WE HAVE A HOBBY! by definition

[AJK64]

Yeah, a fetish only becomes a disorder when you cant function sexually without the object of the fetish. Most looners have a normal sex life with balloons just being something we use to spice things up occasionally.

[Ballooner99]

I agree, as long as it doesn’t impact the everyday lifestyle of the individual it’s considered as no intervention needed. It is definitely based on levels of severity. Least severe being an normally operating individual who is sexually attracted to an object (balloon). It’s just my understanding of the manual…there are many ways to approach the diagnosis from what I’ve read, but you are right, it’s not a disorder in the sense that intervention is needed, basically would classify as no diagnosis, however the underlying sexual attraction is still there.

I’m not saying this as derogatory or trying to Demean anyone as I have the fetish. I just spent a lot of time when younger trying to understand what fetishes mean before meeting this group.

[Tracy]

In the roughly 25 (!!!) years that I have been active in balloon fetish communities on the internet, it still never ceases to amaze me how many attempts I see to draw away attention from the sexual aspect of our collective "interest" in balloons. I can't think of another community that so regularly and implicitly kink-shames itself.

[Ballooner99]

I think that is why I have most problems with this post. I am sure I am poorly portraying my idea here, but a fetish in itself, especially ours is sexual. It doesn’t matter what you call it but to say it’s a hobby rather than a sexual fetish is just an attempt of playing words. I was trying to use the DSM to state that the fetish by definition is a sexual arousal that stems from objects (in our case) meaning that it’s a fetish by definition. It is defined as such and a diagnosis here can be made to state such. I don’t understand why we want to call it anything else by a sexual fetish derived by balloons.

[Ballooner99]

This is not an attempt to kink shame. I don’t feel any shame at all by the fetish. I am in fact writing this message while laying on a balloon. If it comes off as kink shaming, I apologize as that is not my intention.

[aron_crow]

I have always sold it off as a hobby to my girlfriends, makes it easier to convince them to play with them or be ok with a bunch of them lying around.

[7balloon]

As the original poster, I just thought it was funny. Yeah it's a fetish. My first orgasm was because of balloons and pretty much all of them since then. I am neither ashamed nor hiding. I'm almost completely out. Hell, at least half my tenants know about me getting off on balloons.

But I also spend time delving into my balloon interest without becoming aroused.

Linguistically though, I think it is generically a hobby but specifically a fetish. I am also a mammal, but also a homo sapien. I can use either definition and still be correct.