In recent years, one of the more controversial fetishes to emerge into the mainstream--largely due to the 2016 documentary
Tickled--is that of tickling. If you haven’t scene the doc, the gist is that apparently there’s this underground ring of tickle fetishists nefariously tricking straight guys into getting tickled on camera in their underwear, all under the guise of a “competitive tickling competition.” Like many others, I found the mafia-like machinations of these ticklers to be a rather ironic juxtaposition to the inherent whimsy of the actual fetish. So what the heck is going on with this tickle fetish?
Those who engage in knismolagnia (the psychological term for the fetish), like to be tickled, to tickle others, and / or to watch other people get tickled. Often (but not always), the guy getting tickled is tied up, in some state of undress, and is blindfolded to enhance the sensation. Tickle tops, as they’re called, will use their hands, tongues, or props (like a feather) to inflict the tickling. A subsection of BDSM tickle fetishism is “tickle torture”, wherein the ticklee ostensibly does not actually want to be tickled. Does any of this tickle your fancy? ;)
Me personally, the idea of being tied up and mercilessly tickled sends chills down my spine. Just an absolute nightmare. But for some guys, the sensation is so intensely euphoric that it can lead to spontaneous, hands-free orgasms. For others, tickling is the foreplay of choice before otherwise tickle-free sex.
We can wax poetic about how tickling recaptures that primal innocence of discovering our bodies for the first time. There truly is something magical about finding pleasure in this evolutionarily-baffling quirk of the human body. So for those boys out there who like to get tickled--all the love and support and I’d be happy to tickle you. But don’t you dare come near me with that feather or I will literally pee my pants.
