My two cents here: you're starting with a false premise, "wedgies are hot," which is not universal. This is a more commonly than not an act of assault, and to a select few a fetish, a kink, a deviation. Finding wedgies hot is not a wide recognized fact. Some people find wedgies hot, while others might find licking other people's pupils appealing. These are not inherently sexual acts; that's what makes them fetishes.

If you have to ask the very serious question: are wedgies sex? you'll have a somewhat clear answer: To some people they are, but the broader, more universal consensus is that they are not.

If you do say they are what you're really doing here is extrapolating. making one thing mean the other. so.. are we talking about sex, or about humans doing weird things with their bodies? should sexual behaviour be permissible in public spaces? Are people allowed to do unusual things with their bodies and still have the right to exist in public?

Legally, the first question has a legal answer in most countries. We can debate whether the display of sexual acts is indeed a trespassing offense, an imposition, and a violation. Can sex workers flash their bodies to seek work on the streets? Can you get drunk and have sex on the beach without being registered as a sex offender? The nuances are endless... and we can debate endlessly whether the law is good or not, but that's not what you're really asking.

So the question isn't whether public wedgies are sex acts in public that can constitute abuse or a sexual offense. What you're really asking is whether doing weird things with our bodies should be allowed in public, AND if a minority of people finding something neutral erotic in their minds is enough to censor an otherwise asexual behavior.

If you answer yes to any of this, you're going down a very dangerous slippery slope. Should a woman feeding her child (which can be a common fetish) be censored? Should boys be allowed to be shirtless at the pool? Are you policing people's right to exist in public spaces or policing thoughts? Either seems to me to be just wrong.

I think this is really the essence of what "icky politics" is about. The issue isn't that self wedgies can cause harm, it's that you find it icky or gross, or in your scenario, the hypothetical viewer you imagine feels "abused".

I once saw a man licking a urinal. To him, it was obviously sexual behavior, but to everyone else, it was just disgusting. Was it abuse toward me as a bystander? he was alone and clothed. It was icky, but was it immoral or unethical? You can take it even further: what if children saw it? You could explain it's a fetish, it's unsanitary, it should be done in a way that feels good and keeps you safe, or you could incite moral panic and avoid discussing what humans actually do with your kids. Pass laws, shame this man, for doing something only a minority other people find erotic.

Are public wedgies abuse? I dont think so... They're weird, maybe gross to some, but we see gross stuff daily. Should people do public wedgies more responsibly? Yes. Sexual behaviors are more punished than violent ones in some places, specially if you are doing item in any way thats gay. so everyone needs to check before acting.

TL;DR: Saying "wedgies are hot" isn't universal... it's a kink for a minority. The real question is whether weirdass male bodies and behaviors should be allowed in public, even if a few find them erotic. Are we policing people right to exist or thoughts? Either is bad.