Preface: please excuse me for being a complete and total noob...I've always known about my WAM fetish but I'm completely new with regards to learning about it.

I'm genuinely interested in learning about the fetish which completely consumes me. I was hoping you all could teach me a bit about it. In the interest of not writing an essay, I'll just do bullet points .

Past
-Are there any historical documentations of this fetish? I know some others have appeared in artwork through the ages.
-Has the mainstream knowledge of WAM increased in recent years?

Present
-Does anyone have any stats about its prevalence or areas in which it is prevalent?
-How common is having a WAM fetish compared to other fetishes?

Future
-Do you see it becoming more mainstream in the near future?
-Are there any efforts currently going on to increase awareness?

Thanks

Personally, I think it will gradually become more accepted by the mainstream, in the near future.
As far as the past, I can't tell you much. I do know that female mud wrestling was done as far back as the Roman Empire! (I read part of a poem written from that period that mentions mud wrestling.) I imagine that guys from the early days tried to hide their fetish--or else, watched a lot of Three Stooges films!

You could start here:

http://umd.net/wiki

I recall there was another WAM faq on the UMD, but I can no longer find it. Anyone know where the content from the old WAM faq went?

There's a good site that has old WAM photos one it--mostly wetlook, but a few other things. Sadly, it hasn't been updated in several years. Anyway, here's the site:
http://www.vintagewet.com/

Thanks! Yeah, I read the site's Wiki when I first joined it. I'm amazed that there's stuff from that long ago!

Haha I'm just generally curious about the history/statistics/psychology/future of it all, really. I like understanding it in addition to enjoying it.

For a bit of history you might want to research Rob Blaine and the Messy Fun newsletter and videos. That was great stuff from somebody who dedicated much of his life to WAM. (And what a great job he had!!!).

I think it will become a tad more popular in the future, especially with the internet, but never massive.

The future of wam is on a path that I don't really like, and that is porn. There seems to be more nudity associated now, and maybe that's the way it was meant to be. It IS a sexual fetish to many folks.

Past - you might want to talk to Bill Shipton , who's on here and produced "Splosh " the first messy magazine.

Future - I hope does include more nudity

Thanks, everyone! I'll definitely have to contact/research those people.

I feel like if BDSM and other fetishes are becoming more well-known in a mainstream setting, then WAM can't be that far behind.

I agree, I don't like the fact that it's becoming hardcore--admittedly, just nudity doesn't bother me in the slightest--but the more mainstream it becomes, the more people may be open to it. Hell, I may even meet a girl who heard of it/is into it hahaha.