Is Tickling Sexual?

[Zebra]

In light of recent comments made by Yaqi and others that have opposed/defended him, I ask this.

If tickling IS sexual, then is having a fetish sexual?

Isn't the first thing that most people think of is "that's a weird SEXUAL behavior" when someone says "fetish"?

 

[BigJim]

For most if not all of us here, tickling is VERY sexual. Nuff said.

 

[areenactor]

a couple of answers.

to me tickling is sexual, when practised with an adult member of the opposite sex.
other say tickling is never sexual to them, or only when they want it to be.
a fetish is an obsession with an object, or activity that the fetishist needs to incorporate in their sexual activities, in order to achive orgasm. so if tickling is a fetish for someone, then that person needs to have tickling going on during love making to orgasm.
i don't think that description fits most of us here.
steve

 

[The Pianist]

a fetish is an obsession with an object, or activity that the fetishist needs to incorporate in their sexual activities, in order to achive orgasm.

So what do you call it if you enjoy tickling both as fun and sexually... but not as a fetish?

 

[areenactor]

So what do you call it if you enjoy tickling both as fun and sexually... but not as a fetish?

i coined a term some time back; "ticklphile".

steve

 

[BigJim]

Re: a couple of answers.

to me tickling is sexual, when practised with an adult member of the opposite sex.
other say tickling is never sexual to them, or only when they want it to be.
a fetish is an obsession with an object, or activity that the fetishist needs to incorporate in their sexual activities, in order to achive orgasm. so if tickling is a fetish for someone, then that person needs to have tickling going on during love making to orgasm.
i don't think that description fits most of us here.
steve

Do you think it's possible to have a fetish for a particular body part, without the need to utilise it to orgasm? I think most people in the world would'nt have a "fetish" otherwise. Definatley more fun if incorporated into sex though; right Steve?

 

[Haltickling]

I don't think that any fetish must necessarily lead to orgasm. That's why such "obsessions" are also called parasexual behavior or paraphilia. Living out that "fetish" often results in emotions similar to sexual satisfaction, although no sexual contact or any physical "symptoms" of orgasm are involved. It's all in the mind, and some call it a "brain orgasm".

Sometimes, those "fetishists" can't get to orgasm at all, or they can't reach it in the absence of their "fetish". Then the sexual drive is "sublimated", the "fetish" substitutes the physical act of sex.

But more frequently, living out the "fetish" is just a powerful stimulation, leading to "real" (=physical) sex, either with a partner or by masturbation.

That's what I was told in my correspondence with a Scottish university professor who also researched the "neuro-psychological" side of tickling.

 

[BigJim]

Interesting stuff actually Hal. Does that prof. have any of his work published online? I know I'd be interested in reading it.

 

[TickleLee]

In the case of the people on this forum, i believe that tickling is a sexual fetish. On one level or another we all get aroused by either tickling, being tickled, or even just watching someone being tickled. I know people will write in and say I shouldn't generalize, but i'm tired of being so PC about everything around here. I like tickling because for whatever reason I get aroused. If i see a pretty girl, preferably a blonde like Sara or syddra or catharine beaumont, getting her feet tickled i become aroused and i generally do something about it while i'm watching the video, if you know what i mean. I think the only reason there is debate is because tickling, for the majority of people in this world is not sexual. It is just tickling, at most a childish prank. THe closest it gets to sexual for everyday people is that they might tickle a little as foreplay. But the act itself does not cause arousal.

Its not always sexual. For me it's completely non sexual unless I'm with someone I'm dating. I kinda take the perspective that one of Yaqi's girls had. It's a positive experience. I'm going to be tickled by two or three girls in the near future. I'm doing it because it's a bit like going skydiving. Just something I have to face and get through. Sort of like conquering fears.

Think of the endorphine rush that comes from a really creepy roller coaster or that comes from doing something really intense like skydiving. The 1st time I went skydiving I had an endorphine high that lasted a week. Tickling to the point of insanity I think could produce the same feeling of euphoria. For me that's where the interest lies (cuz I'm perpetually single).

But for some here (most maybe) it is a sexual experience. It's certainly DEVIANT behaviour in society. Some have it as a fetish in that they may need or prefer it to achieve an orgasm. A friend of mine here called me eccentric because I'm going to go through with a tickling after floundering on whether or not I wanted to do it. However the people I've found to volunteer as ticklers understand that this isn't a sexual thing for me. So, they are treating it as a non sexual thing. Just somethnig that's intended to blow my mind.

... and it will blow my mind...

 

[Haltickling]

Interesting stuff actually Hal. Does that prof. have any of his work published online? I know I'd be interested in reading it.

I found his homepage: http://forth.stir.ac.uk/~pmbc1/home.htm

Click on the hotlink "tickle", there you see one of his works. This one was published in German press, and that's how I came into contact with him.

Most of his research is on other topics, we only exchanged several snail-mail letters. I sent my "Tickle Encyclopedia" to him (available through MTJ Publishing: http://www.mtjpub.com/enovels/ ), and he told me that he uses part of it in his lectures...

 

[TickleLee]

I found his homepage: http://forth.stir.ac.uk/~pmbc1/home.htm

Click on the hotlink "tickle", there you see one of his works. This one was published in German press, and that's how I came into contact with him.

Most of his research is on other topics, we only exchanged several snail-mail letters. I sent my "Tickle Encyclopedia" to him (available through MTJ Publishing: http://www.mtjpub.com/enovels/ ), and he told me that he uses part of it in his lectures...

*GRIN* I tickle my rats... Mercilessly or at least until the squirm away. Then, they come slinking back for more in about 5 minutes.

 

[Texas_Tickle]

In light of recent comments made by Yaqi and others that have opposed/defended him, I ask this.

If tickling IS sexual, then is having a fetish sexual?

Isn't the first thing that most people think of is "that's a weird SEXUAL behavior" when someone says "fetish"?

It depends on the intent. A mother playfully tickling her daughter, for the most part (about 99.9% of the time) is completely innocent.

It's also used as fore-play between consenting adults.

So it can be both.

 

[thx10050]

Well, since tickling turns me on a great deal, I consider it sexual for me. But I believe it can go both ways. From the definition that Arenaactor gave though, it wouldn't be considered a fetish for me, as I don't need it for sex, considering I haven't had sex before.

 

[BigJim]

Thanks Hal, reading it now.

 

[Ayla ny]

DVNC’s kissing analogy covers it all for me. read it years ago and still use it today to keep things in perspective for myself.

kissing your children, friends and even your lover in public is a far cry from the kissing that goes on behind closed doors. same with tickling. they are all ways to show affection and are all wonderful.

what other ‘fetish’ is so diverse?

 

[TickledToDeath]

Tickling CAN be sexual and or sensual or it can be just plain fun OR it can be all of the above. No blanket Freudian response to this.
Although Sigmund would probably disagree.

TTD

 

[jordan]

It depends, we shouldn't fight over it though its opinion. No matter what someone on this site see's tickling as fun, I used to. Now though I look at it as something sexual.

I remembered I tickled my friend on her sides as playing around. She laughed and I saw it as fun, now that can still happen, but if its prolonged I get aroused by it.

 

[jordan]

I want to say one more thing, even on this site when sex and tickling run hand in hand, its still tough talking about sex. No one wants to say something bad that might get a black mark put on him. We all put certain things aside or looked at things differently when we joined. An example, uh... I never was into the whole Homosexual thing, but since I joined I see it as non of my buisness and even started to except that its there, even though my religion says differently. That's another thing religion, most of us have one, most of us beilive in God, and we have to except some don't. Hopefully no one is attacked for beiliving in God.

Well that's what I think.

 

[JPie1]

I definitely think it can be both depending on who your with, the mood and timing. It can be erotic, sensual and a total turn on, or it can be just plain fun.

 

[tommytikl]

Yeah what Ayla ny and JPie said...

I totally agree with Ayla ny and JPie's idea that tickling can be VERY erotic and VERY fun(playful)...seperately and at the same time...
indeed "what other ‘fetish’ is so diverse?"

 

[P50]

Is DVNC's kissing analogy written down (a disk on a server will be fine) for public reading ?

I think I may have a kissing fetish.

I also worry that I may have a fetish for intelligent, articulate women.

I'm also very concerned about a possible nice-speaking-voice fetish.

Another fetish I'm extremely worried about is good legs on a girl.

I also have an attitude fetish; general ideas about time, space, money, food, knowledge, social position, friendships, education, and various allocations of extant resources; when totaled up, these can really alter my attitude toward a woman (positively or negatively).

I also have a total-compatibility fetish. I won't even think about a serious relationship with a woman if she can't handle my total-compatibility fetish. It's extremely complex; you have to add up everything in a person; take the good and the bad; and then from all that you make one single decision about the girl. It's a weird fetish, I know, and I hope that no one else ever has to deal with such difficult conflicting psychological disjoints.

I also have a water fetish,,, I mean, I drink that stuff every single day of my life; and I mean <I> every </I> day.

Perhaps worst of all is my <I> AIR FETISH </I>. My air fetish hits me 24/7 and I mean non-stop. I never go 60 seconds without exercising my air fetish; usually it's every 10 seconds or so. I've been told that when I sleep, my air fetish is constant with almost no breaks. Physical exercise also sets off my air fetish.

 

[TickleLee]

That's another thing religion, most of us have one, most of us beilive in God, and we have to except some don't. Hopefully no one is attacked for beiliving in God.

Since I've brought up chastity here I felt it prudent to respond to this. I too have the religion thing. I've edited remarks about it out of many of my posts though. I've edited them out because although it is a part of my personality, I'm not prepared to discuss it electronically. Well, I'd discuss it in a chat session, but not via email or on a message board. That's how flame wars begin. If you want to see such flame wars, pay a visit to alt.religion.* on the unuseable usenet. It's a desolate wasteland of flames.

I want to make it clear that I don't judge or think differently of anyone for their sexual practices. My best friend in the world (T) is quite sexually active. However she understands my post mortis fears about being judgemental over it. Our friendship is VERY passionate and VERY intense because of this lack of judgement. We're even spending a night in a haunted plantation next month!

Those of you who have a religious background should be able to relate to why I don't do this. I've got enough problems without having the same measuring stick applied to me post mortis.

 

[areenactor]

Sometimes, those "fetishists" can't get to orgasm at all, or they can't reach it in the absence of their "fetish". Then the sexual drive is "sublimated", the "fetish" substitutes the physical act of sex.



That's what I was told in my correspondence with a Scottish university professor who also researched the "neuro-psychological" side of tickling. [/B][/QUOTE]

hi hal. you're going by what you were told by the professor. i posted what i said, based on my nursing training, where this did come in to our training, and in 3 psych. courses i took.
in the american medical comunity a fetish is concidered how i described it. the other conditions you mentioned, are just that, "other conditions", seperate from a true fetish. on the flip side of the coin, a patient can have multiple conditions over lapping. i'd venture that this is where the good professor is comming from.
an example: a true shoe fetishist has to be holding, fondling, etc., shoes during sex ,to achive climax. if denied the physical contact with the shoes, he will be unable to climax.
steve

 

[TickleLee]

http://www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod/ptoarticle/pto-19930701-000021.asp

Apparently the jury is out on what the actual definition of a fetish is now.

 

[Merseymidge]

For me, tickling, both in giving and receiving, is a sublime, magnificent sexual experience. That's why I'm here. Looking back at this thread, I think some people here are ashamed of their own sexual stimulation from tickling, and use flamboyantly embellished prose to hide that fact. Every thread in this discussions board emphasizes in no uncertain terms the sexual aspects of all of this, and to argue otherwise is silly.