Do “Soupeurs” exist?

Question

I was chatting with some friends and the topic of the “Soupeur” came up. Apparently this is a word used in France to describe the practice of — and I quote:

“…a sexual practice involving attraction to other male secretions, specifically bread soaked in urine, or semen.”

Now, as shocking as that sounds, it sounds like urban legend nonsense to me because the only references I can find — which are all linked to on that Wikipedia page — are all based within fictional works and nothing that could be considered non-fiction or historical in nature.

Additionally, all references I have found are strictly connected to French culture with no equivalents found in other cultures in Europe or elsewhere. One such literary reference comes from Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s book Death on Credit (1936):

“There were fairies still too green for the Bois… One of them came around every day, his specialty was the urinals and especially the crusts of bread soaking in the drains... He told us his adventures… He knew an old Jew who loved the stuff, a butcher on the rue des Archives… They’d go and eat it together… One day they got caught…”

To me, the fact that only literary references — such as the one above — exist seems odd from basic a sociological standpoint: As odd as that practice seems, there should be other references in other cultures, right? Fetishes and behavior are often not contained by political borders, right? Unless this is some weird literary trope focused purely on othering French culture for some reason; political or otherwise.

So do “Soupeurs” exist?

Answer 1

Yes.

This has its own ICD-10 code with F65.8, if it is based on sexual pleasure. But there are other reasons given for such practices. Most often some 'health' or 'spiritual' claim. But those are also often found interwoven and not easily separated.

Under that ICD number we find grouped a lot of really ancient practices 'diagnosed' as some sort of paraphilia, like urophagia urolagnia and spermophagia.

Thus, the French slang term 'soupeur' is just a distraction when searching for such practices in other languages. Like in English you see watersports, snowballing, felching, renifleurism, undinism, and ondinisme etc.

The recently made French BDSM movie "Soupeur de Tasse" apparently found an audience in Munich. From its desription:

Haunted by the location’s sexual vibe, by the age-old yellow-stained tiling on the wall, Jean-Pierre has not faked it. He fully assumed his role and let his urine peacefully soak the bread. – An homage to the literature of a bygone era as to the great taste of a French baguette.

— Théodore B. Ferréol: "Les Soupeurs : Psychologie des Voleurs D’urine", Tryangle, 26 Septembre 2013.

— Garth Mundinger-Klow : "The Golden Fetish: Case Histories in the Wild World of Watersports", 2009.

— Raymond Denson: "Undinism: The Fetishization of Urine", The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 27, Issue 4, 1982.

Another example for such practices would then be non-French people like Aleister Crowley, or this Belgian scandalist:

— Marco Pasi: "The Knight Of Spermatophagy: Penetrating The Mysteries Of Georges Le Clément De Saint-Marcq*", in: Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Jeffrey J. Kripal (eds): "Hidden Intercourse. Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism", Brill: Leiden, Boston, 2008.