Are Zoos Pornographic?

Before reading Ralph Acampora's, "Zoos and Eyes: Contesting Captivity and Seeking Successor Practices," I thought that zoos were not pornographic. By comparing zoos to the pornography industry, I came to the conclusion that zoos are in no way shape or form pornographic. Although after reading the Acampora's writing, I realized that I believe that zoos are indeed pornographic.

One reason I believe that zoos are pornographic is because of how Ralph Acampora defines pornography. By defining the zoo pornography as visive violence, which is "overexposure that degrades their real nature", I changed my opinion on zoos being pornographic (Acampora 71). I agree that the definition of visive violence makes zoos pornographic because by being in a zoo, zoo animals are not acting in their true nature by being forced to live in cages and not being able to roam freely. Zoo animals are forced to live in unnatural conditions in order to please the people that come to see them at the zoos.

Another reason why I believe zoos are pornographic is because of how zoos are perversions of how animals live. One way zoos do this is through not showing the interaction between different animals. Through putting animals in cages and not allowing different animals to interact with one another, it shows how zoos are perverted. Also, zoos are a perversion of how animals actually live in the wild by having "fake" living environments for them. Through trying to make a similar living environment than the animal's one in the wild, zoos are a perversion. Even though the environment appears to look like one in the wild, it is not. Nothing can compare to an animals natural environment.

Overall, I strongly believe zoos are pornographic.