Zoos And Animals (Continued)

Image by Almeida from Pixabay

This is the second part of the post. The first part is here.

Many normal people and parents like zoos too and like to bring their children to zoos, but narcissists like zoos for different reasons, most of which are not normal and most have a hidden sadistic twist. A zoo is an object that gathers many different elements that are useful to a narcissist’s self image as well as his or her desire for control.

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Narcissistic parents work very hard to reconcile the two irreconcilable facts concerning children: their deep dislike of their children and their unquenchable desire to be viewed as perfect parents. No narcissist likes children–their own children or other people’s children. A narcissist likes order, hierarchy, pre-scripted life, rigid human interaction, inflexible view, glory and praise. The problem with children is that they are often in disorder, having no regard for hierarchy, ignorant of life’s script written by others. Their unschooled words often make rigid interaction impossible, their actions don’t fit in narcissists’ inflexible views. Worst of all, raising children is hard work, often without glory or praise. Sometimes other people would say “your kids are adorable, pretty, smart, accomplished”, but the praise is a trickle compared to the endless cascades of gritty work of child rearing.

A visit to a zoo gives narcissists a perfect opportunity to show other people that they are wonderful parents who sacrifice their time to accompany their kids to a zoo, which in the opinion of everybody is the kind of place beloved by kids. Since narcissists dislike children but enjoy a reputation of being the best parents, it becomes absolutely necessary for them to put up a fake front. A zoo fits in cozily with their scheme of things. It doesn’t matter to them whether their kids love zoos or not. If their kids don’t like zoos, they have a way to extract a “yes” from them by applying parental pressure or trick them into compliance.

Superior-Inferior Complex

Animals in a zoo provide a narcissist with abundant opportunities to feel his or her superiority and self importance. Animals have body odor; they make gestures that are not in line with human politeness; they eat without manners; they are lazy; they make animal sounds; they don’t go to bathroom to pee or poop; they don’t know how to use tools; they don’t have languages. The list of their inferiority is endlessly long. Where else can a narcissist find such a congregation of perceived flaws and foolishness? Where else can a narcissist find such a clear human-animal comparison and an irrefutable proof of his or her own greatness?

And while in the zoo, a narcissist will always try to find a way to laugh, demean, ridicule, or shame an animal. “Look, the fur is a little patchy; the tail is a little too wagging; the animal cries are too vulgar for human ear.” “How come this one is smaller than average?” “How come that one looks like it is grinning?” “Hi, you, don’t eat that. How stupid are you?”

Animals Are Props And Sticks

Everything is a prop for a narcissist’s life, including animals and the visit to a zoo. Such a trip will feed conversations for quite a while afterwards; the trip’s photos will be shown to guests repeatedly; the purchase of one or two stuffed animals will not go unmentioned. And of course, a narcissist has to see the biggest, the prettiest, the tallest, the most unique, the most fierce that the zoo can provide. A narcissist feels that he or she is entitled to the peacock’s spreading tail, a male lion’s roar, an elephant’s powerful trunk, the feeding chaos of a monkey hill. If there is anything new, anything special, anything most popular in the zoo, a narcissist has to see it. This narcissist will go berserk if other people have seen it but he (or she) hasn’t.

A zoo trip is also a stick used by a narcissist to “beat” other parents. The biggest zoo around this area is the Bronx Zoo in NYC. “This couple, who run a small business, cannot take one day off. They haven’t brought their kid to Bronx Zoo. Not even once. That’s like child abuse, isn’t it?” “That couple haven’t gone to the safari zoo with their kid yet because the tickets are not really cheap.” “I’ve been to that petting zoo several times already and I even went to the other exclusive place where they let you hold little mountain lion cubs.” And a narcissist will surely tell their kids that they have a charmed life (whether the kids agree to it or not). They will tell their kids that other parents are not so good with child rearing; other families’ zoo trips are not as good; other parents didn’t buy gifts at the gift shop; other parents didn’t take their kids to a particular restaurant; other parents’ genes are inferior since they don’t have the pedigree of royalty or celebrity or warrior like the narcissists’ ancestors.

Invented By A Narcissist

I think the biggest reason that a narcissist loves zoos is the fact that the concept of zoo was invented by a narcissist or a group of narcissists. At least in my opinion.

Only a narcissist could come up with such an idea. Narcissists love control–what is a better way of controlling other creatures than throwing them into a zoo? Narcissists thinks everybody or everything exists for their narcissistic pleasure– an animal in a zoo exists only for the viewing pleasure of humans. Narcissists yearn for glory–what is a better way to show one’s vain glory than imprisoning a big male lion with thick manes, big roar, and a fierce reputation? A narcissist has no sympathy for the misery of others. Actually the more miserable other people are, the more happy a narcissist becomes since it makes him or her more superior. Animals in a zoo are often miserable, deprived of their natural habitat, their roaming rights, their mental alertness in searching for food. They are the miserable creatures to make a narcissist happy, and the very existence of zoos provides proof to a narcissist’s theory that he or she is more superior, more hygienic, more praiseworthy… The list of self-adoration of a narcissist is so long that it is beyond me to enumerate all of them.