Orange Sherbet and Jessica Rabbit

by Shaindel Beers

Sherman had been too nervous to talk about his real reason for coming until his third session with Dr. Avery, and considering the apparent deviance of some of her patients whose case studies he had read when looking for a therapist, he knew his dysfunction would hardly be surprising. “It’s not unusual at all for someone to fixate on something non-sexual but to become aroused by it based on a previous experience with the stimuli.” She leaned forward — “Do you know where foot fetishes come from? A baby boy is crawling, his genitals are stimulated by the friction with the floor, and all the while he is seeing feet. So, I am guessing, based on what you told me is that Jessica Rabbit aroused you — I mean, you couldn’t help it — she was drawn that way. And just then, at the moment of your first sexual awakening, your mother brought you an orange sherbet push-up.”

6S - C2

Shaindel Beers, author of The Naming, is a Professor of English at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon, and has taught at colleges and universities in Illinois and Florida.