Tickling is a fairly normal turn on. You don't say whether you have a preference for being the tickler or the ticklee. Maybe you like both. My wife and I used to have contests to see who could stand having his/her feet tickled longest. This led to both of us learning to give and receive non genital total body orgasms.

I can't imagine why your girlfriend should be frightened to learn that you like tickling. But then I have been told that I do not think like other people.

Where is it you like to be tickled, and (yes I am asking this) with what? A friend of mines husband gets totally sensitive right after down the sides of his torso, she loves to tickle him then and it totally pisses him off.

What would constitute an actual "fetish"????

It's more common than you think. Why else would sex toy shops sell tickling gear? Ostrich feathers, etc. Google it, you'll see.

At the end of the day, we all have our own things that 'get to us'.

Ostrich featheres are for tickling? I thought they were for making you feel good. Get a peacock feather or several. Bigger is better!

[QUOTE=constantlylearning;220264]What would constitute an actual "fetish"????[/QUOTE]

The clinical definition of a fetish is an inanimate object which the fetishist must have present in order to become aroused and in some cases to reach orgasm. Common fetishes include women's undergarments and shoes. Fetishism is almost exclusively limited to men. It is not considered a "problem" as long as it does not cause harm to others or to the fetishist himself. Stealing objects of fetishism would be considered a problem. A fetish in the context of human sexuality is basically the same as a fetish in sociology; a talisman, a charm.

Body parts cannot be truly considered fetish objects as they are part of living humans. Remember the fetish must be an inanimate object. So when people speak of a foot fetish, hair fetish or breast fetish what they are referring to is called by sexologists a partialism. A partialism works the same way as a fetish basically, but as you can see involves live body parts.

The usual everyday person who is not a student of human sexuality tends to say fetish when he means partialism. Therapists, psychologists and sexologists will use the term loosely in this way also in order to avoid such lengthy explanations.

Many people use the term fetish to mean ANY sexual behavior or preference that turns them on; equate fetish with eccentric behavior or taste.

I think that as people in behavior sciences become more educated about REAL sex in their own lives we may see some of these terms fall out of use. Partialism seems to be on its way out and fetishism could be declassified as a paraphilia-that is if paraphilias themselves are not removed from the DSM.

The other current in fetishism is people who enjoy playing dress up: pople who enjoy wearing leather, latex, PVC, feathers, costumes ( school girls, maids, cops, priests, etc.)during sexual activity or at parties where everyone is dressed this way. I have been to, hosted even, events of this sort and I can say that the people who are into this sort of fetishism enjoy the look, feel, smell, sound and perhaps even taste of this dressing up, yet they DO NOT HAVE to do it in order to become aroused or reach orgasm.

So in summary: In scientific jargon a fetish constitutes a sexual attraction toward an inanimate object. In common usage a fetsih may be an attraction to an object, a body part or a behavior, act or technique. Some people consider tickling, body worship, bondage, discipline and S&M fetishistic.