At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post about the balloons I enjoyed when I was young. In it, I made two statements that I now know to be incorrect. And I'm delighted.
The first was that Qualatex no longer makes 9-inch balloons. I thought so because I couldn't find them in Pioneer's current catalog. But I did find them from my supplier, BalloonsFAST, and they are fresh stock. So, if you like smaller balloons, that's one place to find them.
The other statement I made is, "If I had a bag of Qualatex 9s, I'm not sure I would really enjoy them that much." Well, I couldn't resist. Along with my annual purchase of balloons for decorating and fun, I ordered my fondly-remembered 9s, a bag of standard colors, just like I remember.
It took a while before I had the house to myself, but when I did, I put on a pair of sleep pants and a T-shirt, blew up more than a dozen of the small balloons, which goes a lot faster than it does with 11s, and stuffed my pants and my shirt full.
And it felt wonderful. It was the same friendly feeling that I had all along, my lovely balloons pressed against my skin. I lay down on them and savored the feeling and being pressed so tightly against them, an act that I would not have dared as a child, and only figured out was safe as a young adult.
Of course, if one of them popped now, I would be startled, but I would also probably have enjoyed it.
As it happened, none popped by accident. It was just an hour or so of sensual pleasure. But, much to my surprise, it did not excite me sexually, at all.
And when I noticed that, I remembered that, as a young adult, when I would wear balloons around my apartment just to enjoy the feeling, it was the same way. The sexual pleasures were usually separate, and the only sexual feeling I had in regards to stuffing balloons in clothing were when I would imagine women doing it, or (very rarely) actually get to watch a woman do it.
I hadn't worn balloon in my clothing this way since early in my marriage, not since I had children. But it won't be the last time. And popping the balloons after was definitely a sexual delight. So I got the best of both worlds.
So I guess, in some ways, you can go back again.
Showing posts with label fetish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fetish. Show all posts
Friday, November 18, 2016
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Balloons Of My Youth
I'm not that adventurous when it comes to the variety of balloons I play with. Buying Tilly 76s was a big step for me. Almost as big as finding the courage to blow them up. Mostly I have Qualatex 11s and 16s, and I don't even get the chance to use the 16s that often.
Those balloon sizes are actually a change from what I grew up with. It mostly had to do with availability, but I do sometime have a little bit of longing for the balloons I used to play with as a child, a teen, and a young adult, and frankly I think they affected the course of my fetish. It may have manifested itself very differently had I had access to the balloons I use now.
For one thing, the balloons of my youth were smaller. I often was limited to what we used to call "penny balloons," which I now know were 5s and 318s. Most of these were cheap brands, some were from Bluebird (Ashland), but occasionally I would get lucky and find Qualatex.
I remember the original Qualatex clown logo from when I was very little. It was the brand my doctor gave me after a visit. Can you even imagine doctors handing out uninflated balloons now, with latex allergies and choking hazard concerns? Wow.
The balloons my doctor gave out, though, were not 5s or 318s, they were 9s, which seemed like big balloons to me at the time. They are also the balloons I began to stuff into my pajamas. Would I have started that if the balloons had been bigger? I mean, two inches doesn't seem like much, but it makes a real difference.
Anyway, that's just speculation. I have a lot of fond memories of developing my fetish for balloon with nine-inch balloons. Sadly, as far as I can tell, Qualatex no longer makes them.
Also missing from the Qualatex line-up are 318s and 524s, the long balloons I also used to enjoy slipping down the legs of my PJs on the rare occasions when I had them. I had the same fear of blowing them up that I recently experienced with the Tillys. I had a lot more accidental pops with airships then with round balloons. Keep in mind that I was a complete non-popper until my teens.
I also remember the colors being different, especially for a time when I was a young adult. The greens and pinks, especially, had a different quality to them that I can't describe. If I saw them today, I probably wouldn't find them as attractive as the standard colors now, and of course, they didn't have the beautiful jewel tones that I mostly buy now. But those color do bring back memories.
I also remember that black balloons never got firm. I never blew them up even close to popping, of course, but they stayed so soft and squishy. I enjoyed that, but I also always expected them to pop too easily. Even now, I prefer a balloon that takes some punishment before it gives up.
There's no sense trying to recapture the past. Not only are those balloons no longer available, but I've changed, too. My balloon play is different, and with a wife and children, my circumstances are very different, too. If I had a bag of Qualatex 9s, I'm not sure I would really enjoy them that much.
But I'm glad I had them when I did. They serve me just fine as satisfying memories.
Those balloon sizes are actually a change from what I grew up with. It mostly had to do with availability, but I do sometime have a little bit of longing for the balloons I used to play with as a child, a teen, and a young adult, and frankly I think they affected the course of my fetish. It may have manifested itself very differently had I had access to the balloons I use now.
For one thing, the balloons of my youth were smaller. I often was limited to what we used to call "penny balloons," which I now know were 5s and 318s. Most of these were cheap brands, some were from Bluebird (Ashland), but occasionally I would get lucky and find Qualatex.
I remember the original Qualatex clown logo from when I was very little. It was the brand my doctor gave me after a visit. Can you even imagine doctors handing out uninflated balloons now, with latex allergies and choking hazard concerns? Wow.
The balloons my doctor gave out, though, were not 5s or 318s, they were 9s, which seemed like big balloons to me at the time. They are also the balloons I began to stuff into my pajamas. Would I have started that if the balloons had been bigger? I mean, two inches doesn't seem like much, but it makes a real difference.
Anyway, that's just speculation. I have a lot of fond memories of developing my fetish for balloon with nine-inch balloons. Sadly, as far as I can tell, Qualatex no longer makes them.
Also missing from the Qualatex line-up are 318s and 524s, the long balloons I also used to enjoy slipping down the legs of my PJs on the rare occasions when I had them. I had the same fear of blowing them up that I recently experienced with the Tillys. I had a lot more accidental pops with airships then with round balloons. Keep in mind that I was a complete non-popper until my teens.
I also remember the colors being different, especially for a time when I was a young adult. The greens and pinks, especially, had a different quality to them that I can't describe. If I saw them today, I probably wouldn't find them as attractive as the standard colors now, and of course, they didn't have the beautiful jewel tones that I mostly buy now. But those color do bring back memories.
I also remember that black balloons never got firm. I never blew them up even close to popping, of course, but they stayed so soft and squishy. I enjoyed that, but I also always expected them to pop too easily. Even now, I prefer a balloon that takes some punishment before it gives up.
There's no sense trying to recapture the past. Not only are those balloons no longer available, but I've changed, too. My balloon play is different, and with a wife and children, my circumstances are very different, too. If I had a bag of Qualatex 9s, I'm not sure I would really enjoy them that much.
But I'm glad I had them when I did. They serve me just fine as satisfying memories.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Welcome the New Year
Another year underway. Of course, I'm hoping that it will include more balloons than last year, and more chances for some erotic play with balloons.
I know that I have a good head start on my other balloon-related goal for the year: to publish two new books of short stories. I've already mentioned what they are, so I'm not giving away any surprises. I just wanted to let you know that I am making progress.
On the stories. On the erotic play? We'll see how that works out.
I know that I have a good head start on my other balloon-related goal for the year: to publish two new books of short stories. I've already mentioned what they are, so I'm not giving away any surprises. I just wanted to let you know that I am making progress.
On the stories. On the erotic play? We'll see how that works out.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Feeling Frisky
I get to thinking a lot about balloons this time of year anyway, what with New Year's Eve coming up and all. But this year, I'm thinking about it even more as I sit down every day to write erotic balloon fiction.
The problem, really, with writing two collections at the same time, is that every day I'm dreaming about two different fantasies. And it's not just writing, of course; I have to imagine myself living the experience of my characters, even in the less realistic stories, to make them as exciting as I can manage to make them.
In the more realistic stories, I have to think, "what would my character do and want in this situation?"
In the less realistic stories, I have to think, "what is the best thing that could happen in this situation (even if it's not very likely)?'
And whichever of those things I am thinking, I get to thinking, "I wish I was having some fun with a balloon right now."
Alas, it the opportunity rarely presents itself. I don't think I'll even get much chance on New Year's Eve, because of family obligations, although I think my wife will give me a rain check.
But whenever I get the chance, it's going to seem like a long way away.
The problem, really, with writing two collections at the same time, is that every day I'm dreaming about two different fantasies. And it's not just writing, of course; I have to imagine myself living the experience of my characters, even in the less realistic stories, to make them as exciting as I can manage to make them.
In the more realistic stories, I have to think, "what would my character do and want in this situation?"
In the less realistic stories, I have to think, "what is the best thing that could happen in this situation (even if it's not very likely)?'
And whichever of those things I am thinking, I get to thinking, "I wish I was having some fun with a balloon right now."
Alas, it the opportunity rarely presents itself. I don't think I'll even get much chance on New Year's Eve, because of family obligations, although I think my wife will give me a rain check.
But whenever I get the chance, it's going to seem like a long way away.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Collected
Well, I've finally got it done. The collected balloon fetish short stories of Tim Popper are now available as a single volume, and I've got to say, it's a great deal. The Kindle version is only six dollars, and you can get a printed copy for only $11 (and it's eligible for free shipping for orders over $35).
If you want to get a good preview. the "look inside" feature on Amazon (only working for the Kindle edition as of this writing, but the print preview will come along soon) will give you a good taste of the collection. The book is long enough that you can read the entire first story, a flash fiction piece called Trust, in the preview, and see a good portion of my new story Popping In.
Right now the print and Kindle editions are showing up in search listings separately, but I've contacted customer service and it should be resolved very soon (CreateSpace has great customer service). Once that happens, I'll include links to the new book on the sidebar of this blog.
Because I now have all of these stories available as a collection, which is definitely the most economical way to get them, I will probably stop promoting the individual short stories here and on Twitter, and concentrate on trying to tell people about the book. But I'll still keep them available separately as Kindle books for those who want them ala carte.
I've got lots of housekeeping work to do on the publishing side, so I won't be that visible on social media for a little while. But I'll be back.
Meanwhile, enjoy the stories, and many happy balloons.
If you want to get a good preview. the "look inside" feature on Amazon (only working for the Kindle edition as of this writing, but the print preview will come along soon) will give you a good taste of the collection. The book is long enough that you can read the entire first story, a flash fiction piece called Trust, in the preview, and see a good portion of my new story Popping In.
Right now the print and Kindle editions are showing up in search listings separately, but I've contacted customer service and it should be resolved very soon (CreateSpace has great customer service). Once that happens, I'll include links to the new book on the sidebar of this blog.
Because I now have all of these stories available as a collection, which is definitely the most economical way to get them, I will probably stop promoting the individual short stories here and on Twitter, and concentrate on trying to tell people about the book. But I'll still keep them available separately as Kindle books for those who want them ala carte.
I've got lots of housekeeping work to do on the publishing side, so I won't be that visible on social media for a little while. But I'll be back.
Meanwhile, enjoy the stories, and many happy balloons.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
It's Here
My new story, Popping In, a New Year's Eve popping fantasy, is now available in the Kindle store. As I said in my last post, if you haven't read all of my stories, you might want to wait a few days and buy my entire collection instead of buying this individual story.
You also might want to hold off if you, like me, like holding a physical book in your hot little hands, to bookmark, highlight, dog-ear, and lend to a friend, because the collection is the only way to get these stories in print format.
And, the collection has two bonus works of flash fiction that I think you'll enjoy that are not available separately.
Whatever works for you, I hope you enjoy the stories, and I promise more in the months and years to come.
You also might want to hold off if you, like me, like holding a physical book in your hot little hands, to bookmark, highlight, dog-ear, and lend to a friend, because the collection is the only way to get these stories in print format.
And, the collection has two bonus works of flash fiction that I think you'll enjoy that are not available separately.
Whatever works for you, I hope you enjoy the stories, and I promise more in the months and years to come.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Coming Soon, But You Might Want To Wait
I'm publishing a new short story for Kindle in the next couple of days, a New Year's Eve popping fantasy called Popping In. But (and I don't think you expect an author to say this), you might not want to buy it right away.
That's because, within the next week, I will be releasing a collection of balloon stories that includes this new one, my three previously-published stories, and a couple of flash-fiction efforts that will only be available in the collection.
And the collection will be a bargain. Even in printed form, it will cost less than the combined price of the short stories on Kindle.
Of course, if you've read all my previous stories, you should probably get this one separately. But if you haven't, just be patient for a little bit longer and then you can pig out on 40,000 words of balloon-fetish erotica.
I'm getting exciting just thinking about it.
That's because, within the next week, I will be releasing a collection of balloon stories that includes this new one, my three previously-published stories, and a couple of flash-fiction efforts that will only be available in the collection.
And the collection will be a bargain. Even in printed form, it will cost less than the combined price of the short stories on Kindle.
Of course, if you've read all my previous stories, you should probably get this one separately. But if you haven't, just be patient for a little bit longer and then you can pig out on 40,000 words of balloon-fetish erotica.
I'm getting exciting just thinking about it.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Tilly!
My Tilly balloons came a few days ago, a couple of days ahead of schedule. They look amazing, and I can hardly wait to open them up and try them out. But, of course, I have to wait, because I'll have no privacy until school is back in session.
My wife and I are going to try to arrange some alone time in September, which seems like years away, and balloons are definitely on the menu. I won't report in detail on the alone time (don't think my wife would care for that), but I will report on the balloons.
A reminder, if you're reading this on the day of publication, Popping Out will be available for free on Kindle from tomorrow through Wednesday. Good time to get in on some very stimulating reading.
My wife and I are going to try to arrange some alone time in September, which seems like years away, and balloons are definitely on the menu. I won't report in detail on the alone time (don't think my wife would care for that), but I will report on the balloons.
A reminder, if you're reading this on the day of publication, Popping Out will be available for free on Kindle from tomorrow through Wednesday. Good time to get in on some very stimulating reading.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Free Stuff and Upcoming Stuff
Well, I did it. Withdrew from all my social media outlets except Twitter and this blog. It's been a little painful, but it has saved me much-needed time and attention for my real job.
Not to say I'm ignoring balloon fetish fiction entirely (and I'm certainly not ignoring my own balloon fetish, just so you know). I'm slowly writing a collection of short stories. I've complete one fairly substantial one, about a New Year's Eve party, and one very short one (short enough to be considered "flash fiction") about the angst before telling someone you love about your fetish.
Probably not writing this month, but when summer's over I will get back to it, aiming to have enough to publish by year's end or soon after.
Meanwhile, as sort of an apology for fading into the background, I'm offering my three short stories for free, starting today with Friends With Fetishes. Eric's Secret gets three free days starting next Monday, and Popping In a week after that.
Remember, you don't have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books; there are apps for pretty much everything, and even an online reader for those of you using devices and operating systems outside the mainstream.
I'll hope you'll enjoy them, let friends know about them, and, if you would be so kind, give each an honest review.
And follow me on Twitter, stop back by the blog every once in awhile, and even drop me a line from time to time.
I'm still here. I'm just being a little quiet.
Not to say I'm ignoring balloon fetish fiction entirely (and I'm certainly not ignoring my own balloon fetish, just so you know). I'm slowly writing a collection of short stories. I've complete one fairly substantial one, about a New Year's Eve party, and one very short one (short enough to be considered "flash fiction") about the angst before telling someone you love about your fetish.
Probably not writing this month, but when summer's over I will get back to it, aiming to have enough to publish by year's end or soon after.
Meanwhile, as sort of an apology for fading into the background, I'm offering my three short stories for free, starting today with Friends With Fetishes. Eric's Secret gets three free days starting next Monday, and Popping In a week after that.
Remember, you don't have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books; there are apps for pretty much everything, and even an online reader for those of you using devices and operating systems outside the mainstream.
I'll hope you'll enjoy them, let friends know about them, and, if you would be so kind, give each an honest review.
And follow me on Twitter, stop back by the blog every once in awhile, and even drop me a line from time to time.
I'm still here. I'm just being a little quiet.
Monday, June 8, 2015
May Have To Give In
I've been successfully resisting my strong urge to buy some Tilly Slim Jims for several months now, since I discovered them on eBay. It's not that they don't look like fun, it's mostly that I don't know that I've have any opportunities to put them to good use anytime in the next, well, five years or so until my kids leave home.
But now I have yet another reason to patronize the Tillotson family. If Neil Tillotson had done nothing more in his life than give us the latex balloon, people like me would still be forever in his debt. But he also created the Tillotson Foundation.
Recently, the Tollotson foundation, which supports charity in and around Coos County, donated $300,000 to various projects. This was a man who cared about the people in his community.
Neil might not have been one of us, but he gave us something special that changed our lives, I think for the better. I don't know if I would be the person that my wife fell in love with without my balloon fetish. Not that she loves my fetish so much, but I think I would be a different person without it.
When the Tillotson family decided to start making balloons again, they didn't start back up in Dixville Notch, but they didn't go far; just a little north to Colebrook, on the Canadian border.
I think this kind of dedication to both quality balloons and the local community deserve my support. I don't know when I'm going to get to try out my Tilly balloons, but I think I'll be buying some very soon.
But now I have yet another reason to patronize the Tillotson family. If Neil Tillotson had done nothing more in his life than give us the latex balloon, people like me would still be forever in his debt. But he also created the Tillotson Foundation.
Recently, the Tollotson foundation, which supports charity in and around Coos County, donated $300,000 to various projects. This was a man who cared about the people in his community.
Neil might not have been one of us, but he gave us something special that changed our lives, I think for the better. I don't know if I would be the person that my wife fell in love with without my balloon fetish. Not that she loves my fetish so much, but I think I would be a different person without it.
When the Tillotson family decided to start making balloons again, they didn't start back up in Dixville Notch, but they didn't go far; just a little north to Colebrook, on the Canadian border.
I think this kind of dedication to both quality balloons and the local community deserve my support. I don't know when I'm going to get to try out my Tilly balloons, but I think I'll be buying some very soon.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Brands Of Balloons
With my recent discovery that Tilly is back making balloons in the US again, I've been doing some thinking about an interesting aspect of balloon fetishes: brand preference.
Now, not being well-acquainted with fetishes other than my own, I don't know how much this applies beyond the world of sexual attraction to balloons, but many balloon fetishists are very selective about the brands they choose. Some are even fiercely loyal.
Like me. I rarely buy any brand other than Qualatex these days, and when I did buy other brands, earlier in my life, it was mostly out of curiosity or just because of availability. This has been my preference for as long as I can remember.
Now, Qualatex balloons are of good quality, but so are a lot of other brands, from what I've read from my fellow fetishists. Are Qualatex balloons superior from an objective standpoint? Well, I think that depends on what qualities you're looking for in balloons, and if you evaluate each brand based on your preference, you might be able to choose one brand over another in a side-by-side comparison based on your most important criteria.
Or maybe not. I think that for me, I buy Qualatex balloons because when I was forming my attachment to balloons, long before they engendered any sexual feelings in me, Qualatex was just what I thought a balloon was. I vaguely remember that my doctor, when I was very young, probably four, gave out balloons at the end of each visit. (Can you imagine that happening today, with liability and latex allergy worries?)
That memory is vague, but the memory of the Qualatex clown logo stands out vividly in my mind, and when I started buying balloons for myself, I always went looking for that logo. (Here I'm aging myself; that logo hasn't been used for many years, and I can't even find an image on the Web for it.)
So I have always associated Qualatex with what makes a balloon a balloon, for no rational reason. It seems to be ingrained into my fetish. I have used, and enjoyed, other balloon brands, but I always come back to Qualatex.
Maybe I'm unusual in that regard. Maybe others have developed their brand preferences over time, or have no preference, or no strong preference, as to brand. But I think that for at least some of us, the brand of balloon we choose is less a matter of rational thought and more a matter of impulses that ride along with our fetish.
I'm tempted from time to time to try some other brands, particularly Tilly. What keeps me away from Tilly is that all of their current balloons are rather large, and I just don't use large balloons often enough to try out another brand. But if they come out with something around the 12-inch range, I think my fate is sealed, and I'll have to give them a try.
But I have a feeling that, no matter how good they are, something in the back of my mind will tell me that they aren't as good as Qualatex. Whether that's actually true or not.
Now, Qualatex balloons are of good quality, but so are a lot of other brands, from what I've read from my fellow fetishists. Are Qualatex balloons superior from an objective standpoint? Well, I think that depends on what qualities you're looking for in balloons, and if you evaluate each brand based on your preference, you might be able to choose one brand over another in a side-by-side comparison based on your most important criteria.
Or maybe not. I think that for me, I buy Qualatex balloons because when I was forming my attachment to balloons, long before they engendered any sexual feelings in me, Qualatex was just what I thought a balloon was. I vaguely remember that my doctor, when I was very young, probably four, gave out balloons at the end of each visit. (Can you imagine that happening today, with liability and latex allergy worries?)
That memory is vague, but the memory of the Qualatex clown logo stands out vividly in my mind, and when I started buying balloons for myself, I always went looking for that logo. (Here I'm aging myself; that logo hasn't been used for many years, and I can't even find an image on the Web for it.)
So I have always associated Qualatex with what makes a balloon a balloon, for no rational reason. It seems to be ingrained into my fetish. I have used, and enjoyed, other balloon brands, but I always come back to Qualatex.
Maybe I'm unusual in that regard. Maybe others have developed their brand preferences over time, or have no preference, or no strong preference, as to brand. But I think that for at least some of us, the brand of balloon we choose is less a matter of rational thought and more a matter of impulses that ride along with our fetish.
I'm tempted from time to time to try some other brands, particularly Tilly. What keeps me away from Tilly is that all of their current balloons are rather large, and I just don't use large balloons often enough to try out another brand. But if they come out with something around the 12-inch range, I think my fate is sealed, and I'll have to give them a try.
But I have a feeling that, no matter how good they are, something in the back of my mind will tell me that they aren't as good as Qualatex. Whether that's actually true or not.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
The New Year
On New Year's Eve, of course, many a balloon fetishist's attention was focused on balloon fun. But that's only one night, and there's a whole new year coming up, and while I'd like to dream about it being a year filled with latex fun, the fact is that it will mostly be taken up by the day-to-day things I have to do to try and fulfill my goals.
In other words, this is a reminder, to my readers and perhaps to myself, that I am not just an author of balloon fetish stories. Like other fetishists, I'm just a regular guy with bills to pay and things I need to do to keep my family happy. And while I'd like to say that the balloon fantasies keep body and soul together (okay, maybe they help a little with the soul part), the fact is that balloon fetish stories will never put me on the bestseller list.
This is not to say that you won't be seeing any stories from me this year. In fact, I've outlined and entire book of them, as I've said before. It's just that this is not what I do for a living, and so, try as I might to keep a schedule for balloon fetish stories, those projects get bumped for paying work.
As you well know, there's more to life than balloons, and just as you can't spend all your waking hours playing with them, I can't spend all my time writing about them, even if I want to (and even writing about them is not much fun if I don't get time to play with them myself).
But the stories will come, and I'll be most appreciative when some of you out there care enough to spend a little of your time and money to read them.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
A Question For My Readers
As I mentioned in my last post, I am planning a book this coming year which will have a collection of shorter stories. I have developed a list of ideas, already about 13 story ideas. I am sure I will come up with more, and I’m just as sure that some of them will lead nowhere and have to be abandoned, but I expect when I am done I will have something on the order of a dozen stories in the book.
Now, here is my question: some of the stories will be about poppers, and some will be about non-poppers. Some of the non-popper’s stories will have depictions of accidental or unwanted popping. And there may be a couple of stories that involve both popping and not popping (for example, a non-popper who becomes a popper, or has to deal with a popper, or something like that). Should I put some kind of—I can’t think of a better way to put this—warning for each story? At the head of the story or in the table of contents, something that says if there’s popping, and in what context?
This isn’t something I’d normally do in a short story collection, but balloon fetish stories, I think, are taken more personally because of the subject matter. Do you want to know ahead of time what you’ll be running into? Or are you okay just diving in with the knowledge that you may find something that makes you feel uncomfortable?
Of course, it isn’t only the matter of popping or not popping that might make you feel uncomfortable with some of these stories. In short-short form, I feel less constrained, with less of a need to insure a happy ending for every single story, or to depict every balloon fetishist in the most positive light. It’s liberating, and it lets me explore more of the various aspects of this unusual sexual (and emotional) interest.
But you probably won’t like every story in the book, no matter what your preferences. And on that, you have already been forewarned.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Give and Take
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know that I’m married to a woman who does not share my sexual interest in balloons. I am very lucky, because she not only accepts my fetish as part of who I am (and thus part of why she fell in love with me in the first place), but that she will, within certain limits, indulge my fetish from time to time. She’ll also lets me share fantasies with her that she would never play out in real life, and that’s almost as good as indulging me in fact.
But it’s not a free-for-all. It can’t be. My wife has her own needs and desires, among them the need to be loved for herself and not because of what she is willing to do with balloons to satisfy me. It’s not easy to strike a balance between her needs and mine, and it’s not as simple as adding up the numbers, half the sex involving balloons and half of it not. My wife needs and deserves to know that making love to her is all about how she makes me feel, all by herself, without any help from my nearly-lifelong fetish. She needs to know that I am excited by the sight of her, and the way she touches me, and the way I feel when I touch her.
That’s why balloons are only involved in a small percentage of our sexual encounters. This is not a source of frustration for me; I love me wife and I love making love to her, and I don’t feel that anything is missing if there are no balloons in the bedroom. True that there are some things I wish she could do for me. And she tries, and even gets pretty far outside her comfort zone sometimes. And for that I love her even more. But I can only push so far, and I value my marriage too much to push any further.
You see, a fetish can be very powerful. Its seeds usually go back beyond our earliest memories, and so it has been part of our lives, including our sexual feelings, for much longer than we have known our partner. That can be threatening to a relationship. If too many sexual encounters involve the fetish, how does your partner know whether you’re excited by him or her, or only by the object of your fetish?
That’s why communication is so important. You have to give permission, in so many words if necessary, for your partner to say “enough,” that the fetish has been taking over and needs a break. And you have to be willing to honor that, to reconnect with the one you love, one-to-one, without your “other lover” in the room.
Would I give up my balloons if my wife asked me to? That’s a tough one. I don’t think I could ever feel differently about them. But if she wanted to ban them from the bedroom, I think I’d have to say yes, I would. Fortunately, I see no signs of that happening, and after over a quarter-century of marriage we’ve worked it out pretty well.
But it didn’t just happen; we made it turn out this way. Together.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Hot Fetish
I don’t normally write about other fetishes, but there was something on Twitter that got me thinking. Someone posted: "I tried finding funny fetishes but they're all really boring like balloon I already know it, why does no one have a fire fetish or a ww2 fet.” And I thought, “Fire fetish? There has to be a fire fetish. It didn’t take me long to find one, and so I answered the tweet.
But that got me thinking further. With a balloon fetish, most of the things that we fantasize about most, even if they scare some of us (me, for example), are unlikely to actually harm us. But someone who, as the poster at isitnormal.com said, fantasizes about having "sex with someone while both of our clothes and the bed are on fire and we are getting burned a bit but we don't care because we are having too much sex to care,” is unlikely to be able to fulfill that fantasy without risking lives.
But bringing that fantasy to life on-screen, in this day of cheap special effects, might be pretty easy. Not that I’m up for it (too many projects in front of my keyboard, thank you very much), but if I fetish producer wanted to go after that niche, he or she wouldn’t even have to actually set anything on fire. Which was not true even a decade ago without some serious computing muscle and expensive software. But if you have a Mac and Apple Motion, and are very creative with lighting and sound effects, you could conceivably create a sex scene with lovers literally on fire.
And for some, it would definitely be hot.
But that got me thinking further. With a balloon fetish, most of the things that we fantasize about most, even if they scare some of us (me, for example), are unlikely to actually harm us. But someone who, as the poster at isitnormal.com said, fantasizes about having "sex with someone while both of our clothes and the bed are on fire and we are getting burned a bit but we don't care because we are having too much sex to care,” is unlikely to be able to fulfill that fantasy without risking lives.
But bringing that fantasy to life on-screen, in this day of cheap special effects, might be pretty easy. Not that I’m up for it (too many projects in front of my keyboard, thank you very much), but if I fetish producer wanted to go after that niche, he or she wouldn’t even have to actually set anything on fire. Which was not true even a decade ago without some serious computing muscle and expensive software. But if you have a Mac and Apple Motion, and are very creative with lighting and sound effects, you could conceivably create a sex scene with lovers literally on fire.
And for some, it would definitely be hot.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
From Kink to Fetish to the DSM
What is the difference between a kink and a fetish? And are either of them anything to worry about?
I often see postings on Internet sites about people who are "experimenting" with a balloon fetish, or just "getting into it." And I think they're using the term in too broad a sense. Now, I'm not going to get into a fight over semantics, but I think the difference is worth noting. If you are experimenting with a sexual variation, like sexual activity with balloons, for example, I don't think you are participating in a fetish; I think you are trying out a kink.
It's something you are deciding to do, something you want to try out. It's not something that you feel compelled by some inner feeling to do, and most likely if you decided to give it up tomorrow, you could do so without any difficulty.
This applies to any kinky sex you might decided to experiment with, not just balloons, but since this is a blog about balloons and sex, we'll stick to that topic.
And as kinks go, I think balloon play is probably a pretty good one. It's harmless, with a low risk of injury. Balloons are fun, sensual, and yet in some ways kind of scary, though in a superficial sense. That is, the balloons won't really hurt you, but popping them might give some enough adrenaline rush to provide some extra stimulation.
I wouldn't know. I can't see balloons the way others do without it being influenced by my very real fetish, something I did not choose, feelings that just happened to me along the way, starting very early in my life. They are ingrained in me, and I can't just decide that I don't want to be turned on by them (or afraid of them or emotionally attached to them) and change my feelings overnight.
If I did want to make such a change (and I don't), it would be a long battle, and I truthfully believe that some vestige of those feelings would just never go away. And that, in my opinion, is the difference between a fetish and a kink.
That and the fact that I am convinced that not all fetishes are sexual, whereas all kinks are, by their nature. There's nothing wrong with that; I have nothing against kinky sex or experimentation as long as no one gets hurt, but I do care about the difference, personally.
Now, what about the second question: is kinky sex or fetishism anything to worry about?
I once had a commenter on Twitter tell me I need to see a psychiatrist. I was tempted to reply: "I don't think you'd agree with what the psychiatrist had to say." (I resisted the temptation.) Because according to the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), which is what the psychiatric profession uses as a guide, fetishism in itself is not any kind of disorder.
There is something called fetishistic disorder, but that only comes into play if the fetish interferes with the subject's daily life. I wouldn't qualify. It's true, I do sometimes get very anxious when I'm around balloons in public, but that has little to do with my fetish and everything to do with my phobia.
So, whether you're doing balloons as a lark, or you're in it for the long haul through no choice of your own, there's nothing to be concerned about.
As long as nobody gets hurt.
NOTE: If you arrived here from Wikipedia, you should know that citing my blog as a source for what DSM has to say is a bit misleading to say the least. To see my opinion about that, click here.
I often see postings on Internet sites about people who are "experimenting" with a balloon fetish, or just "getting into it." And I think they're using the term in too broad a sense. Now, I'm not going to get into a fight over semantics, but I think the difference is worth noting. If you are experimenting with a sexual variation, like sexual activity with balloons, for example, I don't think you are participating in a fetish; I think you are trying out a kink.
It's something you are deciding to do, something you want to try out. It's not something that you feel compelled by some inner feeling to do, and most likely if you decided to give it up tomorrow, you could do so without any difficulty.
This applies to any kinky sex you might decided to experiment with, not just balloons, but since this is a blog about balloons and sex, we'll stick to that topic.
And as kinks go, I think balloon play is probably a pretty good one. It's harmless, with a low risk of injury. Balloons are fun, sensual, and yet in some ways kind of scary, though in a superficial sense. That is, the balloons won't really hurt you, but popping them might give some enough adrenaline rush to provide some extra stimulation.
I wouldn't know. I can't see balloons the way others do without it being influenced by my very real fetish, something I did not choose, feelings that just happened to me along the way, starting very early in my life. They are ingrained in me, and I can't just decide that I don't want to be turned on by them (or afraid of them or emotionally attached to them) and change my feelings overnight.
If I did want to make such a change (and I don't), it would be a long battle, and I truthfully believe that some vestige of those feelings would just never go away. And that, in my opinion, is the difference between a fetish and a kink.
That and the fact that I am convinced that not all fetishes are sexual, whereas all kinks are, by their nature. There's nothing wrong with that; I have nothing against kinky sex or experimentation as long as no one gets hurt, but I do care about the difference, personally.
Now, what about the second question: is kinky sex or fetishism anything to worry about?
I once had a commenter on Twitter tell me I need to see a psychiatrist. I was tempted to reply: "I don't think you'd agree with what the psychiatrist had to say." (I resisted the temptation.) Because according to the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), which is what the psychiatric profession uses as a guide, fetishism in itself is not any kind of disorder.
There is something called fetishistic disorder, but that only comes into play if the fetish interferes with the subject's daily life. I wouldn't qualify. It's true, I do sometimes get very anxious when I'm around balloons in public, but that has little to do with my fetish and everything to do with my phobia.
So, whether you're doing balloons as a lark, or you're in it for the long haul through no choice of your own, there's nothing to be concerned about.
As long as nobody gets hurt.
NOTE: If you arrived here from Wikipedia, you should know that citing my blog as a source for what DSM has to say is a bit misleading to say the least. To see my opinion about that, click here.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Fetishist From Birth?
After my last entry, someone on Facebook was discussing the post, and talked about being "born with the fetish." And I asked, as an aside, "Do you think we're born with the fetish?" Because I don't actually think that's true. I think that, even for true fetishists (a subject my predecessor touched on a couple of years ago), there is an event, before our earliest memories, that triggered some reaction to balloons that became an attachment to balloons which became, for most of us, a sexual connection to balloons, of some stripe.
But I could be completely wrong.
Anyone who claims to know how fetishes occur is blowing smoke into your balloon. Because, for us who truly have the fetish, our reaction to balloons was never something we chose. It was a reaction to something that happened to us; exactly what we have no way of knowing because most likely it happened in that time before we were four while we were forming memories that, for whatever reason, don't stay with us.
But born with it? Well, of course, there's no gene or birth trauma that makes us have a particular fetish. We're not born to love balloons, specifically. But maybe, just maybe, we're born to have this kind of attachment. After all, there are a lot of fetishists in the world, if you count all the fetishes that there are. Maybe there is a rather large subset of the populace is predisposed to have an emotional and/or sexual attachment to some object or another, with the particulars of which object falling to the whims of circumstance.
I don't know. And I don't think anyone else does either. My inclination is that fetishism is more likely an awakening of propensities that almost all of us share, but some incident or series of incidents turns the attachment process on its head and sends us in an unusual direction (and, as I said, not all that unusual for fetishism as a whole).
Not necessarily a bad direction, either. Sometimes my life would be simpler if I didn't have a fetish for balloons. But for the most part the balloons not only bring me sexual excitement, but comfort and happiness as well. It would only be a problem if my fetish interfered with living a full and satisfying life. And frankly, if that was the case, it probably wouldn't be just the fetish that was the issue.
So, while I cannot say with any confidence why I feel as I do about balloons, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
But I could be completely wrong.
Anyone who claims to know how fetishes occur is blowing smoke into your balloon. Because, for us who truly have the fetish, our reaction to balloons was never something we chose. It was a reaction to something that happened to us; exactly what we have no way of knowing because most likely it happened in that time before we were four while we were forming memories that, for whatever reason, don't stay with us.
But born with it? Well, of course, there's no gene or birth trauma that makes us have a particular fetish. We're not born to love balloons, specifically. But maybe, just maybe, we're born to have this kind of attachment. After all, there are a lot of fetishists in the world, if you count all the fetishes that there are. Maybe there is a rather large subset of the populace is predisposed to have an emotional and/or sexual attachment to some object or another, with the particulars of which object falling to the whims of circumstance.
I don't know. And I don't think anyone else does either. My inclination is that fetishism is more likely an awakening of propensities that almost all of us share, but some incident or series of incidents turns the attachment process on its head and sends us in an unusual direction (and, as I said, not all that unusual for fetishism as a whole).
Not necessarily a bad direction, either. Sometimes my life would be simpler if I didn't have a fetish for balloons. But for the most part the balloons not only bring me sexual excitement, but comfort and happiness as well. It would only be a problem if my fetish interfered with living a full and satisfying life. And frankly, if that was the case, it probably wouldn't be just the fetish that was the issue.
So, while I cannot say with any confidence why I feel as I do about balloons, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.
Monday, April 28, 2014
It's Not All About Sex
If you do nothing but skim the surface, balloon fetishes seem pretty simple. Some guy or gal blows up a balloon until it pops and gets horny. Or does the nasty with a balloon or watches someone else play with a balloon.
And I guess for some balloon fetishists, it really is that simple: the balloon is an object that stimulates or enhances their sexual desire. There's a lot of variety within that description, of course, but it does cut to the chase. I think that my character in Popping Out meets that description pretty well, and maybe even the guy in Eric's Secret.
But for me, and I suspect a lot of us, it isn't nearly so cut and dried. I had a non-sexual relationship with balloons for at least eight years before they began to relate to sexual feelings at all. I will never understand how it started, around the age of three. I do know that I was deathly afraid of balloons popping, and that I felt a sense of loss when they were destroyed. I do know that I loved having balloons around whenever my parents would let me.
And for some reason that I do not understand, I loved having balloons stuffed into my pajamas. Aha, you say, a sexual relationship after all. No, not at all. A sensual relationship, maybe. It just felt good, like a stuffed animal or a particularly warm and fuzzy blanket. I just loved balloons. Even as I was afraid of them.
The sexual feeling for balloons came later, with puberty. Oh, there was probably some anticipation of that transformation earlier. After all, I was a boy, and things that get held against a boy's penis, especially with any amount of pressure, tend to cause an erection.
That's not necessarily a sexual response, mind you; often it's just the body protecting a vital reproductive organ from loss of blood flow. But your mind treats protective erections and erections from sexual arousal pretty much identically, and so the connection was made.
But discovering my sexual feelings for balloons did not take away the non-sexual feelings, and even decades later, as a middle-aged man, balloons in various circumstances can bring on waves of varied—and sometimes conflicting—emotional and even visceral responses.
I still love just having balloons around. At a former job, I decorated my office with them (we were in the entertainment business—such quirks were tolerated). Now I decorate my house with them in the winter. They oxidize in the summer, and I don't like oxidized balloons, even though when I was little, I kept them until they were oxidized and nearly flat. See? It's complicated.
I still like to cuddle with balloons, although I don't get much opportunity these days. Some of the cuddling leads to sexual activity, but a surprising amount of it does not.
And where popping balloons is concerned, things get even more complicated. I pop balloons now, something I never, ever did until I was in my teens. I can even do it without earplugs, in most circumstances.
But when I'm around someone else who has a balloon, I get a sudden flight response, and I want to get away as quickly as possible. I don't like being around popping balloons if I'm not in control of the situation.
And yet, watching a lovely lady do something that might pop a balloon is sexually arousing for me. So there's where the conflicting feeling come in. I really want to get away from the balloon, and I really want to stick around and watch the lovely lady pop the balloon.
Provided she's popping it the right way. If she's going after balloons with a pin, forget it, I'll run away as fast as I can. If she's sitting on it, I'll stay. If she's blowing it up until it pops...well, I don't know what I'll do because it scares the crap out of me and it turns me on. Conflicted!
I'm sure that there are a lot of stories out there just like mine—not in the details, you understand, but in the general sense that their feelings for balloons are not simply sexual.
Not, in fact, anything simple at all.
And I guess for some balloon fetishists, it really is that simple: the balloon is an object that stimulates or enhances their sexual desire. There's a lot of variety within that description, of course, but it does cut to the chase. I think that my character in Popping Out meets that description pretty well, and maybe even the guy in Eric's Secret.
But for me, and I suspect a lot of us, it isn't nearly so cut and dried. I had a non-sexual relationship with balloons for at least eight years before they began to relate to sexual feelings at all. I will never understand how it started, around the age of three. I do know that I was deathly afraid of balloons popping, and that I felt a sense of loss when they were destroyed. I do know that I loved having balloons around whenever my parents would let me.
And for some reason that I do not understand, I loved having balloons stuffed into my pajamas. Aha, you say, a sexual relationship after all. No, not at all. A sensual relationship, maybe. It just felt good, like a stuffed animal or a particularly warm and fuzzy blanket. I just loved balloons. Even as I was afraid of them.
The sexual feeling for balloons came later, with puberty. Oh, there was probably some anticipation of that transformation earlier. After all, I was a boy, and things that get held against a boy's penis, especially with any amount of pressure, tend to cause an erection.
That's not necessarily a sexual response, mind you; often it's just the body protecting a vital reproductive organ from loss of blood flow. But your mind treats protective erections and erections from sexual arousal pretty much identically, and so the connection was made.
But discovering my sexual feelings for balloons did not take away the non-sexual feelings, and even decades later, as a middle-aged man, balloons in various circumstances can bring on waves of varied—and sometimes conflicting—emotional and even visceral responses.
I still love just having balloons around. At a former job, I decorated my office with them (we were in the entertainment business—such quirks were tolerated). Now I decorate my house with them in the winter. They oxidize in the summer, and I don't like oxidized balloons, even though when I was little, I kept them until they were oxidized and nearly flat. See? It's complicated.
I still like to cuddle with balloons, although I don't get much opportunity these days. Some of the cuddling leads to sexual activity, but a surprising amount of it does not.
And where popping balloons is concerned, things get even more complicated. I pop balloons now, something I never, ever did until I was in my teens. I can even do it without earplugs, in most circumstances.
But when I'm around someone else who has a balloon, I get a sudden flight response, and I want to get away as quickly as possible. I don't like being around popping balloons if I'm not in control of the situation.
And yet, watching a lovely lady do something that might pop a balloon is sexually arousing for me. So there's where the conflicting feeling come in. I really want to get away from the balloon, and I really want to stick around and watch the lovely lady pop the balloon.
Provided she's popping it the right way. If she's going after balloons with a pin, forget it, I'll run away as fast as I can. If she's sitting on it, I'll stay. If she's blowing it up until it pops...well, I don't know what I'll do because it scares the crap out of me and it turns me on. Conflicted!
I'm sure that there are a lot of stories out there just like mine—not in the details, you understand, but in the general sense that their feelings for balloons are not simply sexual.
Not, in fact, anything simple at all.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sometimes Publishing Gets Weird
From time to time I check to see how my books are doing on Amazon.com. I check the ranking, review the descriptions, think about cover design and whether or not I can afford to have a better one done.
And, I look at the price. Now, since I set the price when I publish the book, that might seem odd, but the fact is that I only set the suggested retail price. Amazon can change the price at which they decide to sell the book, and so I sometimes see it available for a lower price, which I will occasionally announce so that anyone who's thinking about buying it will be tempted all that much more.
But today I looked at the price, saw that Amazon.com has Blowing It! available in paperback for $6.75, which is 75 cents below list—nice—but that someone else has it new for $6.32. Now, I have recently made the book available for expanded distribution, so that retailers other than Amazon can carry it. Now, this seller charges $3.99 for shipping, and if you buy it from Amazon with an order totaling $35 in eligible items, you can get it shipped for free, so Amazon is probably still a better deal.
It doesn't, by the way, make any difference to me.
But what was truly bizarre is that the price for used copies of Blowing It! start at (are you ready for this?) $19.05. For a used copy of a book that you can buy new for $6.32. Makes perfect sense.
And even stranger is that one seller (I'll leave it to your curiosity to find out which) sells the book for $999.11! If I could sell even one copy for that price, I would be very happy indeed. In fact, if you are of a mind to pay that kind of money for a copy, shoot me an email and I'll arrange it. I'll even throw in the shipping (which this seller doesn't)!
And let me make something perfectly clear. Blowing It! and Eric's Secret are print-on-demand titles. There is no such thing as a first edition, and they will be in print for as long as I want them to be. Each book is printed when you order it and not a moment sooner. There is absolutely no reason to pay more for a used copy of any of my books than for a new copy (although if you can find a used copy for less, jump on it).
Perhaps someday, when I'm dead and gone and my heirs decided to withdraw the books from circulation, existing copies will be worth the extra money, if only for the novelty. But for now, save your money and buy a new copy or a Kindle edition, and have a good read.
And use the money you save to buy some balloons. $992.79 will buy enough balloons to fill a house. And that, I can get next to.
And, I look at the price. Now, since I set the price when I publish the book, that might seem odd, but the fact is that I only set the suggested retail price. Amazon can change the price at which they decide to sell the book, and so I sometimes see it available for a lower price, which I will occasionally announce so that anyone who's thinking about buying it will be tempted all that much more.
But today I looked at the price, saw that Amazon.com has Blowing It! available in paperback for $6.75, which is 75 cents below list—nice—but that someone else has it new for $6.32. Now, I have recently made the book available for expanded distribution, so that retailers other than Amazon can carry it. Now, this seller charges $3.99 for shipping, and if you buy it from Amazon with an order totaling $35 in eligible items, you can get it shipped for free, so Amazon is probably still a better deal.
It doesn't, by the way, make any difference to me.
But what was truly bizarre is that the price for used copies of Blowing It! start at (are you ready for this?) $19.05. For a used copy of a book that you can buy new for $6.32. Makes perfect sense.
And even stranger is that one seller (I'll leave it to your curiosity to find out which) sells the book for $999.11! If I could sell even one copy for that price, I would be very happy indeed. In fact, if you are of a mind to pay that kind of money for a copy, shoot me an email and I'll arrange it. I'll even throw in the shipping (which this seller doesn't)!
And let me make something perfectly clear. Blowing It! and Eric's Secret are print-on-demand titles. There is no such thing as a first edition, and they will be in print for as long as I want them to be. Each book is printed when you order it and not a moment sooner. There is absolutely no reason to pay more for a used copy of any of my books than for a new copy (although if you can find a used copy for less, jump on it).
Perhaps someday, when I'm dead and gone and my heirs decided to withdraw the books from circulation, existing copies will be worth the extra money, if only for the novelty. But for now, save your money and buy a new copy or a Kindle edition, and have a good read.
And use the money you save to buy some balloons. $992.79 will buy enough balloons to fill a house. And that, I can get next to.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Can I Have Some Facts Here, Please?
I'm getting weary of cable television shows about balloon fetishism. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the balloon fetishists themselves, who want to tell their story and promote some understanding and maybe acceptance. And I have to admit that Dennis fared a lot better on The Discovery Channel's Forbidden segment as far as editing, lighting, and music than did his predecessors on similar shows in the past on TLC and National Geographic.
But what about research? What about facts? What about getting experts who (and I realize that this is a radical idea) actually know what the hell they are talking about?
Let's take the most recent show, Forbidden, as an example. Here are some of the ideas presented as fact through narration and by talking heads "experts" (whose names are not given on this particular show, leaving us no chance to check their qualifications):
"There are up to 250,000 'looners' worldwide." Anyone who says that they know how many people in the world have a balloon fetish are pulling figures out of thin air. At least the expert on Strange Sex had a study she was referring to, although she doesn't actually remember where the study came from (something I know from personal correspondence with the good doctor). I suspect the worldwide figure is probably higher, and the 250,000-500,000 for the US alone cited in Strange Sex is much too high, but there really is no way to tell. This is not the sort of thing that Nielsen runs a telephone survey on. ("Good afternoon, this is Mr. Johnson from A.C. Nielsen. I'd like to ask you about any sexual fetishes you have. Hello? Hello?")
"Looner lads outnumber ladies by 30 to one." I have no doubt that lady balloon fetishists are much rarer than gentlemen balloon fetishists, but no one knows the ratio with any certainty whatsoever.
"And they're mostly young—in their 20s to 30s." Excuse me? As a balloon fetishist in his mid-50s who has been corresponding with other balloon fetishists since I was in my mid-20s, and who acquired his balloon fetish in his pre-teens, I can tell you that this notion is patently ridiculous. We come in all ages.
"Balloons are brought out during special times, which would be one thing that would make it [sic] more likely to be a fetish object than something that you would see every single day." Yeah, right, that's why there are so many shoe fetishists because, you know, shoes only come out during special times. Who is this woman?
"Part of the thing that makes a balloon fetish too is the fact that it can look as though it's a sexual shape." This woman obviously has no idea why people develop fetishes. "Oh yeah, that balloon looks like a breast and that one looks like a penis, and that shoe looks like a ... shoe." She's really just making this up as she goes. I'm sure she's never talked to a real balloon fetishist in her entire life (at least not that she knows of).
"Unlike kids' balloons, which are made of cheap synthetic rubber, Dennis favors inflatables of premium natural latex." Good luck going into your local party store and finding a balloon made of synthetic rubber, which is not cheap at all. Although balloons might have more or less added chemistry, the balloons that kids play with are the same latex balloons we play with. We just don't play with them the same way.
Aside from the factual errors, there is the whole structure of this, with the talking heads and the little history of the invention of rubber balloons thrown in to make it sound like the show covers the entire subject.
With all due respect to Dennis, his approach to the fetish is only one aspect of a very, very broad subject. Popping was only mentioned by Dennis as something that just happens sometimes. For Dennis, as with non-poppers in general, that's an undesirable thing. But for others, myself included, balloons popping is an important part of the experience. And for many, it's the whole point of their fetish.
But back to the subject of "experts." I don't think anyone is a true expert on balloon fetishism. Those of us who have one tend to have a fairly narrow view. And I doubt that anyone, even a clinician, who does not have the fetish would devote the necessary time for true in-depth study.
But the cable channels have to have their talking heads, right? So they pick a handy psychologist or two and just ask them to talk on camera about balloon fetishes. And, not having treated a balloon fetishist before, because rarer than a balloon fetishist is a balloon fetishist who seeks treatment for it, this person coughs up whatever is in the literature (or what they remember from the literature, if they are too lazy or haven't been given time to look it up), plus whatever comes to mind about how they think a balloon fetish might play out.
Worse yet is consulting someone like Karen McIntyre, the "expert" from National Geographic's Taboo, who is a reporter who wrote a thesis paper about balloon fetishism while she was a journalism student. Look up her paper: it's full of bizarrely cute animated graphics. And somehow this one paper makes her an expert.
And one of Taboo's other experts was a sociologist. Now there's someone who really knows about sexual development!
It's not that I think the general public needs to know all the little details about our sexual interest in balloons—there are certainly more important things that they, and frankly we, should be devoting our attention to. But of the information that's out there, these shows are where the majority of non-fetishists find out about this unusual fetish.
And I think we'd all be a lot better off if they were getting information that actually contained some good old-fashioned facts.
But what about research? What about facts? What about getting experts who (and I realize that this is a radical idea) actually know what the hell they are talking about?
Let's take the most recent show, Forbidden, as an example. Here are some of the ideas presented as fact through narration and by talking heads "experts" (whose names are not given on this particular show, leaving us no chance to check their qualifications):
"There are up to 250,000 'looners' worldwide." Anyone who says that they know how many people in the world have a balloon fetish are pulling figures out of thin air. At least the expert on Strange Sex had a study she was referring to, although she doesn't actually remember where the study came from (something I know from personal correspondence with the good doctor). I suspect the worldwide figure is probably higher, and the 250,000-500,000 for the US alone cited in Strange Sex is much too high, but there really is no way to tell. This is not the sort of thing that Nielsen runs a telephone survey on. ("Good afternoon, this is Mr. Johnson from A.C. Nielsen. I'd like to ask you about any sexual fetishes you have. Hello? Hello?")
"Looner lads outnumber ladies by 30 to one." I have no doubt that lady balloon fetishists are much rarer than gentlemen balloon fetishists, but no one knows the ratio with any certainty whatsoever.
"And they're mostly young—in their 20s to 30s." Excuse me? As a balloon fetishist in his mid-50s who has been corresponding with other balloon fetishists since I was in my mid-20s, and who acquired his balloon fetish in his pre-teens, I can tell you that this notion is patently ridiculous. We come in all ages.
"Balloons are brought out during special times, which would be one thing that would make it [sic] more likely to be a fetish object than something that you would see every single day." Yeah, right, that's why there are so many shoe fetishists because, you know, shoes only come out during special times. Who is this woman?
"Part of the thing that makes a balloon fetish too is the fact that it can look as though it's a sexual shape." This woman obviously has no idea why people develop fetishes. "Oh yeah, that balloon looks like a breast and that one looks like a penis, and that shoe looks like a ... shoe." She's really just making this up as she goes. I'm sure she's never talked to a real balloon fetishist in her entire life (at least not that she knows of).
"Unlike kids' balloons, which are made of cheap synthetic rubber, Dennis favors inflatables of premium natural latex." Good luck going into your local party store and finding a balloon made of synthetic rubber, which is not cheap at all. Although balloons might have more or less added chemistry, the balloons that kids play with are the same latex balloons we play with. We just don't play with them the same way.
Aside from the factual errors, there is the whole structure of this, with the talking heads and the little history of the invention of rubber balloons thrown in to make it sound like the show covers the entire subject.
With all due respect to Dennis, his approach to the fetish is only one aspect of a very, very broad subject. Popping was only mentioned by Dennis as something that just happens sometimes. For Dennis, as with non-poppers in general, that's an undesirable thing. But for others, myself included, balloons popping is an important part of the experience. And for many, it's the whole point of their fetish.
But back to the subject of "experts." I don't think anyone is a true expert on balloon fetishism. Those of us who have one tend to have a fairly narrow view. And I doubt that anyone, even a clinician, who does not have the fetish would devote the necessary time for true in-depth study.
But the cable channels have to have their talking heads, right? So they pick a handy psychologist or two and just ask them to talk on camera about balloon fetishes. And, not having treated a balloon fetishist before, because rarer than a balloon fetishist is a balloon fetishist who seeks treatment for it, this person coughs up whatever is in the literature (or what they remember from the literature, if they are too lazy or haven't been given time to look it up), plus whatever comes to mind about how they think a balloon fetish might play out.
Worse yet is consulting someone like Karen McIntyre, the "expert" from National Geographic's Taboo, who is a reporter who wrote a thesis paper about balloon fetishism while she was a journalism student. Look up her paper: it's full of bizarrely cute animated graphics. And somehow this one paper makes her an expert.
And one of Taboo's other experts was a sociologist. Now there's someone who really knows about sexual development!
It's not that I think the general public needs to know all the little details about our sexual interest in balloons—there are certainly more important things that they, and frankly we, should be devoting our attention to. But of the information that's out there, these shows are where the majority of non-fetishists find out about this unusual fetish.
And I think we'd all be a lot better off if they were getting information that actually contained some good old-fashioned facts.
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