Snowballing (sexual practice)

Snowballing or semen swapping is a human sexual practice in which one person takes into their mouth the semen of another person, and then 'swaps' it back and forth with another person through kissing or spitting.

In a heterosexual context, snowballing is when a man receives his own semen from the mouth of his female partner, into which he has ejaculated.

This may appeal to a male who wishes to adopt a passive or submissive role (which conventional fellatio does not entail). Taking one's semen, particularly in front of another person, is a deeply submissive experience. Alternatively, a couple may simply find pleasure in the sharing of the semen, or find it a deeply bonding gesture.

The egg yolk swapping scene from the Japanese film Tampopo is likely a parody of the practice.

Snowballing is often featured in pornography, sometimes as part of a practice called bukkake. Here, men generally adopt the dominant role, and semen is passed between women's mouths.

Because snowballing another man's semen involves the exchange of bodily fluids without any barrier, it is not a form of safer sex. Risks are presumably similar to those of unprotected fellatio.

Use of the term in popular culture

While this practice is considered "cutting edge" today, this activity was at least contemplated, if not practiced as far back as the eighteenth century. The 1791 novel Justine by the Marquis de Sade makes several references to this practice, for instance.

The term was popularized by Kevin Smith's film, Clerks., in which a character is nicknamed "Snowball" because he enjoys the practice.

The term is also generally referred to as a "cum swap" within pornographic films.