Zoo Pride 2023 Day 2
Hello again! Weird to see you this many times in a week. And on a Tuesday no less! Hope your Zoo Pride Week is going well. We're halfway through at this point. Hopefully you've already had the chance to celebrate because the time is going fast!
We here at Zooey Dot Pub are celebrating by providing you with another batch of quotes! But first, I wanted to talk a little bit about the theme of the day too. Today is (mostly) about attraction! What does it feel like to be a zoo?
For me, being a zoo is the same.. but also different. I'm blessed in that I have both a human partner and a canine one. And while I consider both relationships to be the same, at the same time, it's not exactly the same either. It's complicated, and I'm still trying to find the right words to use in the right order to describe it, but I haven't found them yet. What I can speak on, however, is the similarities! Both relationships, for instance, are built on love. We care for each other, and we want to be there for one another. There's also a lot of mutual aid! My human partner may help me with the dishes, or with taking out the trash. My canine partner might help me get more exercise, or might help cheer me up when I've had a bad day. All in all, both experiences are amazing, and I'm so grateful for the fact that I can have both experiences. To tie it back in to pride, I'm proud that I'm in a place where I can have both these kinds of relationships, and feel so strongly about both.
Sexual identity is a weird thing. There's a practice in creative writing called over description. The idea is simple. Take a real life object around you. A computer mouse, some paper on your desk, a nearby ball, a cup, etc. And then you try and describe it in as much detail as absolutely possible. So over the top that it's no longer functional. For example.
"There's a large cup made of a thick glass that's perched precariously on the bottom corner of my desk. The cup is filled halfway with a deep pink liquid. Small bubbles form where the liquid touches the glass, showing the oxidization occurring. The cup has a handle on the side... ETC"
You can do this with sexual identity as well. Most people say "I'm straight" or "I'm zoo", but sexuality is such a crazy spectrum that you can get really into the nitty gritty with it extremely easily. So for myself, I'm a bisexual zoo. But, if you really wanted to get into the details, I'm a bisexual human-heteroromantic cynosexual non-exclusive zoosexual agender. There's probably even more words that you could tack onto there as well.
The reason I bring this up is as a reminder. Sexuality is complicated, and everyone is different. The thing that matters is that you are who you are, and no matter how few or many sexuality descriptors you have, who or what you love, be proud of who you are. And don't feel bad if it takes you a while to figure out too! Everyone around you is trying to figure themselves out too!
Lastly, I want to quickly mention the closeted zoos. Hello! Hope it's not too warm in there! Please don't feel bad about staying in the closet right now. It's a really hostile time to be a zoo, I get it. I get a lot of messages from people saying that I'm "brave" for being so public, but in reality it's much more likely that I'm just stupid. I'm not an anxious person, but I have had panic attacks accidently clicking a bad link, or just saying something I think I shouldn't have said later. Being open is really hard.
That's not to say that if you want to try and help you shouldn't! There's definitely lots to do! But my point is this. Don't feel guilty if you're not an activist. You don't need to feel bad if you're not trying to start the next big zoo podcast. Stay safe and do what you can. The community is always going to be here in one way or another. Take your time, and dip your toe in when you feel ready. It's very easy to create a burner email and make a Twitter account, a Discord, or a Telegram, and just feel things out. You don't have to do more than you want to.
I will say this though. Being able to hang out with other zoos, especially in a way that's so bold and open is exhilarating. Whether that's hanging out with friends at conventions, or gaming together and getting to talk about how hot the new dog character is, or even just laughing together about what the newest zooey memes are, all of it feels so good. So if you think you can, I would highly recommend giving it a try!
But enough about me, let's hear from some other zoos!
The older I've gotten and the more I've accepted who I am, the better it feels. I look at them now and proudly feel attraction and quite a few have picked up on that and shown interest in me too. It just feels "right", like it's the purest feeling in the world, like it's meant to be. I embrace it. It feels natural.
I'm a straight afab however I am genderfluid, gender non-conforming and zoosexual, particularly leaning towards cynosexual since dogs are my first love. The older I've gotten, the less interest I have in human men and the more I've embraced my attraction towards dogs. This is mostly in part to the fact that my first sexual encounter was with my childhood dog when I was 10 and human men just can't live up to how a dog makes me feel. Men have all been disappointing no matter how attracted I was to them.
My advice to closet/lurking Zoos is this; take your time, know who to trust, find your circle. I myself am a closet Zoo, afraid to be judged but it doesn't make me any less proud of who I am. Stand proud, even if you do so silently. One day you will be able to come out and shout loudly, at least with fellow Zoos!" -Akkurriss
(Being zoosexual) feels natural, it always has honestly. I’ve been closer with animals than the average person and it’s shown a lot even since way early childhood. The moment I saw animals, I couldn’t get enough. And a long time later, I realized what it was. I was an animal enthusiast since I was little and never stopped talking about them. That sort of thing never changed. I still have huge connection of heart to animals especially mine. Dogs are absolute blessings honestly.
Sexual identity, in no way am I zoo-exclusive. I’ve been in lots of relationships, though to be honest animal relationships flow so much smoother and naturally to me. It makes me feel kinda crazy lol, that I enjoy kissing a dog more than a person sometimes. I’m pansexual. I’m in a relationship with a dude and my male dog, you could say. I don’t really put labels on my zoo romance though. My partner is chill with it, im super lucky :)
To closet zoos! I know there are lots of you out there and I just want to say that there will be people out there who look beyond your attractions and can love you as you are. In the bigger picture, zoos are usually just normal people, living normal lives. We can break the stereotypes. So even if you’re alone, isolated, afraid, I promise you’re not alone. Zoos are highly misunderstood, and we will be for a while. But if you really trust someone, take your chances. It’s a hard time to be out of the closet especially for zoos right now, but I’m confident this will change. Time changes lots of things. People just listen to the negativity they hear and bandwagon along, especially online. Zoophilia is hugely stereotyped as a fetish, a sick attraction, but one day you will find people who love and understand you, and for every person who tells you horrible things, I promise there will be another who is willing to listen to your story. It’s not easy, so us zoos stick together. Spread love, subtly find ways to stick up for fellow zoos. You’re valid. If you spend all your life worrying about who you are you’ll never be able to sit down and enjoy it. You can make a change. Enjoy the beauty of animals. The wonders of nature, the love and connection with human beings. No matter how hard anyone pushes down parts of themselves, it never really fades. It’s okay to lurk for now. When you’re ready, we’re all wanting to hear your story, too!" -Anonymous Zoo
And that's it for us here today! Hope you got some value out of this, and that you're feeling all amped up and prideful! Now go have fun, and we'll see you again on Friday for the last of our Zoo Pride Week messages!
Article written by Vex and Tarro (July 2023)
Find them at https://twitter.com/hereforthezoo https://twitter.com/KoolKanine
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