Til Death Do You Not Part
January 3, 2011
Torah Kachur
I hope this post is disturbing to everyone, if it isn't - check in here. Notable necrophiliacs include rumors of Achilles, the ancient Greek hero, doing the extra-nasty with Penthisilia after he killed her. Jeffrey Dahmer had his unimpeded way with a few of his victims and Bella Swan eventually succumb to the passionate embrace of the undead Edward. But is sex with the dead just the realm of psychos and tween romance? Necrophilia has been documented in humans since Egyptian time and has spanned continents from the Moche in Peru to the Kachiun in Burma.
This sexual deviancy isn't unique to humans though. The esteemed recipient of the 2010 IgNobel Prize was Kees Moeliker who observed two male mallard ducks that were likely engaged in a normal behaviour of a 'rape fight' (sounds normal to me) before, Wham! they hit a window. The survivor of the window incident then proceeded to mount and copulate with the dead duck for 75 minutes. But this was likely situational, the duck may not have realized that his sexual partner wasn't just surrendering the fight but was really dead. No other incidence of dead duck delights have ever been observed, although male-male copulation has been recorded.
Cane toads in Australia have also been seen to get a stiffy for a stiffy, specifically at 14:00 on Sunday December 27th, 1958 (just in case you were wondering). This particular incidence was funny/sad because the male cane toad was so horny that he insisted on copulating with a dead female, and she wasn't just dead, she had been repeatedly run over by a car. Sexy. It is possibly because cane toad females are pretty picky when it comes to mates leaving the males in a state of desperation. If you are dying to know what necrophilia looks like in action, this video shows the perversive pasttimes of cane toads.
It is unclear whether recorded necrophilia in nature is rare because the incidences are rare or because it hasn't been observed. No other monkeys or apes have been shown to awaken the dead, for once no one can argue humans are 'more evolved'. Certainly the persistence in humans suggests that it is a bit more than just a passing fancy. In a study conducted by Rosman and Resnick in 1989 surveyed confessed necrophiliacs and 68% of them responded that their desire for flaccid flesh was to have an unresisting and unrejecting partner. I thought sex dolls and prostitutes would be a bit more appropriate.
Despite how funny Weekend and Bernie's was, necrophilia is not on the list of a near-normal fetish. If it wasn't for the pure nastiness of it all, all organisms tend to have a distinct repulsion to the smell of rotting corpses. Probably to warn others of a possible situation ahead. Maybe necrophiliacs have a more biological reason than just wanting love and devotion, it is possible that the smell of death for some has an attractive quality. Similar to mutations in fruit flies where homosexual behaviour has been shown to be caused by mutations in olfactory senses. This is pure speculation on my part, but I can smell a genetic test in the makings....Death-fixation and Hyperexcitability Disorder.
What is clear, necrophilia exists, even if the victims cease to.
(Side note: Necrophilia in Texas is a Class A misdemeanor, possession of a pot pipe is a Class B)
YOUR COMMENTS
Who is it supposed to protect? And were there no more pressing matters in the Senate on that day?
But this isn't because of our moral 'sensibilities' but because death is repulsive biologically and the majority of animals react the same to the stench of death. Death means disease or danger and so the universal stench of a corpse should not stimulate any other organ but the nose. You are right though, grossness doesn't mean it should be illegal (just look at Snookie's outfits).
http://www.scienceinseconds.com/blog/You-Smell-Like-Death
Necrophilia is a form of non-consensual sex and is seriously unsanitary. So the law would protect not only the deceased family (much like a law against exhumation) as well as protecting the weirdo who wants to get on the death trolley for a ride. In my opinion, it exists to maintain social order - that is it. It creates a moral line in the sand that society can somehow find a 'right' and a 'wrong' in something that they just feel is wrong.
But - that's just me.
If that is the case - I recognize their cultural norms and values and totally respect their traditions. Just like aspects of cannibalism of dead relatives in a way to keep them alive. However, they do not represent the vast majority of people in the world. This does not make it immoral or wrong - only in the contexts of the 'Western' world...which is where I come from (for better or for worse).
