What even is vore?

[Mecho]

So me and my BFF was having this rather interesting discusion some days ago. And it got me thinking...
I have noticed that many voraraphiles (Including myself) is seeing vore as something pretty important. Like some sort of deep interest that have a huge part in our lives. Think about it, many of us are very dedicated to this. (Not all of course)

The thing is, I like many things on a sexual level. One of many kinks for axemple is tentacles and hentai. But there is a huge difference between those and vore. When it comes to this hentai/tentacle interest i'm only interested when i'm really aroused. And efter the big O the interest just drops and I go on with the day not thinking about it again. It's just "Fap and move on" But vore is always interesting and it's like it have a deep place in my heart. It's not only sexual. There is so much more about it. It's almost like a hobby.

I got one theory and that is that many voraraphils seem to have liked vore almost all their lives. So when we were kids, maybe it was just a very strong interest, something that seemed fashinating and then the puberty hit. Making it sexual also. So this two things merged into one. Both the good old fashination AND the puberty-sexy-time part. And I have noticed that many of us are autistic, and autistic people are more likely to become really into things. Dedicated about them. And autistic people seems to be calmed by rather vorish stuff (Such as sqeezing, wrapping yourself into blanckets, heck, there is even heavy quilts suited for autistic people) and maybe that is what got us into vore in the first place?

But really. IDEK, all of those are just wild speculations.
What do you guys think? How important is vore for you? How much of an impact does it have in your life?

[Tebomas]

Always interesting how this sort of meta-level of thinking about our fetish seems to pop up. I can't add too much except to serve as a counter example to some points.

I found vore stories and images in my childhood truly abhorrent. Like the story of Litte Red Hood, a character in a cartoon getting eaten in a dream sequence or a Halloween Special (looking at you Simpsons), or the character in a game dies by getting swallowed.
It didn't get better as I got aroused while finding a vore video with a giantess. I enjoyed it, and kept looking for this "vore" stuff, and I enjoyed masturbating to it - but the first few times I felt sick and nearly like I need to vomit.

By now I love that stuff, have RPed a whole lot and recently started posting my own vore creations. And here and there I fantasize about it IRL, with people I see (both as pred or prey).
BUT outside the "fantasy" version I don't feel any better about the non-sexual, meant-to-be-taken-serious content. Of course I don't have any ill-will towards folks who enjoy this stuff - otherwise I wouldn't be here having some fun chatting.

[Birichino]

Well, that answer will vary per person, because "vore" isn't actually one thing. There are many different preferences, and in broad strokes, those could be tied to different reasons for liking vore, but even within the same categories, vore can be different things, and the things it can be can have varying value to people.

For example, the majority of people into vore are into it sexually, making it a paraphilia. I'm making assumptions, but let's also say that they're still normally sexual. At that point, vore isn't special vs. bondage, hypnotism, or perhaps even a simple foot or breast fetish. It's at the level of a kink, where its addition improves sexual concepts.

Other people may be asexual, but still aroused by vore, at which point it then comprises the majority of their sexual identity. Now vore has as much value to those people as sex does to regular people. Still no major social changes, but probably some psychological biases derived from it and a much greater investment in general.

Some people are also fascinated by vore, but sexually netural about it. It can be a hobby, like writing, or there can be some kind of passion around it, so it's hard to gauge its influence at that point, but it could even be more important to these people than the asexuals, even if it's hard to outweigh sex.

Getting into why, vore can be about taking or providing comfort, or the exact opposite in masochism or sadism. Closely related it is connection with power, as many fetishes have. It can be the idea of absolution, or of seizing power one doesn't have. Escapism is applicable, in any case. And again, there is just the hobbyist approach, where it's fun to create and design things within certain parameters or to certain ends.

[Gaylien]

Vore for me is tricky. I too have been intrigued by it since childhood, but I am very shy about it and will not bring it up to anyone IRL. I'm pretty sure I won't unless I find someone who is open about it (not happening anytime soon, I don't feel ready for a relationship). It's both sexual and non-sexual to me in a weird way. I like the observer role but once in a blue moon picture being prey. Something I began noticing awhile back is how appealing monster preds are. Like, not ones that I usually see, but some that look like something right out of Spore. The thought feels comforting in a way. A way to escape reality, y'know? I have had some traumatic experiences and vore is something that helps me cope.

As for autistic folks and vore, I never thought of it that way (I am autistic myself). I always wonder if hyper-sensitivity is what affects my libido, but nobody seems comfortable talking about sex and autism in the same sentence. My conclusion is yes, but it is hard finding sources because the conversation around autism is mostly about autistic children. But about the comfort objects, those I personally don't connect to vore. It helps me when I get overstimulated in the same way rocking or using a fidget object does. However, that's just how I see it and I am a bit of a hermit online and IRL.

[Tangentg]

I don't really think I consider it important, but personally vore is kinda the only thing (except you could argue, tongues) that I like sexually. I'm not turned on by sex (there are some specific exceptions but still not conventional sex and more just naughty stuff rather) and I know a good number of other vorarephiles who don't like sex so I think it may be seen as important in the sexual sense as it is the only thing that is sexually appealing to some of us.

The point about fascination is interesting though, since I was very small I had been fascinated by tongues although I had no sexual feelings for it until at the end of primary school when someone started licking lips often which spread like wildfire and everyone followed that I started to naturally imagine they were secretly giants and giantesses looking for food and just shrunk themselves to human size. So I've been into vore "naturally" for as long as I have found anything sexually appealing. So I had no idea what vore was, that it was a "kink" and that it was not something everyone universally found appealing. So if anyone has similar experiences then I could also see how that could be seen as important.

[cranberryknights1]

It's pretty important to me sense I have been into it my entire life. It is also how my GF and I met and connected as friends before dating with vore being a interest we shared. As for how it impact's my entire life it is mostly just a hidden hobbit or side of myself that most people don't see or get to ever really know. I think about it all the time through out my day as I day dream or imagine things constantly but I don't really have a outlet for it besides with my GF or online so I keep quiet about my thoughts and blend in with the rest of the world around me when I am at work or with family. Vore is definitely more than just sexual to me as I feel its a expression of intimacy and empathy in most cases when it comes to my fantasies where myself is swallowed and when I am a observer I see it more as a alternative resolution to conflict or disagreements between two characters in a more comical or light hearted fashion rather than things being violent or malicious.

[Doku]

Not especially important. It's something I pleasure myself to and appreciate when the mood strikes, but it's antecedent to my actual kinks.

[AcidGhost]

I would say it has had a pretty big impact on me. Even though I've not really been active in a community surrounding it, I've known I liked the idea from a young age, and when I hit puberty and eventually found out it is an actual thing, I developed more of a sexual interest for it. "Normal" porn never really interested me much, so vore has been what I've looked for in the place. I keep this fact secret to most people outside of here, but it's undeniable that it's a pretty big part of me and how I think.

[157and493]

The reason that vore is such a large part of my life is because it makes up the entirety of my sexual identity. Vore is the only thing that I can respond to sexually and subsequently it has a large impact on my life.

Truthfully, sex or things that elicit sexual thoughts in general are a huge part of human society, we see it in advertising, entertainment, art, and many other mediums.
Humans supposedly think about sex as often as they think about eating or sleeping, now just replace “sex” with “vore” and you get the idea about how I and probably many other people feel.

[Mecho]

Interesting. I can also relate to the "vore is the only thing that keeps me going" but how come that vore seems to take over, almost over write ones "normal" sexuality?

[Devourerita]

As an asexual, vore is the only way to experience anything sexual, and it's always been this way for me. So vore didn't overrun my sexuality, it just became it since I don't have anything else

[Birichino]

The autism is an interesting note. I didn't expect it to be fixation, but the only other thing that could explain the connection is a desire to be "held," like the weighted blankets serve, and that doesn't seem to mesh with the more violent types of vore. For it sort of eclipsing normal sexuality for people who have one, I'd guess that it's just more interesting and rare. Normal sex is everywhere and the desire for it is heavily catered to already.

Vore is mostly just a hinderance IRL. I get uncomfortable seeing the mouths or stomachs of people I don't find attractive, and focus a little more on those of people I do, but I don't really fantasize about real people, or experience attraction based on metrics tied to vore.

[sabrina_diamond]

Interesting theory, I like it and it certainly explains a lot!

[EnderDracolich]

What do you guys think? How important is vore for you? How much of an impact does it have in your life?

It plays a major role in my art, my recreation, my writing, and most other aspects of my life.

[fixated1]

It's a good analysis. Everyone's contributions are also very interesting. It's like reading a Kinsey report in a way.

As for me, I've always been intrigued by it. I have memories as far back as 4 or 5 where I was obsessing over a cartoon where Mickey mouse gets eaten by a giant or a children's book about Jonah and the whale.

As for now, I find it ebbs and flows. Sometimes it's taking over and I can't get aroused by anything else. Sometimes I'm just not that interested in it. Usually that happens when I'm in a sexually satisfying relationship. But it always comes back and I think about it daily.

I find it really interesting that it can have such a broad range of meaning to different people, and that it can take so many forms. That throws me off though. It's like trying to describe a shape shifter. Anything that pins it down and defines it leaves out aspects and gets less accurate.

One thing I have heard was from a girlfriend I confided in. She did some studying and I think found some research that postulated that it could result from not getting attention or feeling lonely as a child. I certainly had that, as I grew up in an extremely rural area. We're talking no neighbors. Not just far down the road neighbors. We were the only house on a miles long road with no one in sight in all directions.

I'm sure though that there are people here that grew up in different settings though.

[Tangentg]

As an asexual, vore is the only way to experience anything sexual, and it's always been this way for me. So vore didn't overrun my sexuality, it just became it since I don't have anything else

This, but grey-asexual here. Although considering I know a good number of vore friends who are ace, I'm not sure if vore and "normal sex" have anything that pulls your sexuality in one direction. Granted I've also met people who enjoy sex and vore so perhaps that's not the case.