It's Okay to be a Little Bit Zoosexual
One time, I was doing a Buzzfeed-style quiz with a straight friend, and it asked us the question, "Would you ever have sex with a man?" I almost filled out his answer for him without asking. This friend likes boobs, has only dated women, and has said to me before numerous times that he's straight. But, we were having fun with this quiz, chatting, and so I asked him performatively, "Would YOU, Jacob, ever have sex with a man?" And he thought about it, and said, "I wouldn't say I would *never* have sex with a man. I'm open to the possibility, it could happen."
I was so pleasantly surprised, and answered based on what he had just told me.
Here at Zooey Dot Pub, which is a blog-style online magazine about zoosexuality, our entire editing team identifies strongly as zoosexuals (or "zoophiles" if you prefer that word over "zoosexuals," we kinda like both words.)had a dog as a life partner at some point, we have all had times in our lives when we had sex with dogs regularly (some of us still do, others are widowed,) and we would all say that being zoosexual is a core part of our identity. So, sometimes in our articles, we accidentally forget to pay attention to people who might be a little attracted to animals, but it's also not like, something they would make their whole life defined by.
It's okay to be a little bit zoosexual!
It's okay to be out walking around on a summer day, and find yourself staring at a passing dog's junk for a long time, even if you wouldn't really say that "zoophile" is worth mentioning as a part of your identity.
It's okay to be a furry who likes looking at explicit furry art, and not rule out a piece because it has a feral character in it.
It's okay to be like my friend, who identifies as straight and has lived his entire life that way so far, but not be offended by the idea of doing something different in the future. It's okay to not seek out chances to hook up with a dog, but also be open to the idea of including a dog in the bedroom if a future partner is saying that they think their dog would like you quite a lot.
It's okay to be someone who identifies as an animal a little bit, but isn't fully Therian. It's okay to really enjoy being referred to as a dog or an otter or a horse or a coyote or whatever your animal of choice is. It's okay to call your hands paws.
Labels are helpful when they're helpful, but they can also fail to account for everything. Someone can be straight and repulsed by the idea of gay sex, or someone can be straight but not be against having some gay fun if the person who they're vibing with the most at a party happens to be a person of the same sex and gender who's interested. Someone can experiment with animals when they're exploring what their sexuality is, and find that "zoophile" doesn't really describe their main interests, even if the sex was pleasurable. I know a number of people who have told me, and were embarrassed to say it, that before they ever had a boyfriend they got their humpy dog to try the humping thing but this time without pants, or that before they had a girlfriend they tried showing their junk to a dog, and the dog licked it. Some of these people did end up identifying as zoosexuals, others ended up being allies but not really considering themselves zoo personally.
It's okay to be a little bit zoo! Awoo!
Article written by Alissa Dogchurch (June 2024)
