Directory:The Wikipedia Point of View/FT2 on Animal Films

File:Animal porn shop front.jpg

Animal pornography videos in a shop

Animal pornography is a subgenre of pornography in which explicit sex between people and animals is shown. As well as a subject in its own right, it is sometimes used as a means to attract 'traffic' by spammers and owners of some fake TGPs, who use the promise of "extreme" material as a bid for users' attention.

Commercial animal pornography can sometimes be [[animal abuse|abusive]] or coercive, and amount to forcible rape, with restraints and force visible in the final versions of some productions. In other cases involving the filming by permission of established human-animal sexual partnerships, no force or coercion is involved and the act is an established mutual interest. Since animals are very open about their feelings and sexuality, the nature of the material is often clearly visible to, and can be assessed by, an informed impartial viewer familiar with both coercive and non-coercive material.

Pornography with animals can be illegal even in places where the act itself is not. It can also sometimes be legal in places the act is prohibited. Although animal pornography generally signifies photographs and videos of actual sexual activity, there is also a significant quantity of sketched cartoons and other erotic art to be found on the same theme both historically and in the present day, including anthropomorphic art, as well as erotic art in which non-human animal sexuality rather than human presence is the central theme.

History of animal pornography

Pre-modern times

For more on the historical and cultural context of human-animal

sexuality and erotica, see [[Historical and cultural perspectives on zoophilia]]

The untangling of animal pornography from its roots in erotica and human-animal sexuality, to the modern subgenre of material whose only function is sexual arousal, is a story that spans many hundreds of years.

The history of media portrayal of human-animal sexuality starts with cave paintings, moves on to the human-animal gods and religious rites of the ancient world and antiquity, diverts to erotic art in non-Abrahamic cultures, and currently ends in a 21st century sex shop and the Internet.

Live acts date back to antiquity, and were well known to benefit ancient Greek and Roman brothels, in terms of profitable arousal of their patrons.

Pornography, in its present meaning, is a modern term. Historically it blurs into erotica, and further back in antiquity into the [[Greek language|Greek]] terms pornos graphia, or prostitute writings. A wide range of cultures have created human-animal sexual scenes in their cultural relics, from cave paintings (Northern Italian Val Camonica, circa 8000 BCE), to glazed plates (Native American Indian plate, circa 700 AD) and through to [[19th Century]] Japanese Hokusai woodcuts.

In addition, cultures from Sweden (Sagaholm, barrow, Nordic Bronze Age) to India (Khajuraho temple complex, 10th century) have carved explicit scenes of human-animal sexual acts into their religious monuments, and other cultures (notably Greek myth) have documented these within cultural myth and legend or as part of religious rites.

For this reason, in considering where and why animal pornography exists, and its history, it is important to recognize three points about human-animal sexuality as well:

1. Human-animal sexuality itself has changed in both cultural place,

and cultural significance over human history

1. Its place and roots (as with all sexual material) go back into

mainstream culture over the centuries

1. Whilst older erotica may have been used for sexual arousal as part

of a portrayal of life events, the mass production of animal pornography specifically for consumer arousal is (as with all mass media and mass consumerism) a relatively modern feature.

Modern times

Prior to the advent of mass-market full-color [[pornographic magazine|glossy magazines]] such as Playboy, so-called [[Tijuana Bible]]s were a form of pornographic tract popular in America, sold as anonymous underground publications typically comprising a small number of stapled comic-strips representing characters and celebrities.

The potential use of media for pornographic movies was also seen from the start of the era of silent film. Polissons and Galipettes (re-released 2002 as "[[The Good Old Naughty Days]]") is a collection of early French silent films for brothel use, including some animal pornography, dating from around 1905 – 1930. It is the first film of its kind to obtain a R18 certificate for display in [[United Kingdom]] cinemas, despite its content, in part due to its age and 'classic' nature.

The promotion of "stars" began with the Danish Bodil Joensen, in the period of 1969-72, along with other well-known porn stars such as the Americans Linda Lovelace (Dogarama, 1969), and Chessie Moore (multiple films, c.1994). "Bestiality" was a central theme in Italian adult films featuring actresses like Denise Dior and Marina Hedman, manifested early in the (simulated) softcore flick Bestialità in 1976. Another early film to attain great infamy was "Animal Farm", smuggled into Great Britain without details as to makers or provenance. Moving into the 1980s, the Dutch took the lead, creating figures like "Wilma" and the "Dutch Sisters".

Today, in Hungary, where production faces no legal limitations, zoosexual materials have become a substantial industry that produces numerous films and magazines, particularly for Dutch companies such as Topscore and Book & Film International, and the genre has stars such as "Hector" (a Great Dane starring in several films). Many Hungarian (Suzy Spark, Silvi Anderson et al) and Russian (Pantera aka Jordan Elliot, various girls filmed by Club Seventeen) mainstream performers also appeared anonymously in animal pornography in their early careers. Best-known current performers in Europe include Andy, Bilara, Adilia "the Sinful Lady". In Japan, animal pornography is used to bypass censorship laws, often featuring Japanese and Russian female models performing fellatio on non-human animals, because oral penetration of a non-human penis is not in the scope of Japanese mosaic censor. Brazil is also a substantial producer, with many films featuring "she-males".

Animal pornography and culture

Using animal fur or stuffed animals in erotic photography (in a sense, the combination of necrophilia and zoophilia) doesn't seem to be taboo, nor do photographs of nude models posed with animals provided no sexual stimulation is implied to the animal. Stuffed animals are sometimes used in glamour erotic photography with models touching their sexual organs against such animals, and likewise models may be posed with animals or on horseback. The subtext is often to provide a contrast: animal versus sophisticated, raw beast versus culturally guided human. ([[Nancy Friday]] comments on this, noting that animals as a sexual fantasy may provide an escape from cultural expectations, restrictions, and judgements in regard to sex.)

Materials featuring sex with animals are widely available on the Internet, however, because of their ease of production, and because production and sale is legal in countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

Pornography of this sort has become the business of certain [[spam (electronic)|spam]]mers such as Jeremy Jaynes (8th most prolific spammer, sentenced to 9 years for spamming) and owners of some fake TGPs, who use the promise of "extreme" material as a bid for users' attention.

Alternative representations

Template:Main In some cases, media representations of human-animal sexual attraction or activity have been undertaken with an alternative perspective. Even when pornography itself is not involved, terms such as "animal porn" are sometimes used to cover similar ideas.

One example is this review of the acclaimed 2005 film Lassie, which describes the director as providing "plenty of dog-porn shots of the collie bounding through scenery in slow motion." A second review of the same film on hollywood-elsewhere.com also reaches a similar conclusion, and comments on the concept of animal pornography:

"When I read the phrase "dog porn" I naturally...you know. And I think a lot of us would like to see a Lassie movie in which Lassie's brother Laddie develops a special relationship with Scarlett Johansson. She could play a rich Scotsman's unfaithful wife who develops an extraordinary bond with Laddie... I'm not suggesting a stupid dog-porn flick, for God's sake. I'm thinking of a story that includes genuine tenderness and vulnerability and intimacy of a very special sort. We all know that animal eroticism is very big on the internet and is one of the last remaining taboos, and it's just a matter of time before the right filmmaker approaches it with taste and discretion. I know it sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not. Not entirely, I mean."

Notable aspects in animal pornography

Abuse

Template:Main Films can be abusive towards the animal and / or the person performing in it. This is most obviously so for some smaller animals such as birds, reptiles and fish which are occasionally used in pornography, often leading to injury or death of the animal. But larger animals are also abused, for example by restraining them, by rape whilst restrained, or by being forceful in other ways.

It is a controversial issue whether sexual acts with humans and animals is in and of itself abusive - this is more comprehensively discussed within the article zoophilia. Anecdotally, films which document animal abuse are not that common, many commercial films portraying emotions closer to boredom and lack of interest than anxiety, and showing efforts on the part of humans to create the appearance that some form of erotic activity is occurring. However amongst the abusive films are examples which many would find especially disturbing, or where abuse cannot seriously be doubted:

• A self-described "extreme" pornographic Thai

website, which [[as of 2006]] specializes in abusive material of both humans and animals, advertizes films in which dogs are forcibly made to vomit on girls. To restrain the struggling animals as they spasm, the dogs are placed in rigid muzzles, through which they must vomit (without being able to fully open their mouths), and forcibly held in position over the girls for this activity.

• Color Climax Corporation used to film avisodomy, a subject

which is often fatal to the birds concerned, as well as videos in which restrained animals were denied the opportunity to move away from the humans (often women) involved.

• By way of example of human abuse, in 2004 three African women

escaped from a warehouse in the town of Kraggenburg in the Netherlands after they had been locked up there and forced to perform sexual acts with dogs while being filmed. It was alleged that they would then have been killed in a snuff film had they not escaped. Six men from Belgium and Holland were charged. [8]

• In other niche pornographic films, especially in the Japanese

market, young girls (usually from extreme poverty families) are made to eat animal excrement. (Normally considered as scatophilia rather than animal pornography, however if actual animals are featured their condition and wellbeing – as well as possible medications intended to cause this behavior – is at question).

(interpretation -- examples -- abuse can be both of humans and of animals, cover both) Template:Sectstub

Faked activity

Some films show faked activityTemplate:Citeneeded. Apparently this is most common in equine pornography where it's easier and safer with a passive partner and fake orgasm than with one genuinely interested, since according to animal breeders guides, stallions have a strong tendency to rear and thrust dangerously, and also to bite and flare when genuinely aroused.

Cartoon, satire and other representations

Template:Main Explicit and implied portrayals of human-animal sex are not uncommon in some media, especially cartoon series such as Family Guy (episode: "Screwed the Pooch") and South Park ([[South Park#Recurring Themes|Recurring themes]]), satirical comedy such as Borat and the 2003 satirical short film farm sluts which shows how the life of a man named Larry goes downhill after being caught at work receiving animal pornography in his e-mail . It is also featured in several full-length films, especially shock exploitation films such as the 1975 movie Pink Flamingos. This is not usually censored in the West. More realistic representations, or those showing sexual detail, including computer created images are more likely to engender complaint or be considered pornographic. Hentai and other cartoon pornography that depicts sex with animals is a grey area and may vary by culture.

Erotic stories

Although pornography is often thought of in terms of visual imagery, there is also a large subgenre of erotic stories in text form. Unlike movies, but like other textual material, animal sex stories tend to be freely available for non-commercial purposes, since the major websites carrying archived textual material all do so for free.

Animal pornography not including humans $stub$

(eg furry art, animal documentaries sold by specialist outlets for sexual interest, etc) Template:Sectstub

Production and distribution

Major producers of animal pornography have included companies such as Color Climax Corporation and Petlust, the former producing commercial and often abusive films up to and including avisodomy (often fatal for birds), including most of the material for the notorious underground film Animal Farm.

In some cases (as noted above), specific series have been produced, featuring repeat animal stars such as "Hector" (a Great Dane), or human stars such as Chessie Moore.

Online distribution of animal pornography is spread via original suppliers, copyright breakers who repost existing materials obtained from other sources, amateur pornography ("home made"), private file sharing between friends, as well as via Usenet, forums, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and peer to peer (P2P) software such as Kazaa and eDonkey. Some cell phone operators or legal systems restrict pornography of all kinds, thus including animal pornography, from being distributed via cell phones, particularly as they are hard to supervise and children are a major market sector.

Legal issues

Other articles with legal sections: Obscenity, Pornography,

Legal status of internet pornography, [[Zoosexuality and the law]]

Legality of any given pornographic material has three components: legality of production, legality of sale and transportation, and legality of ownership.

In general, animal pornography is legal to produce anywhere that zoosexual activity and the creation of pornography in general are both legal. Laws concerning sale, transmission and ownership vary more widely.

In many countries such as Canada, Hungary and the Netherlands, such material is legal, although in some countries where zoosexual acts are legal, zoosexual pornography is not (Belgium, Germany, Russia). Animal pornography is governed in the United States by the same Miller test and obscenity laws as any other form of pornography.

Erotic art, such as animal pornography in cartoons and the like, which does not require the recording of an actual sexual incident, are not usually considered sex with animals by the law, and so their status depends upon more general laws such as legal limits upon obscenity or pornography alone, and the thin line between erotic art and pornography. The contrasting views between cultures are highlighted by the case of Omaha the Cat Dancer, a furry comic book, which was simultaneously the subject of a raid by Toronto police for pornographic depiction of bestiality, and the subject of praise by the [[New Zealand]] [[Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)|Office of Film and Literature Classification]], which found it suitable for "all ages", for its mature depiction of relationships and sexuality.

List of relevant laws

	Sale and distribution	Ownership	Relevant law / notes
Canada	Unknown	Legal
Germany	Illegal	Legal	§184 StGB [9]
Russia	Undefined	Undefined	Criminal Code vaguely prohibits "illegal" pornography (an undefined term) however known to be ineffectual and either ignored or unenforced. In practice, there seems no firm law nor enforcement interest, either for production or possession, although technically pornography of all kinds is regulated by law. However, "pornography producers trying to operate legally say they won't go near necrophilia or bestiality".
United States	As with all pornography, considered obscene if it does not meet the standards of the Miller Test and therefore is not openly sold, mailed, distributed or imported across state boundaries or within states which prohibit it. Under U.S. law, 'distribution' could include transmission across the internet. However may be some doubt. || Usually legal (unless prohibited by state law). Interstate transport or import of pornography even for personal use is technically an offence. || various
United Kingdom	Uncertain	Legal	The Home Office has consulted on banning images of all "violent" or extreme acts (including animal pornography and possibly BDSM), but as yet no law has been passed.

Promotion of, and activism against, animal pornography

It is reported that:

Surprisingly, many zoophiles join animal-rights activists in their

opposition to animal pornography because the films objectify the critters, and mistreat the animals. "Things are done to elicit behavior," explains [one zoophile]. "For instance, they allow a dog to become dehydrated so he will lick almost constantly."

Background on sexual aspects

Unlike some other forms of pornography, animal pornography contains some singular questions, since other living beings (who may have less scope to show disagreement than humans would) are involved. The jury is still out on the extent to which human-animal sexual activity is necessarily harmful, and indeed whilst many groups claim it always is so, a number of academic and other sources view that this is not the case.

Views are strongly and often emotionally divided whether human-animal sexual contact is harmful or not for an animal. On one side, many animal welfare groups and would-be legislators state without reservation that all such activity is by definition abuse. On the other hand researchers who have studied it often say that (other than wanton sadism and ignorance) it is not. The debate is very much still open.

Within Wikipedia, non-human animal sexuality looks at animal sexuality, and the wide scope of animal sexual behavior in nature, revolutionized by modern findings that most animals are sexually promiscuous opportunists. Zoophilia covers all aspects of human-animal emotional bonds and sexual activity, as well as societal and research views on it. And zoosadism explores animal sexual abuse.

On the subject of human-animal sexuality, Masters (1962), wrote:

"Where sadism is not present, there is considerable room for

doubt as to whether there is any cruelty. It has always been noted in fact, by ancient historians and up through Kinsey in our own time, that animals tend to become affectionately attached (not only physically) to humans who have sex relations with them, and sometimes have even been known to forsake intercourse with their own kind in testimony to their preference for relations with humans. Whatever one may think of bestiality, this does not sound as if it were an act of cruelty so far as the animal is concerned."

"One seems forced to conclude, the animal derives a considerable

psychical [ie mental] and/or emotional pleasure from sexual contact with a being of a higher nervous, emotional, and intellectual organization, who is somehow able to provide the animal with non-material rewards which another animal is not able to offer."

One notable inquiry is that of the Swedish Animal Welfare Agency which in 2005 reviewed human-animal sexuality and gave as its opinion that whilst animal cruelty legislation was not sufficiently protecting animals from abuse and needed updating, on balance it was not appropriate to call for a ban [10].

By contrast, the Humane Society of the United States states categorically and strongly its belief that: "Not all cases of animal sexual abuse will involve physical injury to the animal, but all sexual molestation of an animal by a human is abuse." Template:Derefer

Bodil Joensen, the first international animal pornography star, discussed her stage performances with her male dog in a 1980 interview:

[He] has starred in two films. And lots of photo series. Lassie has

fucked around 25 women, and Bodil doesn't know if he has ever fucked another dog. Problems with the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals occured when Bodil started performing live with Lassie. They thought Lassie suffered. "But they should have seen us working! We performed to the song "Je t'aime" - the naughty French one. As soon as he heard the music, Lassie stormed to the stage. He was always ready [...] But I can't tell if the other way is cruelty. That is, a man fucking a female animal. But I don't think so. [...] I've experienced a lot with Lassie, and like him a lot."

See also

Obscenity and pornography

• Obscenity
• Pornography
• Amateur pornography
• Internet pornography
• Pornographic magazine
• Pornographic movie
• List of pornographic sub-genres

Art

• Erotic art
• Furry art

Law

• Legal status of internet pornography
• Zoosexuality and the law

Human-animal sex

• Human sexuality
• Zoophilia
• Historical and cultural perspectives on zoophilia

NOTES

• Image: Hustler 1984
• Image: Thai website

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