"Bestiality" Idea 9/22/10

Michelangelo Leda and the Swan 16th Century

Defined

bes·ti·al·i·ty (bĕsˌchē-ălˈĭ-tē, bēsˌ-)

noun pl. bestialities bes·ti·al·i·ties

1. The quality or condition of being an animal or like an animal.
2. Conduct or an action marked by depravity or brutality.
3. Sexual relations between a human and an animal.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

("bestiality." Dictionary Definitions. LoveToKnow, n.d. Web. 18 September 2010. .)

Quotations

"The ancient Egyptians worshiped Gods with animal shapes almost exclusively in the pre-dynastic period before about 3000 BC (Douglas 1992). Animal–human sexual contacts are occasionally portrayed on the tombs (Bullough 1976), and bestiality was recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphics as far back as 3000 BC (Ramsis 1969). Several kings and queens had a reputation
of engaging in bestiality (Rosenfeld 1967; Rosenberger 1968), most famous was Cleopatra, who was said to have had a box filled with bees which she had placed against her genitals for stimulation, similar to a vibrator (Love 1992)."

Miletski, Hani. "A history of bestiality." Anthrozoos (2005): 1-22. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Sept. 2010.

"Beast: The Beast is the animal bridegroom, an animal with human abilities, grotesque in appearance. He is usually wise and kind as a result from his suffering but in de Villeneuve's version he is required by the enchantment to appear stupid. He can only win Beauty with gentle stupidity, more like a dumb pet dog. In Disney's version, the Beast is a beast in personality, too. He is quick to anger and has a hard time controlling his temper. Beauty and the Beast's relationship is much more volatile in the film than it is in the traditional versions of the tale in which the Beast woos with courtly manners."

Heiner, Heidi Anne. "Annotations for Beauty and the Beast" SurLaLune Fairy Tales. Accessed 22 Sept. 2010.

Walter Crane Beauty and the Beast 1874

Annotated Bibliography

Morgentaler, Goldie. "The Beast Within: Animals as Lovers in Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads." 145-161. 2007. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Sept. 2010.

This essay by Goldie Morgentaler is a very well researched and simultaneously probing investigation into the occurrence of bestiality within literature (folk ballads), and more specifically, in Francis James Child's "canonical" The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. "Drawing on both folklore studies and literary analysis, this essay contends that the figure of the animal paramour in the Child ballads represents, in objectified form, the inherent animality and duality of human nature. Ballads featuring sexual relations between humans and anthropomorphic animals address the complex human interaction with the natural world." Morgentaler is constantly questioning the existence of the human soul within the animal, visa versa, as well as historical reasons for this intertwining of species in popular folklore. The passages she wrote about life and death; hunter and prey, I found to be especially helpful, as these sections clearly reference my work and my subconscious instinct to research the topic of bestiality in the first place. Usually, I have an idea of where I want to end up with these idea posts, but this time it found me, as evidenced by Morgentaler's essay. Below are the passages.

"Clearly both animal and human at the same time, the doe's dual identity, like that of the other animal paramours in the ballads, implies the humanity of the animal world and the animality of the human one, with distinctions between the two collapsed into one entity. Symbolically, the doe stands as a median not only between animal and human nature, but also between such other opposing poles as birth and death, hunter and prey."

"The beauty of the deer, as well as its inherent vulnerability, highlights the paradox of the love-hunt in which the intended prey is also the beloved."

These passages will help to inform my work by prodding a folklore source for researching human relationships with animals in my images. I found Morgentaler's essay to be very compelling and unbiased.

Relates

The topic of bestiality informs my work rather than directing it. Bestiality is vaguely referenced in my images through my investigation of human sexuality and its convergence with different species' sexual selection processes. My posts on sexual selection explain the human attraction to animals displaying naturally desirable mating traits to female individuals within the same species. This human acknowledgment and participation within the other species' mating process, whether it be evolutionarily detrimental consciously, is extremely compelling on a subconscious level. What is being hunted? What does it mean to "notice" the sexually desirable traits of other species' and care enough to hunt it down and covet it? Is taxidermy still just for show; for a simple ego boost? Or are these looming stuffed creatures symbols of something subconsciously bestial--symbols of dominance, submission, or sexuality surpassing the boundaries of exclusive species. I would like to allow this topic to more noticeably guide my investigation and work.

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