Crossed eyes, drooling mouth, and verbal banter are only some of the activities that make up the fast-growing genre of adult content creation known as "gooning." Not only is the trade busting at the seams on social media platforms (or maybe just mine?), it’s also putting a pretty penny into the pockets of queer sex workers.

So what is gooning?

Practitioners and fans can all agree on the fundamental facts of gooning. Simply put, it’s a masturbation kink and, by definition, a specific form of self-pleasure that involves edging (maintaining sexual arousal without reaching orgasm) for a long period of time, resulting in a hypnotic, trance-like state.

But, what is this stroke-sport’s origin story? JV Marx, arguably the most prominent creator within the goon world, said that gooning's most prominent predecessor is perhaps “ahegao.” In erotic Japanese manga, anime and video games, ahegao is a term for facial expressions during sexual arousal or an orgasm. The characters in the story are usually female and are portrayed with rolling or crossed eyes, protruding tongue, and slightly reddened face.

We all know the faces, right? These expressions also play on the 20th Century slang word “goon” meaning a “dumb person,” and puts a focus on what people who are deep in the goon state often look like: Slack-jawed and vacant, as unto a stereotypical goon. 

For years, specifically the 2010s, gooning existed in the kinky underground worlds of Tumblr and Reddit. Social media users were exploring their other kinks — and then we all know what happens when we explore our kinks online, we fall down a rabbit hole and find new ones. Which is exactly how gooning gained popularity. 

And then, BAM! The world was on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving us alone and bored in the house. 

“It’s pretty simple. People became very online and very horny in quarantine,” Marx said. “Porn had a huge surge in popularity as a sexual outlet. Masturbating online and mutual masturbation in person were safer ways to hook up with COVID in full swing.”

Solosexual expression and porn obsession was on the rise, exposing audiences to gooning content.

“Plus, not to toot my own horn, but the porn boom came with the huge surge in my page’s popularity, which is where a lot of people learned about what gooning is,” Marx said with a chuckle.

The Business of Gooning

Now, let’s get down to business. Recently Queerency sat down with sex advice columnist, Zachary Zane, to discuss the future of sex work. Zane suggested that new creators or even current creators, must be innovative and find niche adult content genres.

“Often the way to do that is to have a specialty that is usually [your] big thing — like niche porn,” he said. “Things like fisting or piss play, but those are actually not that niche anymore! That content is everywhere.”

Gooning, although the genre has a large fanbase, is still in its infancy in regards to the mainstream world. Marx, who says he genuinely loves gooning, hopped into the online sex world at just the right time to fill the niche with authenticity and a loving connection with his audience. And boy, has it paid off. The creator preferred not to disclose his income, but did say he lives comfortably in a three-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with his boyfriend. You do the math.

As a self-proclaimed sex-positive person, Marx said that before he became “King of the Goons,” he was already naked all over Grindr, working go-go gigs and popping up by popular demand on Chaturbate’s homepage. His rise to goon fame was no accident — he strategized just like any great entrepreneur. 

Creators like Marx utilize platforms like OnlyFans (Marx is a top creator), which has an average of 420 million monthly active users. OnlyFans has an estimated 1.25 million daily active users and its net revenue in 2020 was $375 million, increasing to an estimated $2.5 billion by 2022. The tech giant has paid out over $5 billion to creators since its inception and its top earners have reported making over $200,000 per month.

OnlyFans deducts a 20% fee from every subscription sold and pays the remaining 80% to the creator.

“It is a small business and you lose money before you start making money. You are your own employee and you’re paying yourself,” Marx says. “You’re working for free when you start up and losing hours of work. This is the kind of thing you have to be OK with — not making money for a bit. Even years. It would be the same if you opened a side business while having another job.”

The Gooner Ecosystem

Marx walked so Jaxxx could run, Colby Jaxxx that is. Maybe you know him from his distinguishable Wisconsin accent, wearing a Goony University T-Shirt, and greeting his fans with a trademark gooner saying, “Hey bros!” 

“I began with posting pictures and clips of myself over on Bateworld back in 2020 and moved over to twitter to test the waters of ‘content creation’,” Jaxxx said. “I knew pretty much off the bat that I wanted to post gooner content, I just felt that I needed to find the community for it. Once I made some good gooner friends, I finally dipped my toes into the gooner-verse and never looked back.”

In addition to video content creation, many gooners and gooning websites have created merchandise and promotional products to extend their brand’s reach. Jaxxx is one of them. 

“It’s really cool to be able to produce products and content that isn’t directly porn but is in fact ‘porny’ if that makes sense,” he says. “As someone that enjoys creative expression, It’s nice to have other outlets to direct that creative energy, so I hope to see more of the gooner/bator brands come up.” 

Both Marx and Jaxxx agree that their niche is growing and that there are a lot of gooners out there now. Jaxxx said that there are at least a couple hundred gooners both established and up-and-coming in the industry. 

“For top gooners I would hands-down say JV Marxx, Mexican Gooner, Adam Chase, PopperNate and Dean Eros. Those are all great gooners that I frequently watch and enjoy," he says.