I love this thread and really appreciate the question, itsjustaride. Like porcelaindoll2 said, I think for the most part I was born this way and that certain environmental stimuli (ie. cartoons) reinforced aka 'fueld' what was already solidifying in my brain. While not directly tickling related, my first memory of being attracted to female feet was in my church daycare probably around 3 or 4 years old. I just remember being enthralled with one of the ladies dangling her high heels in front of me while I played with trucks. I just kept scooting closer and closer to her to get a better view of her feet. I must have watched her dangle those heels for many minutes before she noticed me. I think she just made some comment of 'How cute' kind of a thing. There were then snippets of tickling featured in Sesame Street episodes I'd watch. Various cartoons would have tickling included in their plots. Magic shows would have a beautiful woman tickled on her feet before and after she was sawed in half in those boxes. All of it gave me very surprising, very much not knowing what to do with it, raging erections even as a young 4-5 year old. I'd have to excuse myself from the room while watching the television and go into the bathroom until my erection went away. It was scary and exciting at the same time. At nearly 5 decades here on this planet, I've come to embrace this part of my sexuality as it most assuredly is very erotic and very sexual to me; both my foot and tickle fetishes. Sometimes I wish it wasn't so sexual, but I can't deny that it is. I am a work in progress as are all of us. Everyday I try to accept myself for who I am and not get too worked up over who I am not, or what I don't have. I am learning to practice kindness toward myself first and then to others. It is a difficult journey this life we live. In many ways, I am coming to believe that these fetishes I have for women's feet and tickling are a real blessing and something to truly embrace. We are all human and we are all attracted sexually to certain things. Some are considered strange, some normal. We as a society decide which. The more the internet reaches places on our planet that haven't been reached I think we'll learn that these fetishes are actually quite common and nothing to be ashamed of. It's just shades of an erotic spectrum. That's how I'm viewing it anyway right now. To bring it back to the origin question, I think there are many great evolutionary advantages to people who find others feet attractive and want to tickle them. I think it's very possible that there are suites of genes that can be traced back to our earliest human ancestors who had people in the tribe with these proclivities. They may have been revered as important members of the tribe who pay attention to a very important part of our bodies and provide necessary breaks from seriousness giving laughter to other members of the tribe.
I imagine these skills would have been valued early on in a world where maybe laughter and foot care wasn't prioritized. We're all human and we all get turned on sexually by something. In the grand scheme of things isn't getting turned on by a woman's foot and wanting to tickle those same feet a really wonderful way to give pleasure to another woman who may also find that attractive? With 7 billion of us and growing on this planet, I think there are just infinite possibilities for all of us here with these fetishes for feet, tickling, bellybuttons, breasts, you name it, to find others who are as into or at least curious about these fetishes. I think with the internet in general and this forum in particular we live in a wonderful time to connect with each other. My spouse, while not as into tickling as I am, certainly appreciates the fact that I love to give her foot massages, suck her toes, and lightly tickle her soles from time to time. Giving pleasure to another is one of life's most beautiful experiences. Foot fetishism and tickle fetishism definitely play a role in that pleasure giving. It's not to me any stretch to think that even some of our earliest human ancestors had penchants for foot tickling and foot worship. It helped our species survive and thrive. Again, we should feel proud of our attraction to these fetishes. Thanks for reading these thoughts. Interested to keep the discussion going.
Kindly,
TLM
https://thelaughtermechanic.wordpress.com
My latest Kindle eBook, 'The Ticklish Threesome' is now available on Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.com/Ticklish-Thr...easurable-laughter-filled-ebook/dp/B082YBVVM9