Apparently, homosexuality is a sensitive subject. Ever since Seed posted my article on Joan Roughgarden earlier this week, I've gotten numerous emails informing of all the reasons why I'm "scientifically wrong" and "morally repugnant." I've even been accused of furthering the interests of Sodom.
But one email piqued my interest. Mr. X informed me that he raises sheep, and that his male sheep never, ever engage in genital licking or anal sex. (They sometimes hump each other, Mr. X confesses, but that's just an expression of "dominance".) Although I probably disagree with his politics, Mr. X has a point. His domesticated sheep probably don't engage in homosexual sex quite as rampantly as wild big horn sheep do, which is the species I talk about in the article.
Why not? Because it's been bred out of them. Ranchers have long known about "dud studs" - those damned male sheep that just aren't interested in mating with females. Since each ram can cost several hundred dollars, and rams are expected to "service" up to 100 different ewes, having too many "dud studs" is a serious problem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has even funded studies which have tried to weed out "gay sheep" from "straight sheep." The result has been, as Joan Roughgarden put in her book Evolution's Rainbow, "the removal of gayness from rams in order to increase sheep-farming profits."
So don't worry, Mr. X. Although your domesticated sheep are still a little bit gay, then aren't nearly as gay as wild big horn sheep. That's our tax dollars at work.
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I loved your article on Joan Roughgarden. I've reviewed her book on my blog a few months ago (that should be listed in my 'sampler' somewhere).
Not all males climb on other males out of aggression - sometimes it's just sex and sometimes it is "making friends" which is good for group cohesion in social animals. That may sound novel to some old-timers, but I taught about it a couple of weeks ago in Intro Bio class (behavior and ecology lectures).
Speaking of sheep....have you read "Bellwether" by Connie Willis?
Thanks for your comments and kind words. I have not read Bellweather, although I plan on getting it from my local library this afternoon. It sounds really interesting. And I agree with your assesment of animal behavior. For too long, biologists and ranchers have assumed that every act of male-male mounting is aggressive, or just "practice". They've never even considered that these animals might actually enjoy the sex (you'd think the genital licking would be a give away...)
thanks
Thanks for your comments and kind words. I have not read Bellweather, although I plan on getting it from my local library this afternoon. It sounds really interesting. And I agree with your assesment of animal behavior. For too long, biologists and ranchers have assumed that every act of male-male mounting is aggressive, or just "practice". They've never even considered that these animals
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160 your comments and kind words. I have not read Bellweather, although I plan on getting it from my local library this afternoon. It sounds really interesting. And I agree with your assesment of animal behavior. For too long, biologists and ranchers have assumed that every act of male-male mounting is aggressive, or just "practice". They've never even considered that these animals
from my local library this afternoon. It sounds really interesting. And I agree with your assesment of animal behavior. For too long, biologists and ranchers have assumed that every act of male-male mounting
animal behavior. For too long, biologists
comments and kind words. I have not read Bellweather, although I plan on getting it from my local library this afternoon. It sounds really interesting. And I agree with your assesment of animal behavior. For too long, biologists and ranchers have assumed that every act of male-male mounting
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