CANNIBALISM. It's a joke --something that our "developed" civilization did away with, something that appears only in horror movies or tales of barbaric civilizations lurking in jungles. While society has proven sympathetic to "survival cannibalism" (the Dominican castaways who ate their dead peers to survive in 2001), the ritualistic intake of human flesh for pleasure has, for a long time, remained taboo.
"Consensual cannibalism," however, is the phrase of the new millennium. It is the ultimate sexual fetish -- one made possible by our legal system. Unreal though it may sound, cannibalism is legal. In both Britain and most of the United States, the act of eating human flesh is not illegal. What kind of barbaric society are we that our own laws won't protect us from consumption?
While most of us assume that cannibalism is as illegal as murder or rape; the infamous 2001 case of Mr. Meiwes, a German who placed an internet ad looking for someone wishing to be killed and eaten, proved otherwise. Meiwes's ad, "Looking for a well-built man, 18-30 years old, for slaughter," received over 200 replies from people offering themselves up for consumption. Bernd-Jurgen Brandes, Meiwes's pick, had his penis cut off and cooked. The victim was then cut into pieces. The whole incident was filmed on videotape, which apparently shows that not only was the act consensual, it was done purely for sexual enjoyment. Mr. Meiwes, however, was not charged with cannibalism, but with murder for sexual satisfaction, according to BBC News.
This means, then, that had Meiwes not actually killed the man, but simply eaten his body, he would not have gone to jail. Although this might seem like enough to adjust the law, no government has done so. British Home Office Minister Alun Michael, for example, said in a House of Commons written reply that the government had no intention of making cannibalism a specific criminal offence.
This isn't a specifically European problem. The United States has had its fair share of cannibalistic stories in the past few years. In 2004, the band Hell On Earth decided to offer consensual cannibalism as part of their March 6 performance in Florida. Wanting to let the audience participate in the event, they held an online contest to let one of their fans play "'food critic for a day' by tasting the human meat during [their] show followed by his or her commentary to the audience regarding how it tastes." While their Web site at first seems like a joke, the cannibalistic video clips it offers are real enough. The band did not suffer any consequences for its cannibalism, and the United States, much like Britain, did not seem to think the event worthy enough to merit changing the law.
While a German man with a sexual fetish and a controversial Florida heavy metal band might be chalked up as crazy, they are not the only ones taking advantage of the lack of laws.
Even "normal" people have ventured into the field of cannibalism. In the late 1900's, New York Times reporter William Seabrook obtained a chunk of human meat from the body of a healthy human killed by accident, cooked and ate it. In his book, Jungle Ways, he wrote, "It was so nearly like good, fully developed veal that I think no person with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitiveness could distinguish it from veal.... I was glad I had tried it in the simpler ways."
Because Seabrook did not kill the victim/meal and cannibalism is not illegal, he avoided prosecution. While this is clearly indicative of the denigration of our society, many people see it as open-mindedness, comparing the consumption of human flesh with that of cows and pigs. There are even those who claim that when Jesus Christ proclaimed "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him," he was speaking in favor of cannibalism.
For whatever reason, cannibalism is spreading worldwide, with cannibal clubs opening in Canada, and chat rooms catering to these individuals (like the one used by Meiwes, for example) popping up everywhere.
No governments seem to care. Humans are seen as the top of the food chain, but what happens if we start turning on each other for food? Cannibalism is as much of a crime as murder or rape, for essentially it is abuse of the human body.
A law might not have been necessary before, but the recent number of cannibalistic acts is a clear sign that one is needed. How many cases will it take before our governments open their eyes to the horror they're permitting?
Andrea Arrango's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at aarrango@cavalierdaily.com.
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