What may, at first, appear to be bizarre and baffling, that being a sexual fetish for balloons, on further investigation does not quite appear to turn the Looners into loonies.
A slang term for those who enjoy sexual pleasure in engaging with balloons, a Looner can be classified as belonging to a sub-group of Latex fetishism; and it is in looking at Latex that the key to understanding this particular group emerges.
Like other fetishised materials, Latex has a kinship with the human body, specifically the skin. Organic in its origin, balloon-lovers covet the tactile nature of what many Looners consider to be a living material, a substance with a smell and feel that can arouse the senses in much the same way as human skin; the innate ability of a balloon to generate static electricity further adds to the sense of a living, vibrant connection during contact.
Once processed from its source and manufactured into balloons, a small leap of imagination helps us to recognise the progression that feeds sexual desire. With balloons being produced in a variety of shapes and sizes, they can soon appear to resemble human anatomy; soft, fleshy and rounded, breast-like or phallic and warm through manipulation.
For some balloon fetishists the act of blowing up the balloon, or watching another person doing so, is itself a source of sexual satisfaction. More commonly, however, Looners can be sub-divided into two distinct categories: ‘poppers’ and ‘non-poppers’.
For non-poppers, pleasure is gained by the shape and size of balloons as they expand and the physical stimulation when used against the body, from the process of blowing up the balloon through to masturbation. With this group though, the fun stops if the balloon pops.
Poppers, on the other hand, also draw sexual gratification from the suspense built during the lead-up to a balloon popping and the ultimate event itself: the climax being the eventual burst of the balloon.
This particular aspect, balloon-popping, is perhaps the most difficult to grasp. Many people are fearful of the moment a balloon pops and would not report any pleasure in the resulting loud bang and palpitations. Yet, for Looners who enjoy this enormously, a proportion recognises that the pleasing rush of endorphins produced by a popping balloon derives from eroticising the fear they once felt during childhood. This fear translates into an irresistible arousal that arises from popping.
‘Mike D’, a confirmed balloon enthusiast, explains this further:
“There’s always something that goes back to your childhood. Like your babysitter blew up a balloon or your mother popped your balloon. Then along comes puberty and these things that made such an impression on you as a child turn into something erotic”.
Mike actually admits to being phobic about balloons popping but happily acknowledges that his fetish derives from that fear. But he also knows that, for other Looners, popping is out of the question, saying “they can be quite religious about it. You know, better not pop my balloon!”.
Unconstrained by the need for a tactile experience, from the thousands of enthusiasts who identify with this fetish many report pleasure in just watching others play with balloons. Indeed, with New Year’s Eve being cited as the most popular day in a Looner’s calendar, footage filmed of balloon drops and mass balloon popping at parties are posted on private balloon fetish sites for others to enjoy.
In the sometimes hardcore world of obscure sexual fetishes, balloon loving appears to be one of the more softcore activities. On the whole, Looners are unlikely to respond to balloon content in conjunction with hardcore sex, regardless of whether as a follower of this fetish you prefer to keep the balloon intact, or pop till you drop.
Claire Gaskin is a social researcher and co-founder of two successful dating sites: http://www.fetish-mate.com and http://www.music-mate.com
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