Natural Sexuality

"Alright everybody, quiet down, we're going to get started," grumbled Lion. He glared at the menagerie in front of him, squawking and snorting away obliviously. "I SAID QUIET!" he roared. The crowd was silenced and turned wide-eyed to the speaker. "Ahem. Thank you. I'd like to welcome all of you to the second meeting of the Animal Association of Family Values. First off-"

"Wait a second," piped Bear, "who the heck voted you king of the jungle?"

Tarsier rolled his eyes, which was quite spectacular and frightening to those around him. "Maybe if you weren't hibernating through our last meeting..."

"Enough, enough," grumbled Lion. Everything always took ten times longer at inter-species meetings. "Let's just get down to business, shall we? The topic for today is humans - or Homo sapiens - and their-" he paused to sneer distastefully- "unnatural "heterosexual monogamy" business."

"Oh come on," whined Albatross, "are we still going on about that? There are plenty of examples of monogamy across the animal kingdom. 90% of birds are monogamous!"

Bear whispered under his breath, "Only 3% of mammals."

Albatross huffed. "You mammalists! Really."

"Oh come on, Albatross," said Lion. "We all know that's not entirely true. Only a tiny fraction of birds are actually sexually monogamous. You guys just can't help getting some on the side. And wasn't there even a new study that lesbian child rearing pairs are highly prevalent in Albatross?"

"...Maybe," Albatross blushed, sinking back into the crowd.

"Anyway," continued Lion, "it has become apparent to the Association that this human deviancy is out of control. It's simply not natural compared to the mating habits of the rest of the animal kingdom. Well-" he corrected, feeling Albatross's glare, "it's not the majority at least. And we all know the most common habits are the best. And even if it is found in other animals, that doesn't make it right! Look at how quickly they're out breeding us! The resources they waste on frivolous wedding ceremonies! The anguish they cause themselves feeling like they're forced to stay with their partner for a lifetime! Why, we're doing them a favor to point out the error in their ways."

Bear grumbled. "So what do you suggest we actually do about it?"

Lion stroked his mane proudly. He already saw this question coming. "Well, first we should define what exactly it is we find natural. That way the humans know how to act properly. For example, polygyny is the most common mating system in vertebrates. I have to mate with my many lionesses thousands of times a week, whether they like it or not. Humans? Once a week, maybe if they're lucky, and with only one female!"

"Woah there," piped Marmoset. "What about polyandry? Us girls are allowed multiple mates too!"

"Please," huffed Dwarf Mongoose. "Why are we talking like everyone should get the chance to mate, anyway? Only the dominants should reproduce! I don't even let my subordinate females ovulate!"

Bonobo grabbed Marmoset and Mongoose in a big hug. "Can't we all just get along? I mean, we have sex regardless of gender to solve disputes! Doesn't that sound great?"

Tarsier sneered. "Maybe if you hippies would have watched your cousin a little closer we wouldn't be having this discussion!"

"Now, now," muttered Lion, trying to regain order as it looked like Bonobo was about to burst into tears. "Maybe we shouldn't just focus on mating systems. Like, what's with all this step parenting business? They should kill all the previous cubs - er, children - when they start a relationship!"

"Ha!" laughed Praying Mantis. "Just kill the children? Why, the women should kill the male! What a good meal they're missing out on, letting all that meat go to waste. They only need him for his sperm anyway! So illogical."

Lion frowned nervously. "Well, I don't know about that-"

"Pshh, why need men at all?" said Whiptail Lizard. "Parthenogenesis works perfectly fine for us!"

Tarsier rolled his eyes again. "Who invited the feminists?"

"Why is it always about females anyway?" piped Seahorse, floating in a small pool for the aquatic animals. The Animal Association of Family Values didn't discriminate across taxa. "Males should be the ones who give birth! Female birth is just weird."

"Yeah, but only if they keep their young on their back," said Giant Water Bug.

"Or in their stomach," croaked Platypus Frog, burping up a tadpole.

Fig Wasp buzzed excitedly around Lion's head. "And why do humans have an age of consent? My sons will mate with my daughters before they're even born!"

"Consent?" Mallard Duck looked around confused. "What's that? You mean you don't just go around raping your females?"

Beg Bug giggled excitedly. "I do. I'll stab my junk through their abdomen if I have to! They call it "traumatic insemination," but you know they're just asking for it."

"Hell, I don't even care if they're dead, I'll still do 'em," croaked Cane Toad. Many of the animals blanched.

"You're all nuts!" cried Fungus in the back. "Why do you only have two sexes anyway? Why, some of my cousins have hundreds!"

"What the hell are you doing here, Fungus? You're not even an animal!" snarled Lion.

"Animalists!" cried Fungus, and slowly oozed away.

"Look," sighed Lion, exasperated at the animals' squabbling. "Maybe we should put this off until next month's meeting, when we've had more time to think about it. We can still agree that heterosexual monogamy is unnatural, right?"

"Right!"

"Alright. Let's just leave it at that for now and move on to our next topic. So our boycott of Papa John's is going well..."