Okay, I wasn't going to post this here as I really don't want to come across as negative or risk upsetting anyone but TklDuo-Ann saw it over on the
tickle brits forums and asked me to consider putting it up as some of the questions raised were in her mind as well. So for what it's worth:
I've been giving this a lot of thought over the last couple of weeks and think I've figured out why, for me personally, this idea doesn't work. In fact it's a quote from Ann's site that let me verbalise it finally:
So, what does tickling mean to us? Who do we see ourselves to be as a community? Do we even feel that there is a community rather than just a bunch of individuals grabbing goodies off the net? Do we feel a part of that community or alienated from it? Do we even care? The answer to this will be somewhat different for every person who responds. That is as it should be. After all, we're all unique. But, that doesn't mean that we can't agree on an image that represents what we have in common...a love of tickling.
Here's my view, expressed as best I can. The tickling community is a very large one, and far more diverse in some ways than, say, the BDSM community. Sure, the BDSM community goes off into a vast number of subjects but it all comes back to one central concept that can be fairly easily expressed. Tickling, on the other hand, has that 'love of tickling' as Ann so elequently phrased it but for me that's a very... vague concept. The concept itself means so many different things to so many people that I can't conceive of coming up with a set of core values that a symbol can represent that will be acceptable to the whole community. The only way I can see it working at all is if the symbol is so abstract that there's no way of discerning the meaning without being told what it is outright. That to me just doesn't feel right. If I can't look at something, after being told it's the symbol for tickling, and work out WHY that's the case.
Let me clarify that a little. I wouldn't guess the BDSM symbol meaning if I was just looking at it. But I COULD ascribe some meaning to it (the design itself seems to lend itself to bondage, the holes can look like points for restraints etc). When I look at what's being suggested as front runners for the tickling symbol I just don't get that feeling. Take the 'tree' design as it seems to be the most popular. If someone gave me that image and said it's the tickling symbol I can't find anything there to relate to. Even after reading the explanation it still comes off as contrived to me, something where an idea has given way to a design and then people have nodded and said that works rather than it being a genuine organic growth from the core subject.
Now, I do not for one moment want to suggest that this is a failing on the part of anyone who's designed these symbols thus far. On the contrary I'm staggered and impressed by the effort made by all concerened and its a delight to see our community putting so much energy into one project. It's just that I fear the subject itself is too diverse to be captured naturally in a symbol. How on earth do you incorporate ticklers, tickless, switches, bondage, play fights, sexual attraction, power exchange, domination, submission, fun, support, caring and trust into a symbol that works for ALL of those categories without making it so abstract it has no intrinsic connection to the subject matter?
I was reluctant to post this here as I have no wish to interupt the flow and genuinely hope that a suitable symbol is found. But I fear that such a thing will only be realised by focusing on one aspect or view of the tickling fetish which would be a great shame. In an attempt to contribute something positive to the discussion, the only solution I can think of off the top of my head would be some form of 'modular' design. Maybe it's easier to illustrate this with an example:
The ring represents the community (and there's a broken link to show we can always add more links.... corny I know)
The three symbols are (I think) Happiness, Friendship and Courage
The bottom section is 'modular' with a selection of say a half dozen designs representing the different aspects of the community or it can be customised as the wearer wishes. So the above is the template if you like, this one would be personalised:
In this case I've hammered out an extremely crappy looking design for the love that tickling has brought into my life.
This really isn't a serious attempt at coming up with a suitable symbol, just an idea to try and illustrate the point a little. I'm sure that if it has any merit someone with actual artistic talent can do something FAR better. Still, I'd like to think that if you said 'it's the tickling symbol' to someone in the fetish they could at the very least put a meaning on the outer ring (even if it's not the 'right' one). For smaller designs you'd shrink it down and pick one of the four symbols to go in the centre of the ring according to your preference.
Anyway, that's my two pence worth, no idea what the response will be although I'll say once more I have no wish, desire or intention to try and criticise the work of anyone here, I think I've just proved that'd be very stupid of me considering my own lack of ability in this area. Of course, if I was being a cheeky bastard, I'd point out that actually Knismolagnia does, in fact, focus on only one aspect of the tickling community, namely: Sexual arousal and erotic gratification derived from tickling or being tickled. If you don't necessarily get turned on but enjoy, say, the power rush or the fun of a good laugh instead then technically a symbol denoting Knismolagnia doesn't apply to you anyway
😀
