Jen,

As an emetophobe, I'm very disgusted by seeing vomit and the thought of vomiting myself is extremely terrifying. I would not want to be around anyone vomiting where there is a possibility of me catching something or where the vomit could not be easily contained and flushed away.

As an emetophile, I'm aroused not by the vomit itself but by someone attractive vomiting. For an emetophile, vomiting is something rare and beautiful to behold. It's a symphony of body actions. Emetophobia feeds emetophilia. A big part of the reason we're emetophile is that when we were at that formative age, vomiting was something forbidden or dangerous. It aroused powerful emotions in our emetophobe selves just to talk about it or read about it or even think about it. I've seen it said (here?) that 2/3 of emetophiles are emetophobes. The poll on this page shows that between 1/10 and 1/5 of emetophobes are emetophiles.

Emetophiles know that for most of the people we fantasize about vomiting and watch videos of vomiting, that is just a normal everyday act for them. For people who post videos of themselves vomiting on youtube, it is about the same as getting a cut knee is for us. It's no big deal for us to bandage a cut knee in public. But for people with a blood or knee-scrape phobia, doing so would be like vomiting is for us emetophobes.

Emetophobes have more in common with emetophiles than most want to admit. Who here didn't get excited talking about vomiting with other children at that age? Who here doesn't spend an awful lot of time talking about vomiting and thinking about vomiting and writing about vomiting? Emetophiles are just like that, only they use some of the energy they get from it to pleasure themselves rather than to stir anxiety and fear.

Understand it the way emetophiles learned it: Picture someone you think is very, very attractive about to vomit. There is no danger of you catching it or getting any of it on you. What would you do? How would you feel? Would you want to hold their hair back? Would you want to help by getting mouthwash ready? Would you be excited to hear them tell you what it was like afterward? What would they be wearing? Nothing? Would they be grateful to you for being there to help? Don't forget it's just a fantasy. No one is vomiting or experiencing any pain for real.

Something I notice about this poll, different from most, it that people feel a need to emphatically post "NO!" in a reply after voting. I think they protest too much. I think when reading this topic they're seeing their own emetophobe obsessions in the messages by the emetophiles.

Most emetophiles are emetophobes too and we need support just like non-emetophile emets.