Hotel Bliss Guest Blog

Do Like The Penguins Do!

Hello everyone. This is my first blog post here, and I hope to be contributing much more often from now on. I was inspired to begin writing after reading an article I found about the habits of bisexual animals in the wild, and I’d like to share with you some of my thoughts. If you’d prefer to skip my opinions and jump straight to the article, you can do so by visiting: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bisexual-species

I am an avid fan of Kinsey’s theory that the vast majority of people are not only “straight” or “gay”, but fall somewhere in the middle. Alfred Kinsey, if you’re not familiar with his work, was a biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who founded the Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University in 1947 (source: Wikipedia). The movie which bears his name introduced me to his great works in the field of human sexuality, and his somewhat unorthodox practices. He broke new ground at a time when the general public was afraid to speak about sex, much less homosexuality or bisexuality. We have him to thank for opening the doors of discussion on these topics and for developing the Kinsey Scale, which measures sexual orientation, with 0 being extremely heterosexual and 6 being extremely homosexual. Through his interviews with hundreds and thousands of randomly selected participants, he discovered that most people are somewhere in the middle.

Unfortunately, upon publishing this information about homosexuality, Kinsey was labeled a freak and many discredited his earlier works. Since the time of his discovery, many researchers have been trying to prove that homosexuality is a genetic disposition, which would help to eliminate the stigma of being “gay.” Much of the research focuses on animals, and how they behave in the wild without any social boundaries to prevent them from coupling with the partner of their choice.

It’s not new information that animals in the wild will couple with their same-sex counterparts; what’s interesting is the article puts some emphasis on how some animals will choose a same-sex partner for differing reasons—whether they be for relieving social tension, to protect their young, or just because it’s fun!

It is noted that animals in the wild cannot be grouped into either “gay” or “straight” classifications because they do not shun encounters of the same sex after coupling with a member of the opposite sex, or vice-versa. Sociologist Eric Anderson, of the University of Bath in England is quoted as saying that “Animals don’t do sexual identity. They just do sex.”

In early studies, the article explains, scientists treated homosexual animals as abnormal and “treated” them by castration or lobotomy. These practices were not uncommon in some of the darker corners of our own human history.

Evolution, too, has had its hand in shaping the genitals of female Bonobos, who rub their genitals together so often that scientists theorize that their clitorises have favored a position that provides the most pleasure. We all know how monkeys are considered to have 90% of their DNA matching that of a human’s. Makes me question if our clitorises are placed in front, away from the penis, for the same reason.

Another interesting fact to note, some scientists have observed that the more homosexual acts occur within a community of animals, the more peaceable they are as a whole. This is because many animals stimulate each other to appease the dominant male, for instance, or to keep an upset mother from taking revenge for upsetting a baby. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t feel like fighting with anyone after I’ve had a good orgasm.

The article goes on to explore other couplings between animals, including female Koalas in captivity, who will act like a male and copulate with as many as four partners at once. Scientists speculated that these couplings may have occurred as a result of stress from a lack of male partners. Again, we see these same behaviors with humans. Just take one good look at the Navy, or at sports teams. The article also explores these avenues later.

“We should be calling humans bisexual because this idea of exclusive homosexuality is not accurate of people,”[One scientist said.] “Homosexuality is mixed in with heterosexuality across cultures and history.”

Which causes me to question the social constrictions put upon humans in the first place. As a history minor, I am well aware that throughout literature and historical documents, there are the telltale signs (and sometimes the more obvious admissions) that same-sex relationships and couplings did occur. How is it, then, that we allowed ourselves to be restricted by social boundaries from something that appears to be natural for all animals? I won’t make assumptions on who or what put those boundaries there (because I have a few theories that will most likely offend the most religious members of this site), but I want all of us to ask ourselves what walls (actual or theoretical) will crumble if bisexuality was suddenly forced into popular culture.

Open your minds, think about it J

“All Knowledge Is Worth Having”