One other negative use of fetish comes to mind as I read your interesting piece.

Sometimes we fetishize certain kinds of people. Like trans people or people of different races.

For example, in the gay male world, white guys who only or mostly get turned on by or want to have sex with Asian guys are called “rice queens.” They have a fetish for Asian men.

Guys who who fetishize trans women are often called “tranny chasers” or just “chasers.” (Note: “tranny” is highly offensive.)

What makes people call these strong attractions fetishes is that they often don’t depend on the three-dimensional value of a human being. They reduce a person to a minor part of their physical being.

So, I agree with you that we should not be ashamed of fetishes, while noting we should try hard not to fetishize people.