It's not enough to want to be the opposite sex. Some people want to be animals:
Headline:
Man who spent $14K to transform himself into collie steps out for first-ever walk in public
A Japanese man who [spent] more than $14,000 to become a dog has finally taken his first walk and immediately made some canine friends.
Known only as Toco, the man spent two million Yen, or $14,169 on a hyperrealistic collie costume to fulfil his lifelong dream of “becoming an animal”.
In recent updates shared with his almost 30,000 YouTube subscribers, Toco was seen playing in his backyard on all fours and performing tricks in exchange for treats.
But now he has ventured into public for the first time to reveal his new look.
In a pair of surreal videos posted to his YouTube channel ‘I want to be an animal’, Toco was seen being taken out for a walk on a leash, sniffing at other dogs in a park and rolling around on the floor.
Toco’s grand debut — which was captured while he was filming a segment for a German TV station — seemed to be well-received by passers-by and other dogs, who appeared curious.
It wasn’t clear whether they realised Toco wasn’t a natural-born dog.
“I became a collie, fulfilling a dream I had since I was a little child to be an animal!” subtitles at the beginning of the video read.
In an introduction to his YouTube channel, Toco explained via a series of written notes translated from Japanese (he doesn’t speak in the videos, since he wants to be a dog): “Nice to meet you. I became a rough (sic) collie because I wanted to be an animal … Please let me know your request for the video you would like to see in the comments!”
Toco says he hides his human identity because he doesn’t want to be judged by people he knows.
“I don’t want my hobbies to be known, especially by the people I work with,” he told the Daily Mail last year.
No shit, you don't want your "hobbies" to be known.
Okay, here's my problem with this: normally, I'd say that, if people want to identify as a "furry" or whatever, if people want to try to transition from one sex to another or whatever, then they should go ahead and knock themselves out as long as they're not hurting anyone else. I am bending over backwards to be as libertarian about this as I can. But while I think gender dysphoria is a thing, I have a hard time believing that these people who want to be or become animals actually have a real understanding of their target animal's true subjectivity. Who can truly claim to know what it's like to be a dog? Worse, if this Japanese guy is being taken out on walks, then that means he's involving other people in his folie. This isn't the same as "involving other people" via random encounters in the office or on the street: this guy is specifically involving someone else who must actively play along with this nonsense. You might argue that the person holding the leash is doing so happily and voluntarily, but I think we're straying awfully close to "hurting anyone else" territory. I find this somewhat disturbing. At the very least, we're looking at a folie à deux here.
I'm not worried that this catching, that millions of Americans will suddenly get the urge to put on dog costumes and try to act like dogs (which I assume would include leg-humping for the males if the goal is vérité). No, my worry is confined to the libertarian level: if this nonsense requires others to abet one's weird fantasy—and make no mistake, that Japanese guy in no way became an actual dog—then I think there's a real chance of harm here. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe just let these people live in their pretend world. But to me, what might be harmless on the scale of a single person becomes much more sinister when it starts involving other people.
ADDENDUM: I just watched part of the "viral video" of this guy in his collie suit. There is nothing truly dog-like about the man's behavior. His suit can't articulate, so the ears don't swivel, the tail can't wag, and the face is expressionless. I can only imagine that a dog will sense right away that this guy isn't a dog. I found the few seconds I watched to be off-putting. His accomplice in the video is a young white woman (the video appears to have been filmed in Japan). She not only "walks" the "dog": she also serves as a sort of ambassador, smoothing interactions between the fake dog and passersby with their real dogs. The whole thing is weird beyond words. At one point, the "collie" waves like a human. The guy's not even trying to put on a realistic canine performance.
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