So I'd like to be more involved in the zoo community, but how? (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2015-05-13 15:30:31 by ursusem

What is a good way to help the zoophile cause? Is there a single zoo community or are there multiple different groups within zoo? It seems to be that we have people who are into bestiality for many different reasons. There are at least these different groups: pornographers who have sex with animals, people who have sex with animals because they haven't been able to find a human partner, people who are interested in the pornographic aspect, people who love animals to such an extent that their love is sexual and people who could say that they have a sexual orientation towards non-humans similar to homosexuality and heterosexuality. I'm guessing there is a side to the interest in bestiality that is all about porn, but then there must be a side focused on the difficulty of being zoo in a very anti-zoo world. There is this reddit page but does anyone have like a comprehensive knowledge about the community whereupon "beginners" could be instructed on? I suppose I could research this myself but I sort of don't really know where to start. What are your thoughts on the community at large? Opinions? We're pretty much just an online community, right? Although I feel like I've heard that sometimes zoos meet in real life. Do you think it is important or good to have connection with other zoophiles?

furvert_tail Equine, large canid 1 point on 2015-05-13 15:59:53

I don't know the best way to help our cause, but I am always open to suggestions, and at a certain point I think we will have to just try stuff and see what happens. (Right now, my knowledge of effecting social change can be written on a matchbox, I have much to learn).

Connections are important — there's nothing as amazing as finding someone in real life you can just hug and be open with. In my case I can get that with my non-zoo partner, but not everyone is so fortunate.

There are probably a wide variety of different zoo subcultures, just as there are a wide variety of different gay subcultures.

ursusem 1 point on 2015-05-14 05:18:38

Do you try to make it a point to be involved in the zoo community? What sorts of things do you do in that regard?

wright-one ursidae canidae pantherinae 2 points on 2015-05-14 06:15:52

yes, sometimes zoos meet in real life. there are some furry conventions that are known to have a relatively large percentage of zoo attendance. some just meet up one on one. i only started meeting people within the last couple years, but it has helped having one friend i clicked with to go see others (i'm very shy, so it helps me to have someone else i know with me). in total i've met 5 others... not too many... but it makes a world of difference finally having people you can let your guard down with .. people you can talk about your attractions to without worry of being judged.

pinkstray 1 point on 2015-05-17 00:56:18

It depends. Fur cons are a great way but fast feedback mediums such as twitter are a great way of communicating. PM me if you want a seed list of some twitter accounts to follow.

Crazy_ManMan Not a zoo, but a friend. 1 point on 2015-05-21 06:32:04

I wonder the same thing. There is not much of a push for zoo rights quite yet though it seems to be growing slowly now from what I have seen. I have not heard of anything other than online so far though.

[deleted] 1 point on 2015-05-21 06:50:19

[deleted]

ursusem 1 point on 2015-05-21 06:50:38

People seem to be pushing for laws against us, though. I would interpret this as the start of a movement outside of the Internet. Well, we're going to have to do something about it!

Crazy_ManMan Not a zoo, but a friend. 1 point on 2015-05-21 07:10:52

Agreed. I have debated with people on it a few times online but not in person. I have thought about bringing it up in person but I am just not as good at verbal communication as in text and I feel like it would not go well because of that. I have brought it up to some closer friends though and they actually agreed with my points after some explaining. I also find it odd that people assume I must be a zoophile for supporting it. Not so much here but when I debate with people who are against it. People make way more assumptions than they realize I think. My friends did not as I we had had previous talks about how I am asexual, but even in places where the people already know I am asexual I still get that "It sure seems odd that you want to talk about this at all" type vibe too often. Most of the rest of the hate is aimed directly at zoophiles other than that which includes me when they assume I am one.

ursusem 1 point on 2015-05-21 21:59:43

I think what we really need is non-zoos standing up for us, so thank you. In my case, the truth is that I am zoo. So if ever I were to try and show why zoophilia can be morally acceptable, the truth is that I am zoo so people have a reaction like, "well you have a paraphilia (in other words, their point is that they are saying that I have a mental disorder/ mental illness) so therefore you are unable to understand why zoophilia is wrong etc" It's frustrating because these people do not provide sufficiently good reasons to show why zoophilia is inherently immoral and they always try to run away from the points that we zoophiles make without addressing our points. Am I supposed to lie and say that I am not zoo? Lying usually gets one into trouble later on. Why should I lie? Being zoo is not something to be ashamed of. I really shouldn't have to hide it but have to because of the current highly hostile attitudes that people have towards this thing.

Also I think most people tend to assume that "no one in their right mind would argue in favor of bestiality/zoophilia." So therefore if anyone does, I think it is quite natural for people to have the suspicion that who ever speaks out is a zoophile. So I'm not surprised that people assume that you are maybe zoo. But I would say that the truth of the matter in your case is that you are not zoo. I also do find it interesting that you come to our zoophilia reddit and check the place out often. It seems like most people either don't have the topic "on their radar" or they think it is very horribly gross and disgusting and they don't want to have to ever think about it in the very slightest least. I wonder what brings your interest to zoophilia.

You know asexuality is pretty interesting.. Sometimes I almost feel asexual. Because I don't feel attracted to humans. And then the only kind of animal that I'm attracted to is a male bear. And bears can be kind of hard to come by if you know anything about life. Sometimes I think to myself that if I'm not a zoosexual, then I'm asexual, so I consider myself to be zoo even if the creature I'm attracted to may be a rather unlikely partner.. but who knows.

And of course, if you feel like you can't do something well, (such as bringing zoophilia up in person) I think sometimes it is best to not do a thing. I don't think we want anything to back-fire on us. What we really need is a more global platform so that a large portion of the population can be better informed about us. But every help we can get is still help.

Crazy_ManMan Not a zoo, but a friend. 1 point on 2015-05-21 22:43:12

You do not necessarily lie you just avoid the question to a degree perhaps. If you try to debate it and they say are you a zoophile perhaps say "This is not about me, so it does not matter if I am a zoophile or not, it is about objectively determining whether or not zoophilia is wrong." There is a chance that would backfire but I think it is worth a shot. The only reason I could see to be against zoophilia is religious reasons and it is not right to try and push one's religious beliefs who do not follow that religion anyway. You are correct though, it is wrong that you should have to hide it. If the world were a good place I think nobody would be afraid to hide anything about themsleves as such negative judgment would not be a thing. I have talked to people of all walks of life, ex-cons, bully victims, pedophiles, etc. One thing I noticed about all of them; they are people, like you and me, and they all just want to do what they see as right. It is so rare that somebody actually wants to do evil for the sake of evil, but most have a very hard time seeing that. "there are no monsters, only misunderstandings" -Landyn Haskin

I could go on a whole book about how assumptions are such a problem. I think we all make assumptions but some of us try to learn to identify when we do and prevent negative assumptions, and others just do not realize that they do. As for me being here is has sort of become a fascination of mine. I have no concept of 'gross' for the most part as I find it to be a society construct which hold very little meaning over all and being asexual I wanted to understand sexuality and did plenty of research on it, so naturally I brushed up on quite a few 'deviant' sexual types, but somehow this community just kind of stuck with me and I found I like it here. It is also hard to find people who truly appreciate animals the way I do and this place is full of them, which I find a bonus and if I am totally honest there was a time in my life where I questioned if I was a zoophile or not, but that is another book of stuff to say about that.

Yes, I find it asexuality an interesting topic as well. I spend plenty of time on AVEN with all the other asexuals as I fell in love with the community and it is a great place to learn about the entire spectrum of different kinds of asexuals. I would say since you have the sexual attraction to bears it would be more accurate to say you are a celibate but not by choice, but I have heard of pedophiles, zoophiles, and other 'deviants' identifying as asexual because it makes them feel safer, and honestly I say people get to pick their labels, not the labels picking them, so if you want to identify as asexual I say go ahead, or maybe you could go with saying you are both asexual and a zoophile, or perhaps some kind of grey-asexual (people in between sexual and asexual). As far as getting a bear partner though, it is unlikely yes, but I would not say it is impossible. I saw a video of a bear that was friendly and would stand up so people could hug it and one of the guys fell over and it tried to hump him, so I guess that is not a far step from sexual relations with a bear, though I guess getting in contact yourself with a bear and getting away with it with the owner will be pretty tough especially considering the social stigma against zoophilia.

I agree, some kind of better platform would be nice. I have considered starting some kind of Sexual Awarness site/forum that is targeted at all sexual types to help raise awareness of things like zoophilia but I am not sure I have the discipline to keep such a site running once the stress of moderating grows with the size of the forum, though over time I am getting better at chatting in person, I even once successfully debate why non-procreative incest is not really a bad thing. They still were grossed out by it, but they did seem to agree mostly with what I said afterwards.

virtua 1 point on 2015-05-22 00:59:04

You know asexuality is pretty interesting.. Sometimes I almost feel asexual.

It's very interesting you mentioned this because I noticed in /u/Battlecrops' survey that there was definitely a number of people who considered themselves, in regards to humans, asexual, grey-asexual, or demisexual which are all direct terms that come from the asexual community. Another major thing I noticed was the distinction between romantic and sexual attraction used in the survey; that's something that is also used very heavily in the asexual community. So it's interesting to see there might be some overlap between the groups.

Edit:

I have heard of pedophiles, zoophiles, and other 'deviants' identifying as asexual - /u/Crazy_ManMan

Just saw this and wanted to add that I've also seen this overlap between other groups because they're not sexually attracted to adults, or the human species, or living human beings, etc. I've also seen people who fit these groups who are technically asexual but romantically attracted to minors or animals.