Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body

by Sara Pascoe

imagine if, culturally, we expected relationships to finish.

In the thousands of years when humans were post-animal yet pre-science, the bodies we should have taken for granted became unfamiliar to us.

I have changed how I feel about people. Consciously, I made a decision. Now I think about people how I think about dogs. What I mean is, I like all dogs. Love them, automatically. Never met one I didn’t like. Can’t imagine one I hated. Sure, oh yes, a dog might bite me or growl like he hates me, but I would instantly forgive it.

I read somewhere that humans are a ‘self-domesticating’ species. What we did consciously with wolves to provide all those lovely cuddly dogs, we have unknowingly been doing within our own species – we reward teamwork and love and generosity in our relationships and with our sex. We are gradually evolving out of our brutality. Which is nice to think about.