Where does the myth that women are less resistant to tickling come from?

[damdu]

on what basis did someone conclude that

 

[natscott6282]

toxic masculinity

 

[Ghostwriter727]

on what basis did someone conclude that

It is a "myth" afterall. Probably somebody who had too much to drink one night, and concluded after seeing another tickling video that women couldn't handle the teases like he (or she) could.
Then a wild thing like Natscott6282 showed up, and taught him a real life lesson in ticklish respect.😉

Another myth tells us that some of the toughest badass fighters, and personalities fall to pieces when their tickly places are used against them.
(I wish we could get more of those on a video)😂

 

[maniactickler]

Almost every topic about ticklishness is a myth. people try to make correlations about this and that, and how it might affect ticklishness. its all poppycock. i get it, some people just want to make a topic to discuss. but in the end, nationality, skin color, gender, etc. doesnt mean anything.

 

[tickle_maniac]

Almost every topic about ticklishness is a myth. people try to make correlations about this and that, and how it might affect ticklishness. its all poppycock. i get it, some people just want to make a topic to discuss. but in the end, nationality, skin color, gender, etc. doesnt mean anything.

It's mostly wishful thinking and fantasizing

 

[FFT32]

It's a myth for sure. I wonder if perhaps some of the myth is motivated from how wonderfully sensual, erotic, pleasurable and fun tickling woman can be...?

I for one appreciate the female members of the Tickle Team!

 

[Doriansenigma]

A study I read contends that women and men tend to be more ticklish depending on the place they are being tickled. For instance women were more ticklish in their arch and men more so in their toes. The laughter response was greater in women, while men had more of a tendency to suppress their laughter. This probably has to do with the fact that men are more subconsciously under pressure to be "tough", as it's not per se a factor concerning over all ticklishness (this was even mentioned in the study). There is another study that demonstrated that people of both sexes were more ticklish when their significant other was tickling them. They were even blindfolded in this study. I contend that it's for the most part an individual thing, but it makes sense that biologically we are more sensitive in different parts of our body depending on our sex.

 

[Black Lotus Documents]

I do believe there are some studies, one very recently that you can find here: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3490496. There is another study suggesting that skin and gender seems to play a role: Svebak S. The importance of skin area and gender in ticklishness. Scand J Psychol. 2021 Oct;62(5):683-688. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12756. Epub 2021 Jun 21. PMID: 34152014. The conclusion (at least from the abstract and conclusion, I have not checked the methodology) concludes that on average, laughter was present in females more frequently.

Some others do not cite gender as a variable for measuring ticklishness, like this article from Cleaveland Clinic. References are in the article itself : https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-are-people-ticklish

Again, sample size is not representative enough and these are isolated studies, but in general I think those are the only reliable sources of info, that's why you will see articles all over the internet with headlines like "Women are More Ticklish than Men".

At the end of the day, trends in these types of things are just that, an overall pattern. It is always better to see every person as their own unique observation, as ticklishness is very individual

 

[milagros317]

Some others do not cite gender as a variable for measuring ticklishness, like this article from Cleaveland Clinic. References are in the article itself : https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-are-people-ticklish

This is a very interesting article. Thanks for the link. 😀

 

[fgarvin6969]

toxic masculinity

From guys that are too ticklish to admit it

 

[MikeMenace]

Again, sample size is not representative enough and these are isolated studies, but in general I think those are the only reliable sources of info, that's why you will see articles all over the internet with headlines like "Women are More Ticklish than Men".

And headlines such as these should always be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[torturoustickle]

Guys will try to hide it more. There is also less chance of them engaging in "tickle fights", and other playful games due to some social constructs.
However there is no evidence that they are overall less ticklish.

 

[natscott6282]

From guys that are too ticklish to admit it

in my experience guys who are rlly ticklish are normally embarrassed about their ticklishness being discovered, so they hesitate admitting it ir even more commonly deny it in public (especially the younger ones) and they go red in the face if their ticklishness is found out about

 

[A/S/H]

And headlines such as these should always be taken with a grain of salt.

That picture is wild lmfao

 

[hiphophooray4]

toxic masculinity

Or.....could be from years of tickling (well north of 100) the fairer sex (women) and in every single case they were far more ticklish than i. Lol however even with that knowledge, I know darn well that that's probably not a very accurate assessment. And the only way to get anything even remotely accurate is to test every single individual on the planet. Which will never happen. So I'm perfectly content with it being even 50/50 for both. Lol

 

[Silverflame3]

Probably two genetic traits. The first is higher levels of testosterone in men's blood. From nine up to fifteen times higher, on average.

Second, higher levels of testosterone are also responsible for higher thickness of men's skin (up to 20% or even 25% thicker).

Testosterone is also a pain inhibitor. Since the feeling of ticklishness from outside stimulus as a sensation is actually created by the same mechanism as pain perception, only in different (much lower) thresholds of stimulation, you might come to the conclusion that higher testosterone levels also inhibit lower levels of perceived pain that fall under tickling.

 

[natscott6282]

Or.....could be from years of tickling (well north of 100) the fairer sex (women) and in every single case they were far more ticklish than i. Lol however even with that knowledge, I know darn well that that's probably not a very accurate assessment. And the only way to get anything even remotely accurate is to test every single individual on the planet. Which will never happen. So I'm perfectly content with it being even 50/50 for both. Lol

were u always able to take it so well?

 

[torturoustickle]

in my experience guys who are rlly ticklish are normally embarrassed about their ticklishness being discovered, so they hesitate admitting it ir even more commonly deny it in public (especially the younger ones) and they go red in the face if their ticklishness is found out about

Haha, so true.

 

[hiphophooray4]

were u always able to take it so well?

For the most part ....yes.....I must admit tho, one of my secret weapons is that I'm waay more sensitive to the very light grazing of fingernails , as opposed to the deeper kneading type tickle that a good many out there prefer. It's pretty difficult to tickle anybody with light nail scratches during a full fledged tickle match. Lol

 

[natscott6282]

For the most part ....yes.....I must admit tho, one of my secret weapons is that I'm waay more sensitive to the very light grazing of fingernails , as opposed to the deeper kneading type tickle that a good many out there prefer. It's pretty difficult to tickle anybody with light nail scratches during a full fledged tickle match. Lol

very light grazing and scratching like on the tummy and hip hollows etc?

and also when and how did u find out about that weakness?

 

[3xPIN]

on what basis did someone conclude that

I was honestly unaware this was a myth. But what do I know. Probably just fetishization.

 

[hiphophooray4]

very light grazing and scratching like on the tummy and hip hollows etc?

and also when and how did u find out about that weakness?

Yes exactly! And sides as well. A girlfriend / and first real play partner when i was maybe 18 or 19 I guess. It was awesome! I was totally hooked from that point forward. Lol

 

[D-Tickler]

For the most part ....yes.....I must admit tho, one of my secret weapons is that I'm waay more sensitive to the very light grazing of fingernails , as opposed to the deeper kneading type tickle that a good many out there prefer. It's pretty difficult to tickle anybody with light nail scratches during a full fledged tickle match. Lol

I'm somewhat related to you, because I may have the kinda similar condition.

I've been able to withstand virtually all kinds of daily kneading or poking types of tickling since my teenager time.
Even, in many situations, such 'normal' tickling ways don't tickle me at all.
As far as I recall, I simply didn't feel the tickling sensation in many times of getting kneaded and/or pokes on my waists/sides.
The most recent case just happened in 2025. A guy (who seemed to be biromantic & have a little bit interest in me) poked my waists behind me...It didn't tickle me at all. Several days later, he did it onto me again, didn't tickle me again 🙄 However, his behaviour still kinda annoyed me because I'm an absolutely straight guy & thus hate being tickled by the same gender (so I just criticised him to be not so straight, though he had a GF)...

On the other hand, I do sometimes get a bit of tickling sensation when my sensitive spots are lightly grazed by fingers (can be those of my own) or stuff (such as sth wooden).
Such an experience make me have the notification that I'm still able to sense tickling

 

[hiphophooray4]

in my experience guys who are rlly ticklish are normally embarrassed about their ticklishness being discovered, so they hesitate admitting it ir even more commonly deny it in public (especially the younger ones) and they go red in the face if their ticklishness is found out about

Well I bet you would go red in the face to if your ticklishness is found out to a crowd huh?! Lol

 

[hiphophooray4]

While probably still not being anywhere near a good enough sample size, but waay bigger than any sample size anyone has come up with thus far.....a decent kinda sorta whos more "lish"gage would be the 800 million couples tickle challenges / or just tickle challenges in general on our favorite buddy you tube, might be a half ass decent barometer of who's who and / or what! And I must say while I certainly have not watched them All (cause lord knows staring into a cell phone screen for what would probably take close to a decade could cause permanent eye / and probably brain damage)but the vast majority of the one's i have seen.....the females lost! So there's that lol