We often think of balloons as a fun sign there’s a celebration afoot.
Perhaps some of us remember the thunderous sound of a balloon popping at a party when we were young. Others remember the excitement of inhaling the helium from a balloon into our mouths and having our voices suddenly become funny and squeaky.
However, a less common experience is feeling an attraction or sexual arousal towards balloons, i.e., a looner fetish.
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What Is A Balloon Fetish?
Folks with a balloon fetish, also referred to as looners, are turned on by balloons [1]. This fetish can look very different for each looner but can include enjoying watching balloons inflate, being sexually aroused by balloons popping, or enjoying using balloons as a tool for stimulation. In addition, the smell, sound, movement, or color of the balloon can arouse them, and many folks with this sexual fetish have specific preferences regarding which type of balloons they enjoy.
Why Are Balloons A Turn-On?
A fellow looner enjoyed transparent balloons. When you lay on them and look through the balloon, you feel like floating. Others prefer black balloons, as the material somehow feels softer. Some looners are very attracted to the neck of balloons, while others are more into the body [2].
A balloon’s life cycle involves inflation, admiration, interaction, and destruction, and looners can erotize any of these phases. For some, the desire is to watch the balloon get larger and larger during inflation. Others prefer to look at it once it’s in full form and interact with it in this state. It can involve touching, moving, watching, and using it as a tool for sex or self-pleasure.
Finally, those in the poppers community enjoy watching the balloons’ final stage of life—their destruction. Some enjoy watching them deflate; others enjoy popping them. The excitement and anticipation of not knowing exactly when a balloon will pop arouse the poppers and the experience of the explosion.
There’s a parallel in the pleasure of watching a balloon get larger and larger and burst as an orgasm builds and then releases – so I see the sexual attraction there.
Many poppers enjoy watching folks they are attracted to engage in this blow-to-pop experience, where they continue to put air into the balloon until it explodes. Others prefer to pop the balloon using cigarettes or pins. It can also be a fun experience for poppers to pop the balloon through various forms of physical stimulation, such as rubbing against the balloon, sitting on it, having sex on it, squeezing it, using it as a sex toy, or jumping on it.
Poppers vs. Non-Poppers
Within the Looner community, there’s a significant separation between poppers, with a balloon-popping fetish, and non-poppers.
Where the popper enjoys watching a balloon pop, the non-popper will do anything to protect it and not let it get destroyed. Some folks fear loud noises, a condition known as phonophobia, and will do anything not to let a balloon burst.
I read online that one non-popper described a balloon pop prematurely as synonymous with having your vibrator die when you’re close to orgasm. You don’t want your pleasure tool to stop doing its job before mama’s had hers!
For the non-poppers, there’s a significant variance in how they play around with balloons. Some folks enjoy placing a balloon under their genitals and bouncing on it, known as boinking! Others enjoy an act called stuffing, where they blow up a balloon underneath their baggy clothing, almost like they’re pretending to be pregnant.
The sexual pleasure comes from experiencing the tactile stimulation of the balloon on their skin and feeling overcome by the growing object. Read more about pregnancy kink fetish here.
How Common Is A Balloon Fetish?
As with most fetishes, it’s nearly impossible to know precisely the breadth of balloon fetishism. However, compared to most other fetishes I have explored, looning is among the less common fetishes.
An online balloon fetish forum called Balloon Buddies is a group where loonies can be matched with pen pals to discuss their fetish. Balloon Buddies started in 1976, which is impressively early to normalize this type of desire.
In terms of gender breakdown, most in the balloon fetish community identify as male. But I have seen one or two non-binary folks and women on the forums. Additionally, although most content seems to be women engaging in acts designed to be consumed by a straight man, a couple of sites specifically have men engaging in actions seemingly intended for gay looners.
But Which Balloons Are Best?
Looners have specific tastes regarding which balloons do the job best. Folks on Reddit seem to prefer the brand Qualatex because of its durability and because it makes more giant balloons.
There are online shops where they can shop for sexy balloons because it can be pretty scary for looners to go to a party store. Some may become over-stimulated by the balloon’s sexiness, as it may feel like going into a store full of sexy naked people. For other balloon people, it may be hard to describe to a salesperson precisely what they are looking for in a balloon without getting some funky looks.
Online, some inflated balloons are explicitly for sitting and having sex on, so it seems that the quality is often better online.
How Do You Play Around With Balloons?
For those engaging with a partner, balloon fetishes can be a stand-alone foreplay act or integrated into intercourse. For some, it can be as simple as watching your sex partner blow up a balloon, or it can involve using an ultra-strong balloon as a sexy pillow during intercourse.
Buzzfeed spoke to a woman named Maggy (30), who explained:
“Balloons fascinate me. If I sit on a balloon, the intense pressure and rubbing really turn me on. I’m attracted to how such a fragile and delicate object can handle so much pressure. On the one hand, balloons are smooth and soft, but then, on the other, they’re so firm and robust. That’s awesome!”
She further elaborates, as a popper:
“A balloon nestles against your body, and the latex feels warm and soft. The pressure builds, and it gets so hard before the balloon pops, of course. When you sit on it, you feel this enormous pressure under you. It’s always a thrill because you can’t stop worrying about it popping. I really flip if my husband holds an inflated balloon against my vagina and then blows it up with his mouth. Feeling the way the balloon is expanding and how the pressure is building and getting more intense makes me almost ache with pleasure.”
There are a seemingly endless number of ways to play and receive pleasure from a balloon. From having a partner blow a balloon up until it pops to having sex surrounded by balloons or even blowing up a balloon against one’s genitals, the balloon fetishist is creative in receiving pleasure from their object desire.
But Why Balloon Fetish?
For folks who grow up to develop a big balloon fetish, a memorable childhood experience often leads to the development of this unique arousal. For some, it can be as simple as having a balloon pop at a birthday party, and this becomes encoded as a significant event. While for others, it can be a more arousing experience.
For example, one fellow on Reddit described a memorable incident of watching a cute girl blow up a balloon while working as an ice cream stall cashier. This memory was implanted as significant and sexy, thus leading to the development of a fetish.
Another person on Reddit described having a recurring dream when he was younger of giant breasts he could bounce on, which he then began to associate with balloons. He also enjoyed playing with latex as a child. He used to pop latex gloves and receive an unusual enjoyment in the process when he was around 11.
I’ve also heard that for some folks, their popping balloon fetish developed as a balloon phobia. Some were able to shift this fear into arousal, where their fear of popping balloons became eroticized. It’s similar to how sometimes folks jealous of their partners can shift this jealousy into arousal.
How Do You Talk To A Partner About Looning?
Many balloon fetishists online were met with giggles when they shared their desires with their partners. For most partners, the stars were not so aligned that they were also into balloons, but many were open to exploring balloon sex with their partners. One example can be to watch balloon-popping videos together on YouTube.
Most importantly, your partner should never make you feel ashamed for having a fetish, especially such a cute, albeit unusual, one. Enjoying balloons can be an exciting way to sexually explore and have fun and unique experiences in your sex life!
Happy popping (or not popping), depending on your preference!
Niki
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i have been intrrested with balloons since the mid 70 when ny first and late girlfriend showed me how we can ride on them i will never for get her,xx