Why Are We Fixated On Authenticity of Ticklishness?

I see so many debates on this forum about models/people faking ticklishness. I’ve personally even questioned whether or not people in my own life were faking or exaggerating ticklishness. There’s no doubt this is a recurring theme in this forum.

Ultimately, the real question is, why? Why are most all of us concerned with authenticity of someone’s ticklishness?

I have been wondering this forever. Every time I see a thread about someone questioning another person's ticklishness, I am just astounded on why it means THAT much to them. Unless they are actually tickling that person, you can't tell just by videos. Is it possible some folks will fake it? Of course. But this unhealthy obsession to the point they can't enjoy a tickling video because they perceive a model faking ticklishness just stumps me.

Enjoy the fantasy folks. You think all the orgasms in normal porn are real? Just go along for the ride....

I would love to hear a rational explanation on why the authenticity of ticklishness means the world for people.

(Felicity's 'lee bf here)
Personally, when I'm being tickled, it's more fun if I'm laughing. I want to laugh. That's the whole point right?!
I find that I get a bit of a snowball effect with laughter. If I start off laughing, even at something that I don't find 'super' ticklish, then it will build and develop into a more genuine laughter reaction, where spots will naturally become more ticklish.
So I guess at first, a bit of what some people might call 'fake' laughter will become a more genuine response.

FelicityTickles said:

(Felicity's 'lee bf here)
Personally, when I'm being tickled, it's more fun if I'm laughing. I want to laugh. That's the whole point right?!
I find that I get a bit of a snowball effect with laughter. If I start off laughing, even at something that I don't find 'super' ticklish, then it will build and develop into a more genuine laughter reaction, where spots will naturally become more ticklish.
So I guess at first, a bit of what some people might call 'fake' laughter will become a more genuine response.

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I guess in answer to the question, we want to see a glimpse into something real. Tickling is seen as some sort of uncontrolable reflex reaction to certain sensations, and that is what we want to see. If there is a perception of it not being a completely natural reaction then we can feel cheated, and lied too. As if our desires are being manipulated. We refer to tickle "models" and not "stars" or "actors", as if the concept of them performing a role for money is somehow taboo. The reality is that not everyone is deathly, bucking-bronco ticklish, and not every session involves somebody getting tickled "out-of their mind". If we accept that, then maybe we will be more satisfied with the results that come from professional videos, even if they are hamming it up a bit.

I guess in the context of clips, especially those produced my studios that rightfully charge money for them, there might be a sense of being swindled in a way. After all, people bought them to watch a tickling situation and realizing that some models might be faking ticklishness (or laughter, everyone's response to tickling is different after all) probably rubs some people the wrong way. Mind you I'm just commenting on what I think the reason for this discussion is, not if it's valid.

Also, a lot of people are probably tickle-deprived with the pandemic and all, so they turn to tickling videos to at least take the edge off their crave. Authenticity becomes a bigger factor now since those mediums have to replace the real thing.

Felicity hit the nail on the head. We have an expectation of people being ticklish, and if they are thrashing around and screaming with laughter, we feel duped knowing that it may not really be happening at all, or at least not to that degree. Also, I feel pretty confident knowing when a model is faking it, or is at least going way over the top, and that’s really annoying. I’d rather watch a video of a woman having authentic, milder reactions than someone screaming and squirming for no reason. The game of a tickler trying to break someone from a few minutes of giggles, twitches and desperate smirks into a full blown laughing attack is a blast!

I don't say much here, but this is a time where I sort of feel like I should.* Fake videos do bother me for a number of reasons.**
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First, I'd like to say that I watch videos like a lot of people here, but I try to stay in touch with reality and work towards overcoming my struggles.* You can't let the accessibility of these videos make up for trying to deal with life's struggles or how you feel about yourself.* A lot of people here seen to have, which is why many companies have always just put out any old thing, because it doesn't make a difference what they give us, it's not changing who we are whether it's good or bad.* Many people will just lower their standards.* So whether you're looking at something fake or not, you have to keep honest with yourself about who you are and what this is.* I think that a lot of reason for the arguments here is because people don't.
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A lot of people's sex lives here have become completely compromised because of their dependency on these companies, who like any other company, produce content that's cheapest as possible to make.* There are many people on this site here not only out of touch with taking control of their lives and experiencing real human interaction, but since this is all that they have, it's actually*making some people only able to be turned on by fake stuff.**
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It's gotten to the point where some people who watch videos now associate fake laughter with naked women and have some fixation with fake stuff now. For the sake of art and a healthy connection with reality and sexuality, it's important that one does know the difference between what's appropriate as well as real. It's bad enough that a lot of people here are becoming very disillusioned and even depraved living off of way too many videos, but on top of it they're all fake, so they're becoming dependent on being given nothing that they want. And that's just plain sad.
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I think that there's even less of a chance in real life of having any good and honest relationships if you develop an unhealthy dependency on videos that are telling a lie.* It's self-imposed abuse in my opinion.* People who think settling for this is the answer, or the closest thing they can equate to happiness, become used to being in relationships where people are "playing a part" for them. Some people here have actually limited their relations to something they pay a model for now. It doesn't make sense.

And aside from the fact that obviously we have a common interest in this, I think that some people argue over this because they are either out of touch or haven't developed the sense to see what's real and what's not. It's a matter of intuition to know whether or not a person is faking.* Since this excites us, obviously any person who sees the truth wants to see something authentic.* I know that imagination plays a part in all sexual excitement anyway, but I can use my imagination without paying for it, so I prefer to get what I'm paying for videos.

Here's an observation I've made.* In a professional fight, even though there are controls in place, much like an adult video, people are seeing something real happening and filmed in a manner that's appealing to the eye.* When a fight is filmed for a movie or dramatization, we know it's fake, but people appreciate the ways to film something that is fake and make it look real, or like all the action is happening in real time, if it's not.* That is the art of movie making!

I wonder why companies don't do that more often in adult cinema, just cut and change perspectives/frames when filming a person, either focusing only on the ticklish areas, or use different ticklish people who are about the same size and wearing the same clothes in order to create the illusion that one person is really being worked over.* If filmed properly, people would really get immersed and enjoy it!* *Anybody in film school could do it.

But this hasn't been the case of movie making in the world of mainstream adult videos since the 70s and 80s. Nobody wants to spend money immersing somebody's imagination to make something look perfect, they just hire whatever person they can find to do something they're not passionate about. It is a shame that that art is lost in the current adult film world. It maintained the idea of realism.

My suggestion to companies.* If you know it's going to be fake, don't insult people's intelligence and standards.* Make it look real. I know it costs money to get several models to make something like that, but it matters.* After a while, the audience starts becoming extremely disillusioned by what's real and what's not, leading to these kinds of conversations.* But this community is different from the average one, and we can be better than that. We can treat ourselves better than that.

Rasputin said:

Why are most all of us concerned with authenticity of someone’s ticklishness?

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I don't know if you've noticed, but... a lot of the people here are kinda hyper-fixated. Either that or they're trolling.

If people are paying to see a tickling video, they kind of want to see some tickling. If a model isn't ticklish then she clearly isn't being tickled. Coming across fakers and exaggerators are also annoying because of how obvious it is, especially if you've actually tickled a variety of people in real life. Maybe it's hard to find legitimately ticklish women to do tickling videos? That's not really our problem. They can ether find women who are less ticklish than the average person, or find ticklish women with a high enough tolerance for tickling to make videos. Authenticity is clearly important to the creators as well, otherwise they would do like professional wrestling and advertise that the clips you're watching aren't real or that the models hamming it up. Maybe some guys like watching fake tickling, though I don't see the enjoyment of that.

Etienne2021 said:

If people are paying to see a tickling video, they kind of want to see some tickling. If a model isn't ticklish then she clearly isn't being tickled. Coming across fakers and exaggerators are also annoying because of how obvious it is, especially if you've actually tickled a variety of people in real life. Maybe it's hard to find legitimately ticklish women to do tickling videos? That's not really our problem. They can ether find women who are less ticklish than the average person, or find ticklish women with a high enough tolerance for tickling to make videos. Authenticity is clearly important to the creators as well, otherwise they would do like professional wrestling and advertise that the clips you're watching aren't real or that the models hamming it up. Maybe some guys like watching fake tickling, though I don't see the enjoyment of that.

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Here's the problem. If you have actually tickled a variety of people in real life, you WILL notice there are different reactions from all of them. A basic, underlying response, but I am sure laughter, body movements, their reactions to it will be different. So how can you REALLY know who is faking or not? There is no "magic formula" for discovering someone isn't ticklish just by watching video alone. It is a perception that they are not ticklish, not a fact based one. Plus, there are people out there who barely move at all, but when you ask them if it tickles, they will say "yes". But did their body react the way YOU think a ticklish person reacts? Nope. So you would say they are not ticklish, even if they literally tell you they are.

Again, why are we so fixated on the authenticity? Knowing full well people react to be tickled differently, why does it seem "soul crushing" to think that model is not ticklish? Is it because they have to react a very specific way to you and if they go outside of that, you can't get the necessary stimulation?

Because bad acting is bad acting no matter what the subject.

MasCosquillas said:

I’d rather watch a video of a woman having authentic, milder reactions than someone screaming and squirming for no reason.

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I can agree in as much that I'd prefer watching the milder reactions, but in my experience "screaming and squirming for no reason" is the much more common reaction to tickling, at least in everyday life outside the fetish scene (or the bedroom). Most people obviously really hate to be tickled unless it's soft and sensual, and react explosive to it. So what I disagree with is that milder reactions are more authentic. On the contrary I would say, a mild reaction suggests to me that the ticklee actually may like it. And what some may call over the top is indeed a very authentic reaction to tickling IMO. I would agree that the milder reactions initially are far sexier though, but that's a different matter.

For the same reason people who watch sports prefer to see real matches and not fixed matches where the players only pretend they are trying to win, you want to find out who is actually the best just like you are curious to find out how the girl you are watching would react to tickling and how much she can endure, if the reaction is fake than the source of enjoyment is gone.

Or at least this how it works for me personally.

Jump said:

For the same reason people who watch sports prefer to see real matches and not fixed matches where the players only pretend they are trying to win, you want to find out who is actually the best just like you are curious to find out how the girl you are watching would react to tickling and how much she can endure, if the reaction is fake than the source of enjoyment is gone.

Or at least this how it works for me personally.

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Solid point, but again, how do you REALLY know if they are faking it or not by watching video alone? That's the problem I always had. People would come on this forum (and this will happen ad nauseum for eternity) that they can tell if a person is faking it or not. It is an opinion, not fact. Unless they are actually doing the tickling themselves, or the model just admits it, no one can truly tell as FACT that it is fake or not. So why do people have this high degree of anxiousness over it being fake? It seems like the viewer is only looking for responses that they feel are real and throwing out a human variety of responses. They are so focused on if it is real or not, that they are not just watching the video.

Have folks who are always focused on if they are ticklish or not, had horrible experiences in reality? Like they tickled a woman and they thought she was ticklish, only to find out she was lying? Did that happen or something?

Because for some it’s not only exciting seeing/ hearing the reaction and the touching, but what this is actually doing to the Lee. If they aren’t nervous or overwhelmed or whatever the viewer wants to see, it’s like a faked orgasm for someone who wants to genuinely please their partner

It's true that everybody is different. But based on most of the previews I've seen for various companies, most of the models used are all "different" in the same ways. This usually ranges from consistent yet repetitive chuckles and little to no body movement (easy enough to fake for a "mildly ticklish" reaction) to forced yells and screams and committing to prolonged physical struggling to EXAGGERATE what they're really feeling. Yes, anybody who's tickled somebody knows that people are different, but anybody knows that when a person is really getting the most out of or enjoying your touch, they're often beside themself and their usual state of mind.

So isn't it rather strange that reactions ranging from distraction and struggling to stay composed to complete mania, ecstasy is such a rare thing to find among "extremely" ticklish people? Unless of course there's nothing true about it.

You can use your eyes to or ears to see this, paying subconscious attention not only to people's eye movement, but their breathing, nervous gestures, etc. This is common sense for survival in the world, to know whether or not you're safe with a person or not, or if you're making them happy or satisfied. To figure our whether they're lying to you or not. Most creatures do this. Now put it all together. Once again, yes, everybody is different. But USUALLY, a model being tickled who is kicking and screaming from tickling but breathing quite regularly paced, enough to laugh in regular intervals is probably not THAT ticklish. There is a natural irregularity in breathing that is often apparent when they're laughing and body spasming that wouldn't allow someone to easily control their breath. I wouldn't call that person "extremely ticklish", but it happens all the time somebody claims that. Maybe they're mildly ticklish, but the exaggeration ruins the whole show for me. It might me more exciting to see them conceal their actual mild reaction than poorly replicate a real one.

And I don't consider recognizing this being "hyper fixated", I consider this being smart. Smart enough to survive and smart enough to know if someone is telling the truth or things are okay between me and someone. Nothing wrong with having some sense.

If few of the people you tickled even reacted, maybe they do react differently psychologically. But more than likely, maybe THEY JUST WEREN'T TICKLISH. There are people whose reaction to tickling affects them very little. They are considered "not ticklish". And that's fine. Doesn't mean they're not a great and loveable person otherwise. I believe that a lot of people in these tickling videos are "not ticklish". That's fine. But if what a studio brings to the table with a person who is not ticklish accomplishes little for me personally, I just won't spend my money on it. Some people like just a little laughter. If that's all they really want, good for them. If you want to see a certain reaction and not be catfished, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not encouraging people to insult producers or models. But producers shaming or belittling the consumer's common sense just because they rated their work, that's just not right.

primetime said:

Have folks who are always focused on if they are ticklish or not, had horrible experiences in reality? Like they tickled a woman and they thought she was ticklish, only to find out she was lying? Did that happen or something?

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You can't lie about that, at least not for long. You can always tell, with impeccable accuracy, if a woman is ticklish or not. It's not that hard when you have a body under your fingers in real time.
She can lie

Videos are a different thing entirely. There are some dead giveaways that a woman isn't ticklish, and if people notice some of them they tend to question the fakeness of the whole thing. A good actress can fake it convincingly enough though, but those are very rare.

And I don't know why is everyone so surprised people want authentic things. Authentic is better than fake in this particular case, and so much closer to reality, which is important to some at least. It replicates reality they have/had in real life or strive for to their fantasies.

primetime said:

Solid point, but again, how do you REALLY know if they are faking it or not by watching video alone?

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You can't and that's why I personally have no interest in watching tickling videos specifically targeted towards a fetish audience and I only enjoy spontaneous, real-life tickling videos.

My question is, why does it matter if people care whether the tickling is real or not? Seems like such a strange thing to take issue with.

Crefl1n said:

There are people whose reaction to tickling affects them very little. They are considered "not ticklish". And that's fine. Doesn't mean they're not a great and loveable person otherwise.

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I'm pretty sure people who aren't ticklish don't have souls.

BarbaricTickler88 said:

You can't lie about that, at least not for long. You can always tell, with impeccable accuracy, if a woman is ticklish or not. It's not that hard when you have a body under your fingers in real time.
She can lie

Videos are a different thing entirely. There are some dead giveaways that a woman isn't ticklish, and if people notice some of them they tend to question the fakeness of the whole thing. A good actress can fake it convincingly enough though, but those are very rare.

And I don't know why is everyone so surprised people want authentic things. Authentic is better than fake in this particular case, and so much closer to reality, which is important to some at least. It replicates reality they have/had in real life or strive for to their fantasies.

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Again, how do you KNOW? How about we really just admit what it really is. These women may or may not be ticklish according to YOUR definition of ticklish. Like I have said repeatedly, YOU do not define ticklishness because people react differently. If you are tickling someone, and they barely move, but THEY tell you that what you are doing is tickling them, are they lying? They are literally telling you they are ticklish and your actions tickle them, but because they do not exhibit certain reactions, you just throw that out? You say they are lying?

I literally tickled a woman who barely moved when being tickled. This same woman was tickled by many others at a gathering, but she really did not demonstrate "typical ticklish body reactions". Yet, she told all of us that she is really ticklish and what we are doing is tickling her. Is she lying? NO. SHE defines what is ticklish to HER. So all of you who think you can tell if they are ticklish or not in video, you can't. In your limited view you think you can, but you really do not know. Yet you spend all of your energy trying to determine what is real or what is fake. Just enjoy the video. "But we want authentic tickling!". Great. But your definition of tickling is not fact. It is your own personal taste. It doesn't mean a model is faking. Are you also telling you can tell if a woman is faking an orgasm on video too?

dashboard said:

My question is, why does it matter if people care whether the tickling is real or not? Seems like such a strange thing to take issue with.

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There is no real answer. For some reason, it seems to encompass their entire tickle fetish. If it is not real then they just can't enjoy it. What cracks me up is that they swear they can tell on video if someone is ticklish or not. Unless the model literally admits it, or they touched the woman themselves, they really don't know.

I just like authentic, natural reactions. It's my personal taste. Its why I generally find clips of vanilla people being tickled more satisfying than studio produced clips with models

Because I have a tickling fetish not an acting fetish.

Rasputin said:

Ultimately, the real question is, why? Why are most all of us concerned with authenticity of someone’s ticklishness?

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I'm certainly not one of those. I could care less if a model, actress, or whatever is ticklish or not. As long as the acting in the video is convincing and good to do the job of me being able to wack off to watching the tickling, that's all that matters.