Now, I'm not trying to get into an argument about "real" fetishists, so don't get your panties in a bunch (unless you're into that, and then I say have fun). But there is a difference between someone who grew up with a fetish and someone who acquired it later in life.
I'm not saying that one is better than the other, or that somehow anyone who didn't attach themselves to their fetish object early in life doesn't really count. But I am saying that those whose philia is a result of childhood experiences will experience the fetish object differently than someone who came upon the fetish from adult experimentation.
For one thing, I think that lifelong Globophiles are less likely to have multiple fetishes, and further are more likely to have a fairly narrow range of what they find stimulating within the context of balloon activities. To use myself as an example, I think that my attachment to balloons first formed because I was afraid of balloons and horrified at losing them to popping. I formed a physical attachment to the way they felt against my skin, and spent a lot of time in contact with them. This all started before I can remember.
When I reached puberty, that physical contact got attached to sexual arousal, and I started to connect balloons and girls, getting a strong desire to see girls in intimate contact with balloons. Oddly, in my teens, I connected the close physical contact with watching girls sitting on balloons and popping them, and it became the main focus of my arousal. This was before I could tolerate popping balloons myself, but it got me thinking about it.
It wasn't until I was in my twenties that I started popping balloons, first experimenting with pins and such (just to get past the fear) but quickly moving to more intimate ways of popping them. Now, this sounds like a lot of changes, but after more than 50 years, my relationship with balloons really is narrowed to close contact (more watching women in close contact) and popping by close contact.
I also like blow-to-pop (by mouth), although I can't myself, and to tell the truth I've never understood why I like it. I find it arousing, but at the same time I feel like a chance for that intimate contact has been wasted.
My interest in balloons has not branched out to popping with pins, cigarettes, feet, fire, heat, overinflation by machine, lasers, or orange oil. I like to watch non-popping play, but somehow find it less satisfying without the pop, like sex without the orgasm. On the other hand, my in-person experiences with balloons rarely involve popping because my wife doesn't like to pop balloons.
I also haven't branched out to vinyl, latex clothing, or mylars, much less S&M, B&D, shoes, leather, furries, or any one of the other uncountable fetishes I've heard of. I'm not even that much into lingerie. For someone with sexual feelings toward an inanimate object, I really am not all that interested in experimentation.
And I get the feeling that there are a lot of people out there just like me. I don't mean people that have the same narrow set of interests—although that's certainly possible. I'm talking about people who have their own set of narrow interests. Like the poor souls who comment on YouTube videos of young ladies blowing up balloons: "Please pop with bare feet." They may gravitate toward all kind of balloons videos, but only in the hopes of seeing those uncovered feet pressing themselves firmly into the inflated latex until the inevitable, satisfying bang. It's what really turns them on. And it does absolutely nothing for me.
If you're one of those who's new to sex play with balloons, you probably try all kinds of different things, and while some turn you on more than others, I'll wager that what really get you going is the variety, the chance to do something different, and maybe even the chance to feel a little naughty doing something outside what's considered normal.
Maybe that's a fetish in itself, being sexually aroused by novelty. I wonder if it has a name. I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.
