Tickling is one of the least familiar forms of sex play. Among tickling enthusiasts there is even considerable disagreement as to the relationship between tickling and sex.
For some people, tickling is an end in itself, thrilling to give or receive but neither requiring or involving any overt sexual implications. For them, tickling a young niece or preteen neighbor is not offensive because they make no more connection with tickling and sex than they do a game of hide-and-seek. These people sometimes have as much difficulty seeing tickling as sexual as do people with no special interest in tickling.
Apparently a similar situation exists for other forms of extreme play, such as bondage and spanking. Some people just want to be tied up and spanked, while for others the whole reason for the ordeal is to achieve orgasm. When some men cross-dress they become highly aroused, while for other cross-dressers arousal is associated with something entirely different.
At the opposite extreme are people like me who for whom tickling and sex are inseparable. Nothing gives me an erection as fast as a scene, imaginary or real, in which a woman is bound and tickled, and most of my fantasies incorporate scenes of a woman having a whole series of fantastic orgasms while being tickled.
Tickling Meets Fetish Clothing