Another Quizlet

[tienteaser]

Pick one choice for each question:

Tickling is...
A) Fiendish torture
B) Good clean fun
C) You mean fiendish torture isn't fun?

I prefer to...
A) Wield the feather
B) Suffer the consequences
C) Both

Comments will be screened for your privacy unless you ask me to unscreen yours.

I answered (C) to both, by the way.

Comments

[wavy]

I'd say B and C for me! :D

That reminds me of an episode of Howard Stern where was a tickling master who tickled scantily clad girls. But the tickling master was pretty creepy though, I wouldn't want him to tickle me!

[tienteaser]

Stern goes for the creepy ones. He thinks they're more entertaining. Many tickle-fans are quite nice, if a little sadistic.

[nicksail]

I've noticed that the most ticklish places on the body are also potentially some of the most erotically sensitive. I have come to believe that the tickle response is a subconscious reaction to not wanting to become aroused by the touch. It can, I think, signal a lack of trust toward the tickler, a wish to avoid arousal at that particular moment or in that situation, or that the tickler has come to a part of the body that doesn't want stimulation until later in the arousal process.

[tienteaser]

Interesting idea, but it leaves one wondering about the people who are aroused by being tickled.

[nicksail]

maybe they're coy: want to be aroused, but don't want to admit it. I think the German term is "aberbitte"

[tienteaser]

Hmm. Maybe, but I know many tickle-fans who are quite up-front about their interest. They'll let a lover know right off that it's something they like.

I've known people who seem to use tickling as a screen for arousal, as you describe, but I've also known many for whom it's actually a pathway to arousal - often one of many. So I'm not sure that this works as a general model for tickling.

When it IS a screen for arousal, most often it's a psychological screen more than a physiological one. For example it's not uncommon to see tickling used to bridge the gap between everyday interactions and intimacy. It offers a way to move to a more intimate level of touch without being aggressively sexual, and affords both the tickler and the one being tickled the chance to either go further or pull back without the embarassment of rejection. It's a flirtation gambit, whether deliberate or unconscious.