Is Tickling Not On?

[junediamanti]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "grannybat84112" 
<grannybat at h...> wrote:
> Touching on canon, but really more of a cultural question.
> 
> One of the most touching scenes in the series for me was the 
moment 
> when Harry's in the infirmary, ready to crack after the stress of 
the 
> graveyard incident and all that follows--and Molly Weasley gathers 
> him into her arms and allows him a moment of physical protection 
and 
> reassurance. Both Harry and the reader come to realize the poor 
kid 
> has never experienced a single gesture of affection in all his 
years 
> since losing his parents. Not a hug, not a kiss, nothing. 
> 
> (Hagrid's bone-crushing hugs and hearty claps on the back don't 
> really count; Harry always ends up bruised afterwards.)
> 
> This got me thinking...Harry's never been tickled.
> 
> I started imagining a scene where the Weaseley twins pounced on 
Harry 
> and held him down so Ron, Hermione, and maybe even his quidditch 
> teammates could have at his toes and bellybutton until he's red in 
> the face and breathless--but I stopped. Is tickling a teenaged 
friend 
> the sort of thing that's generally allowed in British culture?
> 
> Tickling isn't unknown to Magical society; Harry brings down 
Malfoy 
> in the dueling club with a tickling hex (jinx? I don't have the 
books 
> at hand). But is the "hands-on" method something that Simply Is 
Not 
> Done in ordinary life once a child is older than, say, the age of 
> five, and then only by the immediate family? Even a clueless Yank 
> like myself has noticed the typical British reserve when it comes 
to 
> public displays of affection.
> 
> Harry's never been tickled...for some reason, I just find that 
> thought ineffably sad.
> 
> Grannybat

Here's my reserved British take on tickling for what its worth.  I 
got tickled a lot when I was little and liked it - though the adult 
tickler has to know when to stop.  It also depends on the 
neurological sensitivity of the ticklee - I know some people find 
that contact almost if not totally unbearable, while others enjoy 
it.  

My father used to pretend his hand was a "tickle beetle" as he 
called it and I loved that when I was small.  And I'd forgottent 
that until now, and it brought him back in a good way thinking about 
it.

I think certainly as a parent I wasn't particularly reserved - in 
private.  My daughter (now fifteen) still likes getting her feet 
gently tickled and always did - though she'd kill me if she knew I 
was posting this.  

Kids get more reluctant about physical horseplay as they mature - I 
suspect this is as they become less confident bodily as their bodies 
change. Not surprising I think.  

This is a sad part of growing up I think because I remember how 
affectionate my daughter was at say 5 - when children will 
cheerfully hug and kiss you in public.  Then the dreaded day comes, 
when you are told not to kiss them goodbye at the school gate 
because other kids will make fun of them...  A sad moment that.  

Poor Harry indeed - from a remembered child's point of view and as a 
parent I think the innocent physical affections of childhood are 
very special and important.  I believe that it is contact like this 
that helps children grow up to become confident about their bodies - 
in a non-sexual way, just comfortable in their skin.  

Here's one I remember - even madder and it might squick some readers 
though I hope not - getting a raspberry blown on the tum is rather 
fun when you are small too.

Okay - wierd maybe.

June