[Discussion]
Just for background information, my brother-in-law, who I've had a falling out with for partially this reason but also many others, believes that all ASMR is a fetish and that it is always weird, creepy, and inappropriate to talk about out loud. Back when we were still talking, he ended the discussion in a very manipulative way by saying "the more you try to argue it, the more you seem to be on the fetish side of things." This accomplished two things for him: naturally, since he had both misconceptions about ASMR and about what constitutes a fetish and when something is a fetish, it put me on the defensive and made me feel the need to explain why he is wrong. However, by saying what he said, it made me feel like I needed to shut down the conversation to avoid being grouped in with people who utilize ASMR in a way that I don't. At the same time, since it forced me to stop talking about it, he "wins" the conversation and is "right" by default.
I also found out that my sister is also uncomfortable with me bringing up watching ASMR too, but not in as extreme of a way as he is. She doesn't think it all falls under the category of a "fetish," but says that ASMR roleplay videos is specifically what she doesn't like because it constantly pops up on her TikTok and just "isn't her vibe." Okay, I also cannot fill the gap between something not personally being your vibe and you finding it weird, creepy, and inappropriate to talk about. They also both didn't just stop at saying it made them feel uncomfortable, but both appealed to society and claimed that society finds it uncomfortable.
To be clear, I only watch YouTube ASMR, I prefer roleplay/personal attention videos, but it's totally non-sexual to me, so cannot be a fetish since there's no sexual reason I'm watching it. Also, I've asked real-life friends and family members what they thought about it being discussed, and they had no problem with it.
Have you run into this issue personally, either in real life or online, where people have issues with you even discussing ASMR due to misconceptions like this? If so, what are the reasons that ASMR in general have this stigma, and how common would you say that it is? I never had any issues with discussing it until I came across my sister and brother-in-law, which my brother-in-law telling me off about talking about it and other things, and telling me that I'm making people uncomfortable by talking about it (which I found out just meant him and my sister). Any clarity on this issue would be much appreciated. Thank you.
