Zoophilia

Zoophilia (from the ancient Greek ζώον zṓon, German 'animal, living being' and -philie) refers to being sexually or romantically attracted to animals. Zoophilia may involve sexual acts, but also preferences that are secondary, sometimes even unconscious, to human sexual gratification. The term was first used in 1896 by Viennese psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his work Psychopathia sexualis. Since the revised version of the DSM-III (1987), zoophilia has been listed under unspecified paraphilias (sexual deviations from the social norm). According to ICD-10 (F65.8), zoophilia is a disturbed sexual preference. However, more recent studies now paint a more differentiated picture (see debate section).

The superficially very similar term theriophilia (ancient Greek θηρίον theríon can equally mean "animal") stands for worldviews idealizing animals.

Terms

The terms in the word field "zoophilia" were and are not universally defined. An attempt to explain the terms and their development can be found, for example, in Rosenbauer. The most common definition used today by Miletski and Beetz is: "Zoophilia describes an emotional attachment to an animal that leads to a preference for the animal as a life companion and/or sexual partner." More specific terms also exist, such as "cynophilia" to describe human-directed sexual acts between dogs and humans, or the corresponding inclination. In linguistic usage and discussion, terms such as "zoophilia", "bestiality", "zoosexuality", "zooerasty" and the outdated and particularly fuzzy "bestiality" are also used without prior clarification of the conceptual content.

Three key terms commonly used to describe the subject are "zoophilia," "bestiality," and "zoosexuality." People who practice zoophilia are referred to as "zoophiles," "zoosexuals," or simply "zoos." Zooerasty or bestiality are less commonly used terms. "Bestiosexuality" was briefly discussed, but never became established.

Zoophilia

The term "zoophilia" was introduced into the field of sexuality studies in Psychopathia sexualis (1886) by Krafft-Ebing, who described a number of his cases as "abuse of animals (bestiality)," and as "zoophilia erotica," which he defined as sexual affinity for animal fur or skin. In common contemporary usage, the term "zoophilia" refers to sexual activity between humans and nonhuman animals, to the desire for such activity, or to the specific paraphilia (paraphilia, meaning atypical arousal) that indicates a definite preference for nonhuman animals over humans as sexual partners. Zoophiles emphasize the social component of this attachment. Although Krafft-Ebing also coined the term "zooerasty" for the affinity directed exclusively toward nonhuman animals, the term is no longer usually used.

Zoosexuality

The term "zoosexual" was proposed by Hani Miletski in 2002 as a value-neutral term. The use of "zoosexual" as a noun (referring to a person) is synonymous with zoophilic, while the term as an adjective, e.g. within the phrase "zoosexual act", can refer to sexual activity between a human and a non-human animal. The derivative noun "zoosexuality" is sometimes used by self-described zoophiles, both in support groups and in Internet-based discussion forums, to ascribe to a sexual orientation characterized by romantic or emotional involvement and/or sexual affinity for animals.

Bestiality

The English legal term "bestiality" has two pronunciations: "ˌbɛs'tiæ'lə'ti" or "ˌbis'tiæ'lə'ti", the latter prevailing in the USA. In German there is no word with the same meaning, so the English word is usually adopted. Some zoophiles and researchers distinguish between "zoophilia" and "bestiality". They use the former to describe the desire for a sexual partnership with an animal, and the latter to describe the sexual act itself. Masters used the term "bestialists" specifically in his 1962 discussion of zoosadism, which derives from the gratification (not necessarily sexual gratification) of torturing animals.

Stephanie LaFarge, an assistant professor of psychiatry at New Jersey Medical School and director of counseling at the ASPCA, writes that these two groups can be distinguished: "bestialists," who abuse or rape animals, and zoophiles, who form an emotional and sexual bond with an animal. Colin J. Williams and Martin S. Weinberg studied self-described zoophiles via the Internet and described their understanding of the term "zoophilia" as involving animal welfare, pleasure, and consent, in contrast to the term "bestialists" used by this group for individuals who are focused only on their own gratification. Williams and Weinberg also quoted a British newspaper as saying that "zoophilia" is a term used by apologists for "bestiality".

Zoosadism

Ernst Bornemann (1990, as cited by Rosenbauer, 1997) coined the specific term "zoosadism" to refer to individuals who obtain gratification - sexual or otherwise - by torturing animals. Zoosadism is an element of the Macdonald triad of precursors to sociopathic behavior.

Colour woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai, book illustration known under the title The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, c. 1815

Frequency of occurrence

The Kinsey Report found that 8% of men and 3.6% of women surveyed had ever had sexual interactions with animals. For people who lived on farms, the percentage rose to 40-50%, which some later authors questioned because the sample of respondents had not been representative. It had included a disproportionate number of prisoners (sampling bias). Martin Duberman, Kinsey's successor, removed the prisoners from the results and found that there was no significant change as a result.

By 1974, the number of farm residents had decreased by 80% compared to 1940, reducing the opportunity to cohabit with animals; Hunt's 1974 study suggests that this demographic change resulted in a significant change in the reported occurrences of sexual contact between humans and animals. The percentage of males reporting sexual interaction with animals was 4.9% in 1974 (down from 8.3% in 1948) and 1.9% for females (down from 3.6% in 1953). Miletski believes this is not due to decreased interest, but decreased opportunity.

Nancy Friday's 1973 book My Secret Garden describes about 190 fantasies by various women; of these, 23 involve zoosexual acts.

In one study, psychiatric patients were found to have a statistically higher prevalence (55 percent) of reported zoosexuality (45% actual sexual contact, 30% sexual fantasy) than the control group (10 percent) and psychiatric staff (15 percent). Crépault and Couture (1980) indicated that 5.3 percent of the men they interviewed had fantasized about sexual activity with an animal during heterosexual intercourse. A 1982 study suggested that 7.5% of 186 university students had interacted sexually with an animal.

Sexual fantasies of zoosexual acts may also occur in people who have no desire to experience them in real life. Nancy Friday notes that zoophilia as a fantasy may represent an escape from cultural expectations, restrictions, and condemnations about sex. A frequent interest and sexual arousal in viewing animals mating cites Massen as an indicator of latent zoophilia (1994). Masters (1962) says that some brothel operators displayed animals mating to stimulate potential customers; and this encouraged customers to become sexually active with animals.

Numerous studies have found that women show stronger vaginal responses to films of bonobo populations than to films without sexual stimuli.

Zoophiles have been described as a phenomenon that occurs in many different ethnic groups: "among whites, blacks, Asians, Mormons, Amish, Catholics, atheists, Pagans, Jews, men, and women." Additionally, people who "grow up in an area with animals are no more likely to become zoophiles than people who grow up in the city without them."