fchan

>>181

Psychological Harm VS. Physical Harm

I don't think that pedophilia is illegal because children are unable to give consent.  We make pedophilia illegal because it can cause psychological harm.  Children are developing psychologically and introducing sex during there development will cause them to be abnormal once they fully develop.  We protect children so they can stay in a happy little world where they don't have to worry about sex or be burdened by the ideals of attractiveness.  We, as a society, protect the innocents of our children so they can continue to play with Babies and GI-Joes until they grow up and are mature enough to handle sex.  Consent has little to do with the arguments against pedophilia.  Consent has more to do with adult interactions and guardianship over minors.

The confusion of arguments over pedophilia and zoophilia come in to play because animals and children think on a lower level in comparison to mature adult humans.  But what isn’t fair about this comparison is the fact that animals reach sexual maturity and adulthood many years before humans ever do.  Animals other than humans are not as complex as humans, so they do not need a protracted childhood for proper maturation.  A bitch could have her first litter of puppies during the second year of her life while most humans wait at least 10 to 15 times that amount before they ever have children. 

One thing that is continually missing from this debate is the concept of psychological harm rather than physical harm.  Does having sex with a sexually mature animal cause that animal psychological harm?  If they are large enough and lubricated enough to accommodate a human comfortably (assuming the zoophilic activity involves a human male and animal female) we can safely rule out physical harm.  What we do not rule out is whether or not having sex with an animal causes that animal PSYCHOLOGICAL harm?  For that matter, does it also cause the human any psychological harm?

PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM IS KEY TO THIS ISSUE

The reason we use consent, informed consent or acquiescence to differentiate between rape and love making is the fact that having sex with somebody against there will causes them psychological harm.  This is why rape is considered a violent act and why we consider it immoral.

Although animals are not capable of verbal or informed consent, they are capable of acquiescence, which is a type of consent.  We know that animals are able to consent in this way because we know they are individuals with there own will and agenda and are, thus, capable of making there own choices.  They may not an agenda as complex as a human’s but they have there own agendas, nonetheless.  This type of independence can be observed every time you are deliberately ignored by your pet when you call for them.  This allows us to infer that, by ignoring you, they made a choice to do so.  Thus, animals have the ability to make choices for themselves.

Even though an animal is unable to verbally express consent or approval, they are perfectly capable of showing disapproval and delight.  No matter how well trained an animal is, they will cry, growl, attack, snap, claw, bite, kick or run away when they feel pain or discomfort.  On the flipside, though, animals are also able to show signs of enjoyment when delighted.  Scratch a dog in the right spot and one of his or her legs will gun nuts.  You could also, perhaps, scratch a place behind or inside there ear and listen to them give you a moan/growl of ecstasy.  You could also rub a dog between there front legs and watch as they quietly smack there lips.  Animals can do more than just acquiesce; they can show enjoyment as well.

Do animals enjoy sex with each other, even if only seasonally?  More than likely, they do.  Do animals enjoy being sexually stimulated by humans?  Perhaps they do, or perhaps they don’t.  It really depends on the given animal’s preference.  If an animal enjoys the stimulation and wants it to continue, they will not resist or walk away.  This is, in effect, acquiescence.  Likewise, if an animal does not like the stimulation, they will resist and flea, which is the animal equivalent of saying “no”.

Does having sexual relations with an animal cause that animal psychological harm?  We all can agree that forcing sexual relations when an animal resists is probably harmful, but what about when the animal acquiesces?  Would sexual relations still be harmful then?

Answering that question would help us better answer the bigger question, is sex with an animal immoral.