Static Sex!

What is it about balloons that brings out child-like excitement in people of all ages? I asked my son what the appeal of these airborne vehicles of fun and he replied: "They're fun because they're so bouncy!" I admit to feeling slightly bouncier myself in their presence. They draw on memories of childhood and their spherical form encourages many a silly game...oh and their helium as well!

There are some, however, for whom they appeal in a purely adult way. Sophia, a 26-year-old office assistant, confessed: "I'm get totally turned on by balloons. The only way my boyfriend can give me an orgasm is by rubbing a balloon against my pussy. I know it can't be normal but it feels better than sex."

While Burlesque stars such as Blaze Starr made the balloon striptease famous, it appeals to a much-wider audience than the balloon fetishist with it's audience involvement and the element of the tease.

Sexpert Katherine Gates writes of her discovery of the 'looners': "When I first discovered the balloon fetish on the Internet I felt like a virtual Indiana Jones hacking through the website jungle seeking information-age buried treasure on a mission to unearth new niche kinks from the sexual underground. When I followed a link to Balloon Buddies, Ltd. Bringing Balloon Lovers Together Since 1976, I knew I had stumbled upon the mythic “lost tribe” of undiscovered fetishists. Here was a classic fetish that as far as I knew no researcher had ever documented."

Considered by some as a subset of the latex fetish, looners enjoy sensual feast that balloons have to offer. From it's skin-like nature to its unique scent which for many fetishists on its own is a turn-on. Katherine Gates points out: "The balloon itself is a perfectly opaque metaphor, flexible enough to suggest breast, cock, body, face without ever limiting itself to one single interpretation. It's this flexibility and capacity to expand to contain many meanings that makes the balloon such a good fetish object."

'Loonatics' find arousal rubbing up against balloons, masturbating while inflating them or using them as sex toys in quite, well, eye-opening ways. As an inflatable with a breast-like quality, it draws parallels to both lactation and bresh expansion fetish. For balloon voyeurs, it is not so much the pleasure that balloons gives that turns them on as much as the pleasure of watching someone being satisfied by one.

Unlike many fetishes, there is no gender or sexual orientation divide with both straight and gay men and women enjoying this type of latex love. More interestingly, the divide appears when the "to pop or not to pop" question comes into conversation on forums such as Balloon Buddies. While some looners prefer for the pop to occur "naturally" through overinflation, others prefer either introducing other fetish items such as a lit cigarrette or a stiletto heel to cause explosive levels of excitement.

For the enthusiast and those looking to put bang back into their sex life, a vast quantity of visual material is available on the internet: from the innocent clothed woman sat on a balloon to the not-so-innocent balloon cum dildo.

I don't think I'll ever quite look at the balloon with childlike innocence ever again....

Lasso Me, Baby!

As a child of the 70's, I lived in 'superhero heaven'. With Wonder Woman on my television screen and Christopher Reeves' Superman films in the cinema, I knew that no matter what, good would prevail over evil....ah, you've got to love the Cold War for its subliminal propaganda.

I longed to be the transformed Diana Prince, brandishing the lasso of truth and looking stunning from every angle. There weren't many strong female role-models at the time...not that there are many now - although I must confess, I do have a Buffy moment every now and again.

Of course it wasn't just prepubescent girls who enjoyed Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter was an incredibly beautiful woman and appeared in the US on the cover of many magazines. For men, she sent their pulses racing in her tight, fitted attire and for women, set a standard for sexual attractiveness. That's the wonder of family viewing, you know.

For some young boys, however, Wonder Woman led them into puberty longing for an Amazonian goddess of love. Sthenolagnia, a phrase coined by German sexologist Magnus Hirschfield in the 19th century refers to sexual arousal from muscles or demonstration of strength.

However, the fetish with superheroines appears to draw on much more than attraction from strength. Sites such as Superheroines Demise, Super Woman, and Fem Power hint at many fetishes and sexual interests including BDSM and FMG. Female muscle growth (FMG) is a fantasy genre involving attraction to the muscular growth of a woman - as seen in bodybuilders or other muscular woman. It's related to growth fantasies and breast expansion fetish.

Perhaps the roots of the superheroine fetish aren't to be found in the costume - or even the golden lasso. Changes in the roles of men and women within society weigh heavily in the foundations of this fetish. It appears to have it's foundations in the equalisation or reversal of the power relationship between men and women.

For some, however, such as author Neal Pollack, the fixation on women of Amazonian proportions, like Wonder Woman, is not so much about the physical domination of the character as much as it's about the thrill of transformation. Neal's fetish for the Lynda Carter character began after a visit to a friend's home at the age of six. In an essay entitled Wonderlust, the Texan writes: "We walked in just as Diana Prince, Wonder Woman's dowdy alter ego, whipped off her hat and glasses, glanced around nervously and spun. Her hair bun loosened just slightly on the first twirl, leaving a little wisp above her brow. On the second go-round, it bloomed a little more. With the third rotation, a wavy, silken corona surrounded her head. I stood there, agape, as a ball of light bloomed in Diana's chest and gradually enveloped her. She emerged from the haze as Wonder Woman. At that moment, something inside of me awoke — something dark, raw and primal. "

In early adulthood, despite attempts to repress his desire for superheroine transformation, during sexual dry spells, Pollack found himself drawn in again. He writes: " One night I was lonely and horny, so I went to a comic-book shop in the East Village, bought a half-dozen superheroine titles from the '70s and early '80s, took them home and had a passionate session."

The author's more recent dabblings touch upon the toonophilia arousal with animation. Anime programmes, such as Sailor Moon, left Pollack a bit dismayed. He writes: "I felt more than vaguely pedophiliac watching a fourteen-year-old cartoon girl twirl around naked in space while brightly colored stars from a magic wand turned her into a mystical princess." A switch to adult anime to fulfill his desire for superheroine transformation left him in 'amazement', although, he adds: "It was too much, even for me."Sometimes, I guess you can have too much of a good thing - even thrills of a more adult nature!

While Wonder Woman episodes are relegated to repeats and Superman films to Christmas viewing, I wonder what superheroes will inspire the sexuality of future generations. Actually, no I don't. A quick glance through the kids' tv lineup has left me with the notion of Power Ranger sexploits and Transformers with genitalia which move at supersonic speeds. Oh dear, Generation Y are in for a letdown when real-world sexuality hits them!