Sexual imprinting [NSFW] (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2015-08-10 00:35:28 by [deleted]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imprinting_%28psychology%29#Sexual_imprinting What is your opinion on this? If you ask me, I think that's kind of hot. I love the idea of an animal being sexually attracted to humans because that's what it remembers from its earliers days, and only wanting to mate with them, as with that panda in the zoo. Just imagine taking care of let's say a deer whose mother died at birth and she has only ever seen humans, and when she gets in heat she starts presenting herself to you. Not only would it be okay to mate with her, but that's what would actually feel natural to her!
I wouldn't call it sexy, exactly, but I do think it's something that happens a whole lot more that we hear about. How many incidents of dogs humping legs are for dominance or play, and how many involve genuine sexual or emotional attraction? There's no way to tell, at the moment.
Of course, some activists might call it "internalized speciesism" or something, but I don't really know how you get rid of imprinting without destroying domestication as a whole.
Can't imprinting also be applied to humans?
I'd expect it to. Although, there appears to be more than one type of imprinting going on in humans, as the Westermarck effect appears to be how humans avoid incest. (Close social contact with people from ages 0-6 makes them automatically off-limits, but siblings who were not in contact at those ages often find each other highly sexually attractive). I'd expect a variant of the Westermarck effect to apply to non-humans, too.
Yes, I suppose it could. But the difference is that feral children (children who've spent significant amounts of their childhood away from human beings and with animals) are very rare. I don't know how many of them were attracted to the animals afterward, either. As for milder examples (kids raised on a farm or next to a kennel), I'm sure it happens, but there's a lot of socialization of children which makes it unclear how many develop such attractions as a result.
Well, in my case I was homeschooled, had virtually no social life, and was best friends with the family dog. Whether or not it's imprinting, there seems to be a pretty good case.
that's (essentially) what happened to me. and I then ended up as an exclusive zoo.
If you want more infos on the process of imprinting, just google Konrad Lorenz. He was an Austrian zoologist and the one coining the term "imprinting". His famous experiments with geese/ goslings unveil the biological mechanisms behind the imprinting process and also give an explanation why the domesticated species (dog/horse) are the most preferred for zoophiles. Food for thought...;)
How did you imprint on horses? Were you around them while you were growing up? Did you live in the country?
No, not exactly. Although I have lived in a semi rural area, seeing a horse wasn´t common for me. But I remember a certain situation when I was 13/14 y. o. I was sitting in class, bored as hell and let my eyes wander around. All of a sudden, I saw a poster hanging on wall, on the right side of the chalkboard.Although this poster was hanging there for several months, maybe years, this was the first time I consciously perceived it. It showed a Haflinger mare with her foal, the usual poster motive, aimed at horse crazy little girls, you know. But my eyes became stuck on the mare, I couldn´t stop watching at her, her eyes mainly. I literally got sucked into these eyes...they showed so much warmth, intelligence, gentleness...I don´t say something "clicked", I` rather describe it as a "satori", an epiphany or illumination. Time and surroundings faded and left my conscious perception, the only thing existing was this mare. Her view resonated in me, it was like a non-verbal dialogue, completely based on feelings. I felt like "coming home" for the very first time of my life. Then, the bell rang and I realised that I had been staring at this poster for nearly one and a half hours straight, without tuning away, like a meditation or something that includes your mind wandering off really far away.
For me, this was my moment of imprinting. Before, I was just an ordinary boy. After that, I exactly knew that my life could become a little "complicated" because I was certain, certain on a non-intellectual, deeper level, that the only genuine partner for me was a mare and nothing else. I never had to go through a long process of becoming aware, it all suddenly was clear on an existential, instinctive level. The only real trouble for me was finding out that leading a life according to my expectations would be a real struggle, but I totally was content with that. For everything, you have to pay a price; if a life in secrecy is what I have to pay for the gift of a perfect relationship with my adorable mare, well, I´ll pay with a grin on my face.
Making love with a mare for the very first time was the next step, further reassuring me that I had chosen the right way for myself. It was this what I wanted, nothing else. When I bought my mare back in ´94, I knew that, from this point on, there wasn´t any possibility left for me to become "normal". The final cherry on the cake.
I, too, enjoy it when my partner is sexually attracted to me!
In all seriousness, if imprinting is a thing in dogs, and it happens after dogs are normally adopted out, that probably implies that unneutered dogs usually end up imprinted on humans! The implications of that are very curious...
As far as people go, I've heard people suggest imprinting as a possible explanation for a human being zoosexual, and I think that's interesting to think about. I think it could apply to some people, if they grew up around their preferred species, but not everybody (like me, or folks who are attracted to dolphins or other more 'exotic' species). It'd be interesting to see some research on that, but of course I don't really think we'll ever get any!
Sexual imprinting sounds both awesome and intriguing.
[deleted]