Yes, that's TWO in one day!
I have heard from several sources that humans and dolphins are the only animals that have sex for pleasure. If that statement somehow makes sense to you, then you have never seen an animal or are in possession of an genius so luminous that it makes mine look like a Wint-O-Green spark at high noon. As unlikely as both of those conditions are, I'll presume that you'll be willing to hear me out before sequestering yourself into the shell of dogma. After all, I spent a significant part of my workday discussing this with my coworker.
I can't help but think that that statement is as stupid as "Hey, dudes, let's eat these mushrooms I found!" I would want to know how these numbskulls came up with such an outrageous proclamation. Are they implying that all animals not blessed with the honor of being born human or dolphin are incapable of pleasure? Do they somehow rationalize that since we are the only race that can make superhighways we are the only ones that can feel good? If dolphins are so friggin' smart as to be the only other race capable of pleasure, then why the hell can't they avoid tuna nets?
I THINK that what they might be saying is that humans and dolphins are the only animals that mate while procreation is impossible. Actually, I'm not sure about dolphins, but that's sure true for humans. Well, it's true for all humans except ME, dammit! I still don't know why dolphins are so damn special. Why don't other whales do it for fun? Sounds like more hippy crap to me.
So, if the definition of "having sex for pleasure" means fucking without regard to procreation, then are humans and dolphins still the only ones? HELL NO! By that definition, I contend, ALL animals do it for pleasure, and humans are the only ones capable of doing it for any other reason! Do you think a dog knows that his bitch might get pregnant? NO, he (and she) just know they want to get busy. Animals lack the mental capacity to understand that sex equates with offspring (as are many people, apparently) and therefore do what they want. I think that we can all agree that self-denial is not big with animals.
My poor, deluded coworker insisted that animals were just following their instincts. I said, how is that different from PEOPLE? We all have the URGE to fuck, which is an instinct designed specifically to trick us into reproduction, since what right-minded person would want to have a screaming incontinent larva rip its way out of their body (or have to provide for the damn thing)? Of course, it also feels good, or else we wouldn't do it as much. My coworker, being of a far more religious bent than I, chooses to disbelieve that people are basically animals with too much free time, but we are. We are slaves to our instincts as either hedonistic overindulgers or uptight abstainers (or somewhere in between). It would be insane to believe that we are the only ones who feel GOOD when we fuck.
I reminded of a black Nepalese dwarf rabbit my brother had as a pet when he was young. Bunny Buttons was his name. An innocent sounding name for a cute little bunny, right? That little fucker was hornier than a dump truck full of rhino heads. He had an ongoing love affair with my brother's arm and our 50 pound collie. There's no WAY that that diminutive sex machine had any delusions about offspring from the collie or black-furred arms with bunny ears springing from my brother. Bonobos, on the other hand, "make love" ALL the time, with any other Bonobo around, regardless of gender of fertility. I once saw a male toad hooked on to a female toad dropping his sperm while the female did not lay eggs to be fertilized. Black Widows will often eat their suitors without mating. If those aren't examples of animals having sex for pleasure, then I don't know what is.
I would say that humans are the only species capable of having sex for reasons OTHER than pleasure, as evidenced by all of the puritanical "jump on, jump off" crap that still pervades our culture. Only humans actually attach moral compunction to sex and can think of reasons NOT to have it. Come to think of it, only humans really have reasons not to have sex, since there are no VD's in the animal world that I know of, and animals don't mind abandoning their young if they have to.
Of course, this is all academic in my case.
