to wit:
Flying foxes gather in all-male clusters to lick each other's … penises.
I generally despise desperate searches for validating genes ("gay") or just-so theories of domestic evolution (like the nanny uncle) but this is so camp (i.e. inverted) that my objections in brief have fallen to my ankles. The article's subtitle ("Unless it is essential to know a partner’s sex [as e.g. in creatures committed to monogamy], why bother?") pretty much gives it all away. But in case it's hidden behind a paywall, consult The Economist, Nov 28th 2019, pp 68-69. (Lagniappe: an unomitted descriptor for the flying foxes' penises!)
2 comments:
oh boy was I drunk last night! — well, or at least, having too much fun with this article. I confounded two separate questions: "why is there same-sex activity?" with "why are some individuals exclusively given to it?" Mea culpa! But with little remorse I'm consigning my "confession" to a comment.
Thanks for highlighting this, Tim; as usual, I'm a couple of issues in arrears on The Economist.
This topic calls to mind a quote I'd always heard attributed to Gore Vidal, but I can't find any source for it: "A gentleman never inquires as to the sex of his romantic partner." Even if it's a fake quote, I still find it amusing.
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