Belle Delphine, a 20-year-old gamer girl and cosplayer, went viral last year for selling her bathwater in adorable jars priced at $30 a jar. After making money off many dutiful, horny patrons, she’s back online, fresh with new NSFW content and an OnlyFans page. How did used bathwater, valued at $30 (almost INR 2300) actually sell?
Wanting to buy bathwater is entwined in sexual kink and internet ‘simping,’ or the online showcase of male subservience to beautiful women. The kink in question? Mysophilia, defined as a sexual interest in having contact with dirty objects or wanting to be unclean. It is considered a part of paraphilia, or a set of abnormal or extreme sexual activities.
Related on The Swaddle:
The Psychology of Sexual Kink
Mysophilia as a kink is often looked down upon, and the people who own up to having this kink are socially rejected due to its strong associations with dirt and filth. Plus, mysophilia may also raise concerns around a lack of sanitation and resultant illness. According to analysis by Dr. Benjamin Karpman, a psychiatrist, mysophilia involves a symbolic association of sex with filth, so that any guilt associated with sexual intercourse can be washed away.
However, mysophilia is not a psychiatric illness or a deviance that requires treatment, and many individuals lead extremely content and exciting sexual lives with mysophilic kinks. Individuals are only encouraged to seek treatment if situations become harmful for both the individual and the people surrounding them. As of now there exists a niche industry centered on mysophilia, with women selling used underwear, socks, and other products for as much as $100 (almost INR 7500).
As for Delphine, the fanfare/furore over her bathwater cemented her as a meme, encompassing the absurdity of both ‘regular’ people attempting to understand sexual deviancy, and as a form of high praise, joining the likes of begging celebrities to kill you. What a time to be alive.
