The Kink of the Day is…Knismolagnia. Sorry, I mean…Tickling!

The Kink of the Day is...Knismolagnia. Sorry, I mean...Tickling!

The video above is a great display of what some find to be quite an enjoyable kink. Tickling, more academically known as knismolagnia, takes on many forms depending on who is practicing this seemingly innocent act. A recent study from the researchers at the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany shed a bit of light on a fetish that many people practice all over the world, probably sometimes without even realizing it's a kink.

The study wanted to find out how people incorporate tickling into their sexual lives. They reached out to social media influencers in the tickle fetish community, who then found over 700 people to respond to a 43-point questionnaire. These participants were primarily straight and Asian. Apparently, tickling, at least openly online, is much bigger in Japan than in other places.

Click on the pic to follow the link.

Now we all have grown up experiencing tickling in some fashion. Parents tickle children to elicit a smile or laugh. Youngsters tickle each other as forms of fun or, in more extreme scenarios, as "tickle torture." yer boy Hank here remembers rough-housing as a young adult with my friend Anita and others and I tickled her until she let a toot rip and she yelled she was going to pee herself. So I got up off of her and we continued watching cartoons.

The study explains that knismolagnia is divided into two different types. In the first video above, you see an example of gargalesis which is characterized by more vigorous play to garner big outbursts and reactions. This would be your "tickle torture." Knismesis on the other hand is the gentle tickling that is more playful, more sensual, less robust. The former tends to concentrate on large body parts: feet, armpits, and nipples. The latter usually involves light brushing over the entire body, getting the skin to react.

Click on the pic to follow the link to the video.

It probably goes without saying that over 70% of respondents who enjoyed being tickled or derived any sexual satisfaction from it also enjoyed being tickled when they were growing up. The researchers were surprised that as many as 25% really enjoyed being tickled, to the point where it can be the only sexual stimulation leading to orgasm. Most preferred knismesis, the light, erotic touching that most find more subtle and nuanced over gargalesis which leads to outbursts of laughter. Of course, if you're getting into extreme power play with hints at BDSM, gargalesis is the way to go!

You don't even have to get naked!

And then you have whatever this delightful weirdness is. 

(Wait..."tickle" in German is "kille"?! Of course it is.)

It seems like tickling is yet another element of our childhoods that has morphed into something much more adult as we grow up. It can be playful or extreme. It can lead to sex or just some giggling. It can define a power dynamic between a dom and his sub, or just a goof between buddies. However you engage in it, just remember: consent, and keep it safe.

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