In today’s WTF, I read an article on HuffPo about a sexual fetish I’ve never heard of previously: balloon fetish. “Looners” as those who have this fetish are called, come in two categories, poppers and non-poppers.
Poppers get their latex love on with the anticipation of the pop as they blow their ‘life force’ into the balloon. They liken the pop of the balloon to an orgasm. Um, okay. National Geographic has a series called “Taboo” and Elle is showcased there as a popper. A dominatrix from Denver, she loves the bang she gets from the balloon popping.Non-poppers are even more puzzling; they hug, kiss and snuggle with the balloon. A non-popper has described his balloons as children and if they pop it is as though a child has died.
Take Dave Collins for instance. He is a 27 year old piano teacher in Arkansas who not only is a non-popper, but he ‘rescues’ balloons from car dealerships. He claims he doesn’t sexualize balloons, but if you look at the National Geographic clip, you cannot help but wonder if this is indeed true. ‘The best way to protect it is underneath the shirt and you feel the balloon right there with you,’ he explains, wincing and unable to finish his sentence. ‘It feels so close and you feels so warm and you feel so…and your heart just reaches out to this beautiful beautiful balloon.’
A quick Google search of “balloon fetish” yields a gold mine of information. Balloonfetish.org give a fascinating account of a 19 year old Danish programmer named Dennis and how his non-popping fetish started. Let’s just say that Dennis’ trip to the dollar store as a teen was a target rich environment for him. One of his happiest days was when he was old enough to get a credit card to purchase big balloons at Kaboom Balloon in the US. Kaboom indeed.
There are many Youtube channels for looners as well. This one below from Gosy Looner is a doozy. (NSFW)
