Goat Friday

Why is ‘Clover’ trying to hide . . . ?

101 Uses for a Goat: #73

It was reported in the Sudan Tribune in February that “a man was caught having an intimate relation with a goat ... [and] was ordered to pay the goat’s dowry and take the animal as his wife.”

I certainly don’t want to dwell on the unfortunate details of this story, but it’s interesting to note that the order for the offender to pay the dowry and wed the poor animal was adjudicated by “some elders”. I’d be interested to know whether this judgement was based on a precedent, or whether perhaps it will become a precedent.

Such stories as this about men in ‘backward’ places ‘having an intimate relation’ with livestock, of whatever species, seem to crop up from time to time. In the last year or so, I recall hearing of at least one incident each in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While I’m sure this sort of thing also occurs in so-called modern democracies, it’s perhaps worth pondering how traditional practices, such as the requirement for dowries, and other impediments to matrimony, may tend to ‘force’ unattached men of limited means into seeking gratification by such desperate measures.

Oh, and just incidentally, how appropriate that the Google ads accompanying the above article are often about singles, dating, marriage and relationship advice! Adsense and sensibility...

(Via Richard Tonkin)