Snowballing
by CARINA HSIEH
MAR 26, 2021
Snowballing, as sexologist E. Michelle Thomas explains, is basically the act of swapping semen from one person's mouth to another, to the point where like a regular snowball, each swap between partners increases the size of the semen shot (or ball) when it mixes with extra saliva. Instead of rolling a growing ball of snow on the ground, you're passing a growing semen-saliva mixture.
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Porn star Kayden Kross previously explained that the term "snowballing" is often used interchangeably with "cum swapping." However, "snowballing" usually implies the involvement of the original person who ejaculated into their partner's mouth. The term "cum swapping" is more general and could apply to people sharing a semen-saliva mixture that neither of them originally ejaculated. So, as an example, if you swapped semen-saliva with the partner providing the semen, that's snowballing. Swapping the mixture with another person (like in a threesome capacity, where the ejaculator is not participating in the swap) would be called cum swapping.
The podcast host and sex columnist Dan Savage, referred to the mixture of fluids as "pud" in a column from 1999.
The New Partridge Dictionary of American Slang notes that the term is of US origin dating back to 1972, and was first used exclusively by gay men. In the Handbook of Psychology and Sexual Orientation, researchers found when studying gay men that: "Semen can carry symbolic meaning (and thus symbolic power) for some men, representing (1) successful completion of sexual behavior, and (2) sexual power, virility, strength, and masculinity.)"
Snowballing is a human thing, but certain animals also engage in a similar snowballing-like act. In Carmen Cusack's Animals, Deviance, and Sex, Cusack writes about how male cichlid fish must blow sperm into a female's mouth (where she will be holding her eggs in her mouth) in order to reproduce. However, Cusack explains that because the end goal for the fish is reproduction, it's not the same thing as snowballing, the human kink, which is "considered deviant in spite of insemination and conception."
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How To:
Before Snowballing:
Before you even talk about snowballing, Thomas says you wanna make sure all consenting parties have been tested and cleared of any STIs before introducing snowballing, adding "It's all fun and games until it isn't," — when you're playing with bodily fluids like semen and saliva, safety is number one.
As for the mandatory consent convo, ensure your partner is open to the idea of this, Thomas says. "Some people are totally okay with providing the semen, but definitely don't want to be on the receiving end of their own," Thomas adds.
If you need a smooth way to introduce the topic to your partner in a low-stakes environment, Thomas recommends playing "Truth or Dare — No Consequences" which allows people to open up the convo about sexploration in a fun and daring way that also won't put anyone on the spot. To play, Thomas says the people participating in the game agree that "whatever is shared during the game cannot be used against one another later and nothing is off the table as it relates to [communicating] your wants and desires."
Once you're all onboard with the consent convo and are ready to actually snowball, you'll wanna make sure both of you drink lots of water, eliminate fish, alcohol, and smoking from your diet, Thomas adds. As a bonus, you can also increase your consumption of fruits, Thomas says. The idea here is to make the actual tasting experience of the semen as pleasant as possible — hydrating, eating a healthy diet, and cutting out smoking and alcohol will help with all this.
When Snowballing:
A nice way to lead into snowballing is to try giving your partner a blow job and having them finish in your mouth.
As a warm up to test the waters, you can start with just an open-mouthed kiss post blow job, and then work your way up to swapping so you don't have to go from 0–100 suddenly. Since half the material of snowballing is saliva anyways, you can do a dry-run sans semen if you want to be even more cautious at first.
If everyone is still on board, kiss your partner and try passing the semen back and forth in each of your mouths. See how big it can get, then spit or swallow the whole thing. Taster's choice!