Smokin5150
Tourist
I found this forum through a series of "happy accidents." I have some zoo experience, but far from the required 10,000 hours to have any meaningful expertise. However, in the last few days of reading hundreds of posts on the wide ranging topics covered here, I was struck by the depth of knowledge and compelled to add my own voice.
ABOUT ME
50s highly educated professional. Married bi white male. First discovered zoo when I found a copy of Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden, a collection of women's sexual fantasies (far superior to the Fifty Shades books, IMHO), which had a chapter on zoo. This relic of my mom's sexual awakening (ewww) opened my eyes in many ways. It was probably 30 years ago that I had a brief opportunity to explore my own interest and, while short, it had a profound and lasting impact. I have no done anything since due mostly to lack of opportunity and the fact that the sexual closet of this suburban "soccer dad" is already filled with more than enough skeletons.
THOUGHTS
Please forgive the arrogance of a newbie, but I was surprised by my own reaction to the posts I've read over the last few days. I was struck by how thoughtful people's reactions and comments were generally. If I had to use a single word to describe my overall sense of this community is would be "RESPECT." Let me explain:
RESPECT FOR ANIMALS: I have never seen such a knowledgeable, caring group of people, devoted to the physical and emotional well-being of their animal partners. People here literally could give seminars taken care of our pets' genitalia to veterinarians. But, far beyond that, there is a general concern for and understanding of the highly evolved emotional and mental states of animals. People here seem to understand that instinct is far more complex than merely chasing the garbage truck. In fact, perhaps we are the ones who are not complex enough because we simply dismiss complex behaviors we do not understand as instinct. People here do not share that willingness to just ignore the way a dog sniffs our crotches as some thoughtless intrusion. People here understand that our bodies often communicate with animals without our understanding.
RESPECT FOR PEOPLE: While social media has blessed us all with hair trigger sensitivity and the means of unload emotional bullets at a rate faster than a machine gun, my sense here was that people understand that due to complexities we do not understand, some of us share an interest in zoo. Those interests are not amoral or deviant -- they just "are." Through sharing our common interests and history maybe we better understand each other.
RESPECT FOR NATURE: This perception struck me most. Whether the product of centuries of industrial development or just the innate arrogance of humans' view of their places on the animal hierarchy, most of us have lost touch with nature and see it as something we exercise control over, and not part of. Whether you see nature as the creation of a divine power or the process of evolution, people here seem to better understand that we were intended to fit into nature, not control it. People here seem to understand that centuries of dousing ourselves with man-made perfumes has robbed us of our real sense of smell -- the ability to perceive subtleties of our environment through smell. We cannot pick up on each other's pheromones or even truly understand when our own scents try to tell us we are excited, attracted or even when we are unwell. I have been awed by the depth of understanding that many here show regarding human-animal coupling. Think about it. All of the engineers at Harvard or MIT could not design a system to replicate the complexity of a canine male -- the effect of cues involving all senses to trigger the penis to release from a protective sheath, which then self-lubricates and engorges to fill the required space and hold itself in place. Amazing.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
Absolutely nothing. Given the state of the world and the near extinction of empathy in all social media, I do not expect to see anyone advocating for the rights of zoo. I doubt we will see LGBTQ...Z any time soon.
I apologize again for rambling on. I have not earned my merit badge in zoo and do not know if the opportunity will ever present itself. That said, I felt compelled to acknowledge the extraordinary nature of the people here in this misunderstood community. Thanks for making this dumb guy a bit smarter...
ABOUT ME
50s highly educated professional. Married bi white male. First discovered zoo when I found a copy of Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden, a collection of women's sexual fantasies (far superior to the Fifty Shades books, IMHO), which had a chapter on zoo. This relic of my mom's sexual awakening (ewww) opened my eyes in many ways. It was probably 30 years ago that I had a brief opportunity to explore my own interest and, while short, it had a profound and lasting impact. I have no done anything since due mostly to lack of opportunity and the fact that the sexual closet of this suburban "soccer dad" is already filled with more than enough skeletons.
THOUGHTS
Please forgive the arrogance of a newbie, but I was surprised by my own reaction to the posts I've read over the last few days. I was struck by how thoughtful people's reactions and comments were generally. If I had to use a single word to describe my overall sense of this community is would be "RESPECT." Let me explain:
RESPECT FOR ANIMALS: I have never seen such a knowledgeable, caring group of people, devoted to the physical and emotional well-being of their animal partners. People here literally could give seminars taken care of our pets' genitalia to veterinarians. But, far beyond that, there is a general concern for and understanding of the highly evolved emotional and mental states of animals. People here seem to understand that instinct is far more complex than merely chasing the garbage truck. In fact, perhaps we are the ones who are not complex enough because we simply dismiss complex behaviors we do not understand as instinct. People here do not share that willingness to just ignore the way a dog sniffs our crotches as some thoughtless intrusion. People here understand that our bodies often communicate with animals without our understanding.
RESPECT FOR PEOPLE: While social media has blessed us all with hair trigger sensitivity and the means of unload emotional bullets at a rate faster than a machine gun, my sense here was that people understand that due to complexities we do not understand, some of us share an interest in zoo. Those interests are not amoral or deviant -- they just "are." Through sharing our common interests and history maybe we better understand each other.
RESPECT FOR NATURE: This perception struck me most. Whether the product of centuries of industrial development or just the innate arrogance of humans' view of their places on the animal hierarchy, most of us have lost touch with nature and see it as something we exercise control over, and not part of. Whether you see nature as the creation of a divine power or the process of evolution, people here seem to better understand that we were intended to fit into nature, not control it. People here seem to understand that centuries of dousing ourselves with man-made perfumes has robbed us of our real sense of smell -- the ability to perceive subtleties of our environment through smell. We cannot pick up on each other's pheromones or even truly understand when our own scents try to tell us we are excited, attracted or even when we are unwell. I have been awed by the depth of understanding that many here show regarding human-animal coupling. Think about it. All of the engineers at Harvard or MIT could not design a system to replicate the complexity of a canine male -- the effect of cues involving all senses to trigger the penis to release from a protective sheath, which then self-lubricates and engorges to fill the required space and hold itself in place. Amazing.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
Absolutely nothing. Given the state of the world and the near extinction of empathy in all social media, I do not expect to see anyone advocating for the rights of zoo. I doubt we will see LGBTQ...Z any time soon.
I apologize again for rambling on. I have not earned my merit badge in zoo and do not know if the opportunity will ever present itself. That said, I felt compelled to acknowledge the extraordinary nature of the people here in this misunderstood community. Thanks for making this dumb guy a bit smarter...
