Okay but now just read my post replacing instances of the term fetish by paraphilia I guess? Is it still UTTER NONSENSE, or are there real fundamental differences between an orientation and a paraphilia, other than MAGNITUDE?
Um.
There is a pretty glaring difference between the two other than magnitude. Sexual orientation is about gender, paraphilia is a subset of that. It isn't different magnitutde, it's completely different. You can be a homosexual pedophile, or a heterosexual pedophile, or a bisexual pedophile, or a straight parthenophile or a straight foot fetishist etc. Sexual orientation is the gender of what sexually turns you on, paraphilia is what you can't be without sexually/involve non consenting people/caused marked stress or interpersonal difficulty (not classified by gender), and a fetish is basically a paraphilia that is not taken to the extreme level because it is done by consenting adults and are completely safe because of that (and generally your entire sexual life isn't based around it since it isn't taken to the extreme). (obviously this isn't the exact PSYCHOLOGICAL definition but I'm simplifying it for you.)
Example so you get it:
Heterosexual: Like the opposite sex sexually. (This is a sexual orientation. You will want nothing to do with men sexually.)
Paraphilia: Pedophilia. You have a desire or fantasize about having not consented sex with Children that will cause harm, stress, and interpersonal difficulty with the child. The type of child depends on your sexual orientation.
Fetish: Foot fetishism. You enjoy, desire, and fantasize having foot sex play of some kind with a consenting adult. What type of adult that is depends on your sexual orientation.
Paraphilia: Exhibitionism. You have a desire or fantasize about exposing one's genitals to an unsuspecting person. (Can also be the recurrent urge or behavior to perform sexual acts in a public place, or in view of unsuspecting persons.)
Paraphilia: Voyeurism. The recurrent urge or behavior to observe an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activities, or may not be sexual in nature at all.
Fetish: Pregnancy fetishism. You enjoy, desire, and fantasize about having sex play of some kind with a consenting pregnant adult.
Bisexual: Like both sexes sexually.
A ton of paraphilia's are illegal cause a shit ton of them involve non-consenting people (pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, Frotteurism, etc) , the rest because they harm another person (if done non-consensually). There are fetishes that are basically "safe" things of Paraphilia.
An example of that would be BDSM. There is a paraphilia for wanting people to hurt you (Sexual Masochism), and if you engage in this activity with a non-consenting adult, it is a paraphilia and is illegal. However, some people enjoy BDSM with consenting partners and use a secret word, and as such that is a fetish (also called Sexual Masochism) and that is legal because no one is really "getting hurt" since consenting people are doing it.
Sexual orientation and paraphilia's/fetishes are not close to the same at all in regards to what they are about. Yes, they are all related to what sexually excites you, but they are about as similar as a mango and an orange are: they're both fruits.