Tickling fetishism

Tickling fetishism is a sexual fetish related to gaining a specific sexual thrill from either tickling a sex partner or being subjected to tickling themselves, usually to the point of helpless laughter. Often this involves some form of restraint to prevent escape and/or accidentally hurting the tickler. Thus this fetish may coincide with various BDSM fetishes.

The feet, underarms and torso (particularly the navel) are the most likely tickling spots, although less frequent ones like the neck, legs or knees are also observable. A person's favourite place for tickling sometimes arises from a fetish connected with that body part. For example, someone who loves tickling feet is often a foot fetishist.

Often ticklees report that they like the "rush" when being tickled. This "rush" is both horrible and wonderful, like being punished and given a present at the same time. Tickling as a fetish often deals with control issues. Ticklers enjoy the feelings of control when tickling someone to distraction and the receivers enjoy giving up all control to the helpless laughter being tickled causes. The receivers often thrash around in wild abandon and often the ticklers are laughing as much as the receiver!

Initial tickling is erotic and playful, but continued tickling loses these features.
Tickling involves submission, often the victim submits willingly at first and may even encourage the tickling. However, after the tickling begins a victim is helpless with uncontrollable laughter. Frantic struggles ensue to escape the tickling. The humiliation of not being able to stop laughing or avoid the treatment is intense.

Besides being actively involved as the tickler or receiver, this fetish can also involve excitement from watching others being tickled. This can also be expanded into the realm of child tickling which, in some prolonged cases, can be considered molestation.

Safe Words

As with many BDSM activities, participants in a tickling situation often agree upon safewords --- words which, if uttered, bring an attenuation of or immediate halt to the scene. Tickling presents special difficulties with safeword use, as particularly heavy tickling may leave the receiver unable to breathe deeply enough to utter a safeword.

Three Person Scenerios

Three person scenarios can also exist in tickling. One such scenerio is to have three people (with roughly equally sensitive feet) sit in a triangle with their legs bound togther, so that each person has one of the other's ticklish feet within reach. This method has a drawback in that one person with less sensitive feet can dominate the other two.

Another scenerio is with two people who are related, friends, or lovers, and with a third person as tickler. One of the receivers is restrained and the other partially restrained so that they can still tickle their partner. The partially restrained person must tickle their partner or the third person will tickle both, until they start tickling their "friend" again. Then the "friend" roles could be reversed. Afterwards, it would be better if both "friends" talked about the experience to avoid any hard feelings.

Fiction

Courtois, Wayne. My Name is Rand. Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004. (ISBN 097108467X)
:A novel; major themes include tickling and bondage among gay men.