This certainly raises an interesting question.
Even though this isn't exactly the question that was raised, the question that emerges is, if you're in the tickling scene, should you let everybody in sight know about it? This is, of course, the same question gays have had to deal with, except that with the gay issue there are more sharply defined terms. That is to say, there have never been national organizations and crusades set up exclusively for the purpose of harassing and discrediting ticklers, nor is there a well-known ticklers' rights movement or a ticklers' entertainment network. Homosexuality is seen as having the power to be an identity unto itself, whether favorable or unfavorable; tickling just doesn't get that degree of attention, either good or bad.
Still, the question implied is, if I keep it a secret that I'm into tickling, am I showing self-hatred and letting the people who think I'm a freak triumph over me? Am I like a closet gay, or a black person who in some way acquiesces to the notion that dark skin or African descent is something to be ashamed of?
Having set all that up, I'm going to answer it rather anti-climactically and personally. The way I look at it is this: The general, conventional world doesn't look at tickling as evil, they look at it as silly. That is to say, they look at it as something you do when you're in a silly mood, casually, spontaneously. Thus, the idea of having it be a big part of your life seems foreign to them. In many instances, it may just take some explaining, while in other instances it may seem absolutely over-the-top freaky. When I tried to talk to my former analyst about it (and there's a good reason why he's former), he said little, but his body language seemed to imply, "Let me know when you're ready to get back to the subjects that are really worth taking seriously instead of this childish stuff."
So, with all that, let me tell you where I stand on these issues, and again, this is nothing but a personal statement about me.
1. When it comes to my close friends, I don't mind having any of them know. However, I get the feeling that most of my friends--close as they are--simply don't want to know that much intimate detail about me. It's the same reason that, if they know I'm having an intimate relationship with a woman, they're going to prefer not to hear every detail of what we do when we're behind closed doors, and they're going to prefer not to hear about my masturbation or every lurid detail of my dreams and fantasies. So, in the case of certain friends, I'm just sparing them the details that they'd rather not have to know.
2. There are also some people with whom I'm very comfortable talking about tickling. It isn't a matter of how long I've known them or how intimate the relationship; it's more a matter of whether they're the type who are interested in talking about matters psychological and sexual.
3. When it comes to my professors, my students, my prospective employers, my casual acquaintances and associates generally--thank you, I really don't want them to picture me handcuffing somebody to a bed and going mercilessly for the armpits and the ribs and the feet and getting turned on while the other person squeals (not that I've even had occasion to do any of this yet--I'm just thinking ahead).
You know what bottom line is? I will talk about tickling with anybody who is sufficiently interested to listen while I explain the whole nine yards of how I feel and what it means in my life. That is, I will talk about it with people who will listen to not just the one-word name of the activity, but all the connotations it has for me (which may well be different from the connotations it has for you, and will absolutely be different from the connotations it has for them). I won't wear a T-shirt that says "Tickle Me To Death." People will either have the full conversation with me or hear none of it at all.
This is just where I am now. None of this should even remotely be translated into an opinion of what anybody else should do. And I'm going to reaffirm that I'm such a novice to the whole thing that anything I say should taken with many grains of salt anyway. But voila.
