When (and, TBH, if) you think of balloons, you may recall the thrill of blowing them up and decorating your backyard on your birthday or that one kid at the party who maliciously popped them in everyone’s faces to get attention. For most of us, balloons tend to play a lesser role in our lives as we age for, you know, obvious reasons. But for folks in the looner community—aka those who are aroused by balloons—these childhood experiences often pave the way for a lifetime infatuation with the pleasure and delight of balloons. And yes, it’s a sex thing.
Each looner’s desires can manifest in unique ways. Some common themes include being sexually aroused by watching balloons inflate, engaging in sexual activities on top of them, using them as a tool for sexual stimulation, and enjoying watching them pop. (Orrr absolutely hating watching them pop—more on that later.) Dr. Justin Lehmiller, who facilitated the largest and most comprehensive study of sexual fantasies to date, admits that balloons were one of the few things he neglected to ask about in his questionnaires—which, fair. However, he postulates that the appeal of balloons is often about a combination of factors such as “their vivid coloring, how they feel in your hands or against your body, the way they smell, and/or the way they sound when manipulated or popped.”
Regardless of how or why its members got there, one thing’s for sure about the Looner community: it’s out here freaking flourishing. There are specialized sex balloon manufacturers, active forums, Fetlife groups, and even the occasional looner event. In these spaces, looners exchange support and explore the essential questions like, “Which balloon shapes do you wish existed?” and “What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever put inside a balloon?” (Answers range from vibrators to nipples and all kinds of body parts…I’ll let you use your imagination.)
Curious? Same, which is why I went ahead and got inside the head, heart, and life of a looner—or several of them, rather. Here’s what I learned.
So, who are the looners?
The looner community is an unsurprisingly fun crowd. FYI, I’m a fetish expert and coach who has been collecting the stories of those with less common desires for some time, and looners stand out as a unique, fascinating, and highly diverse group.
Perhaps the starkest distinction within the community is between the “poppers” and the “non-poppers.” Although both groups are turned on by balloon inflation, poppers want to watch a balloon fill up until it explodes, while non-poppers DO NOT want a balloon to pop, no matter what. Some looners describe a balloon popping at the wrong time as synonymous with your vibrator dying right when you’re about to come—no bueno.
For others, it’s less about the inflation process and more about using blown-up balloons as a tool for sexual stimulation—enjoying the color, smell, tactile sensation, and silky-smooth movement. As Tom*, another looner who filled out my fetish survey, put it, “Think about how ephemeral and ethereal balloons are. They’re soft and fun to touch, they smell nice, and balloons make these lovely sounds. They draw my attention and stand out in a room. I can’t keep my eyes off them, ever.”
Where do looners come from?
My research into looner life led me to an early morning Zoom coffee date with the lovely Violet, a 28-year-old transgender woman who was beyond excited to tell me what the hype is all about. Interestingly, Violet’s fetish actually began with a real phobia of balloons.
“Balloons used to scare the living sh*t out of me,” she told me. Over time, she reprogrammed her brain to eroticize the fear, and let’s just say she’s come a long way in the process. Midway through our conversation, per my request, she peered at me through a translucent balloon almost half her size as I listened to her girlfriend, also a looner, giggling off-camera.
Our erotic desires often become imprinted during our early childhood experiences. Pretty much anything can become eroticized if we encounter it at the right time and in the right context. For example, older siblings who are exposed to pregnancy during their childhood are more likely to have a pregnancy fetish, simply because it is something that was in their world during a key stage of their development.
Considering many kids experience their fair share of balloon-filled adventures, it makes sense that for some folks, balloons would become, well, sexualized. As for how, exactly, this happens, registered psychotherapist Kat Kova has an interesting theory: “If you hear a balloon pop, you may respond emotionally with fear, surprise or curiosity, and physiologically respond with increased heart rate, breathing, and muscular contractions— followed by relaxation or relief.” This trajectory definitely rings true with another type of release (if you know what I mean), and the parallels may help explain how a seemingly non-sexy experience becomes eroticized. Indeed, another looner shared that, like Violet, their early childhood terror of balloons has since manifested in a fetish centered around watching beautiful women blowing them up.
This theory tracks physically as well, BTW. According to Kova, muscular contractions in the abdomen, pelvic floor, and legs—all of which can happen when you’re scared—can also trigger activation of the genital region. So perhaps a balloon pops, you get scared, contract your muscles, and pop, you’ve got yourself a balloon fetish.
But fear isn’t the only thing that can trigger this kind of response. Psychologist and sex therapist Nazanin Moali, PhD explains that conditioning happens when something neutral becomes paired with strong negative or positive emotions. Yet another looner’s origin story involved finding themselves alone in a room with a balloon and noticing a pleasurable sensation they felt when rubbing against it. Although the balloon may have been used just because it happened to be there, the excitement of this encounter may have been enough for balloons to become associated with sexual arousal and therefore imprinted as erotic. Basically, having a high-salience experience of any kind involving balloons may lead to a looner fetish down the road.
Balloons for exploration and healing
While this kink may seem all light-hearted quirkiness, there’s more to looner life than just getting horny for latex. Alexis, a 28-year-old trans woman, says balloons helped her process her gender dysphoria. “I hated touching my genitals for so long. Instead of having to deal with the parts I was born with, I was able to grind against a balloon and have an actual orgasm just like any other girl, without feeling the disgust of having to touch the body part I wish I never had.”
Alexis adds that her balloon fetish helped her heal from trauma after a sexual assault. “I never let anyone touch me for years after my assault, but balloons offered a source of comfort for me—cuddling with a latex balloon being as close as I could comfortably get to skin-to-skin contact for a while.”
I’ve also encountered more than one person with asexual tendencies who found balloons to be one of the only ways they were interested in sexually exploring. “If it weren’t for balloons, I probably wouldn’t have any sort of sexual life at all,” says Sam*. “For me, having sexual activities with a balloon is the most ‘innocent’ way to have sex because you don’t need to be nude, you don’t need a partner, and there’s no penetration.”
The dark side of the balloon
Looners represent a microcosm of humanity—a wide range of unique, creative, and diverse folks! Unfortunately, that also means there are bound to be a few bad apples in the mix because, you know, humans. 30-year-old content creator Cyrus* notes that some male looners shove female creators aside, using them for their content without properly supporting or reimbursing them for their work. Violet also reported some unkosher behavior, sharing that some non-poppers were so upset with her balloon-popping content that she received death threats.
Some looners also reported receiving mixed responses from their partners. Although many folks like Violet have found love with fellow looners and/or partners who are otherwise receptive to their fetish, others have faced judgment (“Balloons, really?”), misunderstanding (“What, so you’re turned on by kids at parties?!”), and even jealousy (“Are you going to leave me for a balloon?”)—all of which, FYI, are completely ridiculous.
Alas, we still live in a world with a long way to go in becoming sex-positive. If you struggle to navigate a less common desire, consider talking to a sex therapist or coach like myself, or help normalize fetishes by anonymously sharing your story here. For the rest of us, instead of judging the desires we don’t understand, might I suggest exploring the different facets of sexuality as you would distinct culinary or film genre preferences? As long as everything is safe and consensual, there is truly no reason to “yuck anybody’s yum,” as they say. After all, as one looner concluded, “We all like balloons—looners just like them a little more than the rest of us.”
*Name has been changed.
Freelance Writer
Niki Davis-Fainbloom is a Canadian-born, New York-based sex educator, writer, researcher, and coach. Since receiving her Master’s degree studying the psychology of sexual dysfunction from NYU, she has facilitated hundreds of sexual education workshops at locations including Planned Parenthood, New York University, and The United Nations. After studying sex therapy at Guelph University, she has also built up her coaching practice, specializing in working with kinks and fetishes, ethical non-monogamy, and, most importantly, pleasure. Her work uses up-to-date research, humor, and practical advice to help people develop the skills to have healthier and more satisfying romantic and sexual relationships.