Zoophilia
[citation needed]Ernest Bornemann coined the separate term zoosadism for those who derive pleasure – sexual or otherwise – from inflicting pain on animals.
[citation needed] Stephanie LaFarge, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the New Jersey Medical School, and Director of Counseling at the ASPCA, writes that two groups can be distinguished: bestialists, who rape or abuse animals, and zoophiles, who form an emotional and sexual attachment to animals.
[21] Nancy Friday's 1973 book on female sexuality, My Secret Garden, comprised around 190 fantasies from different women; of these, 23 involve zoophilic activity.
[23] Crépault & Couture (1980) reported that 5.3 percent of the men they surveyed had fantasized about sexual activity with an animal during heterosexual intercourse.
It may also be touched upon by sociology which looks both at zoosadism in examining patterns and issues related to sexual abuse and at non-sexual zoophilia in examining the role of animals as emotional support and companionship in human lives, and may fall within the scope of psychiatry if it becomes necessary to consider its significance in a clinical context.
There have been several significant modern books, from psychologists William H. Masters (1962) to Andrea Beetz (2002);[36] their research arrived at the following conclusions: More recently, research has engaged three further directions: the speculation that at least some animals seem to enjoy a zoophilic relationship assuming sadism is not present, and can form an affectionate bond.
[39] Beetz described the phenomenon of zoophilia/bestiality as being somewhere between crime, paraphilia, and love, although she says that most research has been based on criminological reports, so the cases have frequently involved violence and psychiatric illness.
[45] According to the Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art, the penetrating man seems to be waving cheerfully with his hand at the same time.
[47] William H. Masters claimed that "since pre-historic man is prehistoric it goes without saying that we know little of his sexual behavior";[48] depictions in cave paintings may only show the artist's subjective preoccupations or thoughts.
[citation needed] Pindar, Herodotus, and Plutarch claimed the Egyptians engaged in ritual congress with goats.
[49] Such claims about other cultures do not necessarily reflect anything about which the author had evidence, but may be a form of propaganda or xenophobia, similar to blood libel.
[citation needed] Several cultures built temples (Khajuraho, India) or other structures (Sagaholm, Sweden) with zoophilic carvings on the exterior.
As with all accusations and confessions extracted under torture in the witch trials in Early Modern Europe, their validity cannot be ascertained.
[56][57]In many jurisdictions, all acts of bestiality are prohibited; others outlaw only the mistreatment of animals, without specific mention of sexual activity.
Nor is it a question of the sexual arousal of the defendant",[59] "it could be argued that a person might possess such an image for the purposes of satire, political commentary or simple grossness", according to The Independent.
[60] Many laws banning sex with non-human animals have been made recently, such as in the United States (New Hampshire[61] and Ohio[62]), Germany,[63] Sweden,[64] Iceland,[65] Denmark,[66] Thailand,[67] Costa Rica,[68] Bolivia,[69] and Guatemala.
[79] While some laws are very specific, others employ vague terms such as "sodomy" or "bestiality", which lack legal precision and leave it unclear exactly which acts are covered.
In the past, some bestiality laws may have been made in the belief that sex with another animal could result in monstrous offspring, as well as offending the community.
[81] In New Zealand, the 1989 Crimes Bill considered abolishing bestiality as a criminal offense, and instead viewing it as a mental health issue, but they did not, and people can still be prosecuted for it.
Under Section 143 of the Crimes Act 1961, individuals can serve a sentence of seven years duration for animal sexual abuse and the offence is considered 'complete' in the event of 'penetration'.
[83] Bestiality remains legal in West Virginia, while 19 states have statutes that date to the 19th century or even the colonial period.
[citation needed] While bestiality is illegal across Australia, the first state to also ban zoophilic pornography was New South Wales.
Polissons and Galipettes (re-released 2002 as "The Good Old Naughty Days") is a collection of early French silent films for brothel use, including some zoophilic pornography, dating from around 1905 – 1930.
The Internet and its predecessors made people able to search for information on topics which were not otherwise easily accessible and to communicate with relative safety and anonymity.
Because of the diary-like intimacy of blogs and the anonymity of the Internet, zoophiles had the ideal opportunity to "openly" express their sexuality.
[94] Such developments in general were described by Markoff in 1990; the linking of computers meant that people thousands of miles apart could feel the intimacy akin to being in a small village together.
[98][99][100][101] The newsgroup included information about health issues, laws governing zoophilia, bibliography relating to the subject, and community events.
In Kinsey's day contacts between animal lovers were more localized and limited to male compatriots in a particular rural community.
The zoophile community is not known to be particularly large compared to other subcultures which make use of the Internet, so Williams & Weinberg (2003) surmised its aims and beliefs would likely change little as it grew.
[94] Websites aim to provide support and social assistance to zoophiles (including resources to help and rescue abused or mistreated animals), but these are not usually well publicized.
