Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
•
In many parts of the world, sex between consenting males or
between consenting females is considered a 'sin', a taboo and even a
crime, punishable by law (be it customary or otherwise). Refer back
to the Preface for a recent example.
•
In the 1990s and early 2000s, many Western environmentalists
labelled genetically modified crops as 'Frankenfoods' in order to
condemn biotechnology and agro-food companies' development of
putatively 'unnatural' crop varieties.
•
In countries that are today thoroughly multicultural and ethno-
nationally diverse (like the United States), it took many decades for
intimate relationships between 'whites', 'blacks' and other ostensibly
'different' people to be culturally sanctioned. For many years, such
emotional and sexual unions were seen to lead to 'miscegenation',
an ugly term that's rightly considered offensive today.
•
Though it's perfectly legal in many countries, people who alter their
bodies to conform to their 'transsex', 'inter-sex' or hermaphroditic
identities are routinely regarded as 'odd', 'weird' or 'subversive'
by heterosexuals (and a few homosexuals too). Some medical pro-
fessionals have sought to 'medicalise' sex- and gender-ambiguous
bodies and personalities (see, for example, the essays in Barrett,
2007). (I say much more about 'trans'
individuals later in this
chapter.)
•
While animals have been granted rights - and legally enforced ones
too - in many countries worldwide, few people accept the argument
that certain 'higher' animals (such as apes) might be accorded addi-
tional rights akin to the great many enjoyed by people (an argument
made, for example, in Stephen Wise's (2000)
Rattling the cage
and in
the more recent book
Zoopolis
by J. Donaldson and W. Kymlicka
(2011)). It appears to some to bring animals
too close to us
, to treat
them
as too like us
.
The Enumclaw case: outlawing animal intercourse
In mid-2005, a 45-year-old engineer who worked for Boeing (the world-
famous aircraft manufacturer) died shortly after being admitted to hospital.
His death became headline news because of its highly unusual nature.
Kenneth Pinyan had suffered a fatal infection after his colon had been perfo-
rated during sexual intercourse with a stallion. It turned out that Pinyan had
paid another man (James Michael Tait) for the pleasure of being penetrated
anally by the horse on a farm in rural Washington State (near the town
of Enumclaw). Apparently, Pinyan was not alone: many others had paid
Tait and his associates in order to engage in sexual acts with farm animals
(many of which were filmed). Realising that Pinyan had suffered an inter-
nal injury, Tait had dropped him off at Enumclaw's community hospital
