We are a secret society. How many of you knew the forum existed before you stumbled upon in in whatever way you did? Ask anyone outside of this place, even in the fetish community, and they will have no clue. So, we're secret in the sense that no one knows about us, not that we have to intentionally keep ourselves secret.
Two, we're not loud and in your face like gays or animal rights activists or the religious right or pick your group. A lot of gays, for example (not all, but enough) feel they must be in your face and gay, the have to be loud, they want parades, and movies and television shows about being gay. They demand that firefighters march in there parades even though they may not want to. They demand to walk in parades like the St. Patricks day parade under the gay banner, and when told no, have a fit. What they were missing is that they CAN walk in the parade, but not under a gay banner. They must have a St. Patrick's day banner. The bondage fetishes didn't ask to march under the Bondage banner.
And that is how we are a secret. We don't advertise, we don't demand that tickling be taught in schools, we don't shove it down anyone's throat, or any of that. If you wish to be a part of our group, you really have to search us out, or be invited by someone here if you are lucky enough to find one of us. (ie: TIB finding that girl who liked tickling on teh net.) Hell, I'd say we're harder to find than the Free Masons or any other secret society out there.
Travel the net whenever you get a chance. Check out any Foot fetish page. They will list literally, every kind of fetish you can imagine, and some you never even knew existed. But they never mention tickling! The vast majority, I'm talking 90% or higher, mention every other fetish, except tickling. So, even among the members of the fetish community, we seem to be a secret.
And we don't need to brag about it and advertise it. We're happy with who we are, so don't feel it necessary to force everyone to accept us, like every activist group in America does. When you call attention to yourself, you also call bad attention with the good. That's why it's good we are a secret. The gays are loud, and the gay haters are louder and grwowing. It sucks, hatred sucks, but that's life. There aren't many tickling haters out there, hopefully, and if we stay secret, and only let in those who are ineterested in us, or are actual ticklephiles themselves, it will hopefully stay that way.
I, too, am from South Louisiana, and can tell you there are very few ticklephiles here. I know of zero, not one person around my area. BUT, I could be wrong. We're here in the heart of the Bible belt, teh whole, "If you're any way diffeent from the norm, you are evil and deserve to be persecuted" area.
If you can tell people you love tickling, hey great, more power to you. But you are the lucky one, Neutron.
I assume no one down here is into tickling, because no one down here even talks about fetishes, ANY fetish, except to laugh at it as wierd, or look down on it as being evil. BUT, I may be wrong. There could be people I see every day who are inteersted, who are members of this forum, and I don't even know. They won't say because they're in the same situation I am in. They don't want to be judged unfairly. When they see the symbol, and they'll be able to take great comfort in the fact that they're not alone.
Basically, we need an easier way to quietly identify ourselves to other ticklephiles, that doesn't blatantly give it away, is only understandable to us who are here, and can't be mistaken. We could say purple shoes, or something, but if someone has on purple tennis shoes, or purple heels, they probably just like the color purple. A lot of people use orange pens, too, who don't like tickling. That idea was a good one, but wouldn't work.
You see someone who has on a bracelet with the symbol, or earrings, or tattoo, or pin, or whatever, and you'll know for sure.