Subject: If you have sex with a zombie is it considered necrophilia?

I am a teacher and was recently asked this by a student.  I didn't know how to 
answer.  It bears consideration by the greatest minds.

Response:

Re: If you have sex with a zombie is it considered necrophilia?

Hi Fred,

Thanks for submitting your question to the MadSci Network. As you suggest, this is a question 
that bears consideration by great minds. I may not be in that august group, but I have answered 
a question about zombies here on MadSci before. Please take a look at this previous answer of 
mine about zombies to get an idea of my experience on the subject:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/direct_ans/2006/1154104386.Ot.q.html

So, on to the topic at hand. Is having sex with a zombie necrophilia? This question actually raises 
two additional questions; (1) are zombies actually corpses? and (2) is it even POSSIBLE to have 
sex with a zombie?

We have to ask question 1, because my dictionary defines necrophilia as either, "obsessive 
fascination with death and corpses", ore "erotic attraction to or sexual contact with corpses".

So, if zombies do not count as corpses, then the answer to your question is 'no'. 

My dictionary defines 'corpse' as, "a dead body, usually of a human being". 

In addition, while my dictionary has many definitions of 'dead' (many of the too metaphoric for 
our discussion here), I think that the following definitions are pertinent, "no longer living; 
deprived of life", and "not endowed with life".

Finally, my dictionary also defines 'zombie' (assuming that we are not discussion the rum drink)
as follows, "the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a 
supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose," and also defines 'undead' as, "no longer alive 
but animated by a supernatural force, as a vampire or zombie."

So. Necrophilia is erotic obsesssion or sexual contact with corpses, which are dead bodies. A 
zombie is the body of a dead person, but it has been given the semblance of life, and is in fact 
animated by a supernatural force. A dead body is deprived of life, whereas a zombie has been 
animated to have the appearance of life. 

This is a fine point, and it it is quite arguable, but I think that this distinction means that 
zombies are not corpses; they have the appearance of life, which I imagine would detract from 
any erotic feelings that a necrophile would have for them. This is because zombies are not dead, 
they are in fact undead, and so I think we would need a different term for people who have erotic 
feelings about zombies or who have sex with them. Of course, if we expand this term to include 
people who have erotic feelings for the undead in general, that term may simply be 'goth'. ;)

But this brings up my second question. Is it actually possible to have sex with a zombie? It seems 
like it would be impossible for a male zombie to achieve or maintain an erection, as they have no 
heartbeat, and therefore no blood floow, and so could not maintain the turgor needed for an 
erection (of course, I suppose that there always remains the possibility of an erection being 
maintained by a supernatural force). 

Is it possible to have sex with a female zombie? I think that the answer to this question depends 
on the nature of the zombie in question, and refer you to my previous answer. A zombie that had 
been interred for sufficient time before being animated may not have the tissue integrity to 
permit sexual relations. Indeed, we have been shown in many movies, zombies in advanced 
states of decay, which would suggest that sex as living people know it would not be possible.

Of course, a zombie that was the result of contaigion having been passed to a living person 
would be more intact. So, assuming that all the physical parts were present and in working order, 
would a zombie permit a living person to have sex with it? In my (admittedly limited) experience, 
zombies are rapacious abominations of unmitigated evil, bent on killing and mayhem, or at the 
very least the consumption of brains. I doubt that a zombie would sit still long enough for a 
living person to have sex with it without the experience proving fatal for the living person. 

And so there you have it. In my opinion, zombies are not 'dead', but are undead -- animated 
with the semblance of life -- and so are not corpses. Not being corpses, sex with them (if it is 
possible) cannot be considered necrophilia.

I hope that this satisfies your student. :) Feel free to bring us more questions if you get them.

Cheers!

Steve Mack, Moderator MadSci Network

_______________________________________________________________
I am a teacher and was recently asked this by a student.  I didn't know how to 
answer.  It bears consideration by the greatest minds.


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Re: If you have sex with a zombie is it considered necrophilia?