Why Have a Cigarette After Sex?
Ever enjoyed a cigarette after sex? You’re not the only one. Smoking and sex have been bedfellows (excuse the pun) for decades, and the number of people with smoking fetishes increases year by year.
What’s the smoking fetish really about? Is it problematic? And what can make smoking so sexy?
What is a smoking fetish?
A smoking fetish is a sexual fetish (paraphilia) based on the act of inhaling tobacco, aka smoking, whether it’s cigarettes, cigars, cannabis, or even vapes.
The smoking fetish is also called capnolagnia, with the prefix “capno” coming from the Greek for smoke, and the suffix “lagnia” from the Greek meaning lust.
People who enjoy erotic smoking can experience sexual arousal or pleasure from watching people smoke, fantasising about people smoking, or involving smoking in sexual activity.
Why do some people find smoking so sexy?
The taboo
There are a whole range of reasons why people feel attracted to or aroused by seeing someone smoke. For starters? The taboo factor.
We all know that nicotine is bad and smoking causes harm to the health. Unfortunately, this is part of what can make smoking seem appealing because it becomes bad, reckless, rebellious…
It’s not uncommon for people with who enjoy a smoking sex to fantasise about an otherwise ‘innocent’ or ‘sweet’ person to smoke and become ‘the bad girl’.
In addition, to many, recklessness and impulsivity implies promiscuity and sexual adventurousness as well as self-confidence, which is stereotypically associated with masculinity. Unsurprisingly, the fact that smoking has been more taboo and less common in recent years has increased interest for smoking fetishists.
The ‘cool’ factor
Smoking has, for decades, been associated with rockstars, artists, and movie stars. We all remember the ‘cool kids’ who smoked at school and have seen the movie and music videos in which the most dangerous and sexy characters smoke. Not to mention smoking’s associations with advertising, models and high-fashion.
All these things have programmed into many of us the idea that smoking is fashionable and desirable.
The phallic object
Sexual connotations of smoking are evident when you picture the act itself. A cigarette sits in between the lips, is played around with the hands… In this sense, it emulates sex which can incite arousal.
And, of course, inhaling and exhaling smoke with puckered lips draws attention to this sensual part and act of the body.
Aesthetics and mannerisms
Some people find the physical action of smoking a catalyst for attraction.
How is smoking sex enjoyed?
Smoking fetishes can be enjoyed in a range of ways: looking at pictures of watching videos of people you find attractive smoking, reading stories, and having vivid sexual fantasies.
Many online fetish sites have been created where people actively share content of themselves and other people smoking.
Other smoking fetishes get sexual pleasure from watching their lover smoking in real life, or before or during sex. Or even smoking or having smoke blown in their face during sexual play.
The smoking fetish and BDSM
Because smoking is associated with rebelliousness and danger, it can easily slip into a BDSM dynamic and can be an easy part of performing a ‘bad girl/boy/person’ dynamic.
And because smoking is bad for you, persuading someone to smoke can be a sort of naughty BDSM punishment that a dominant can enjoy with their submissive partner.
Consensually ‘forcing’ your lover to smoke or putting a cigarette to their lips while they’re tied up in sexual play, or even consensually ‘using’ someone as a human ashtray can be a part of power play in a BDSM dynamic of erotic smoking.
Erotic smoking fetishism and safety
It’s no secret that smoking has serious health ramifications. People with an extreme smoking fetish might even have a ‘black lung fetish’, which can have damaging long-term effects.
Smoking sex is especially dangerous for anyone who is pregnant, nursing, has HIV or other health conditions, and being around someone who is smoking carries the dangers of second-hand smoke.
The smoking fetish is intriguing, complicated, and potentially harmful, but how it will evolve over time is yet to be determined. If you have a smoking fetish, remember to explore it safely and with awareness of the long-term effects.
