The XX Factor

Better Than Oiled, Bikini-Clad Ladies at a Truck Show?

On The Daily Beast Anneli Rufus delves into a pornographic trend supposedly capturing the hearts and loins of conservative rural menfolk : pedal-pumping. It seems like satire: combining the two great loves of the stereotypical redneck-a damsel in distress and a beat-up truck-into a lot of super foot-fetish-y videos of dainty lady feet pushing down on big, dirty gas pedals and revving the engine. Remember that Freakonomics blog post on the gender disparity of driving ? Put a man and a woman in a car together and the man is much more likely to insist on taking the wheel. Well, apparently there are many males who secretly don’t mind your foot on the pedal, as long as it’s bound in a 6-inch stiletto and struggling relentlessly with the gas.

In an attempt to explain the lure of the pedal-pusher fetish, Real Sex ’s Dr. Susan Block hilariously details what is maybe the most obvious sexual metaphor ever:

“The basic kinetic movement is a masturbatory motion: the muscles releasing and contracting as the foot rubs repetitively against a phallic symbol, which is the gas pedal. Men think of themselves as cars. The ‘vroom’ of the engine reminds them of their own libidos being revved up by this hot woman.”

Of course there are many variations on the genre-some like it hot, some like the A/C on, some like pink-polish toenails wrapped in ropy heels, while some like a dirt-smeared bare foot struggling with the gas. And how has this form of soft-core not gotten co-opted by a car commercial yet?

Photograph by Photodisc/Getty Images.