Why do some people enjoy cockfights and dogfights?

[raccoon]

Any ideas? :shrug:

[Glorfindel]

1. Beats me - I don't even like boxing or bullfighting

n/t

[slackmaster]

2. They are culturally backward and ethically unevolved

They have no empathy for chickens or dogs. Pretty simple, really.

[gratuitous]

3. A vicarious thrill, maybe?

Because they'd never want to put their own nuts on the line, and watching two "inferior" animals fight to the death makes them feel tougher. I'm guessing the real or imagined relatively small size of their reproductive organs may also have something to do with it.

[Boojatta]

4. Perhaps they assume that roosters and dogs are stubbornly refusing to speak?

Perhaps they would prefer to see the roosters and dogs posting in GD and creating a train wreck of a thread. Lacking that entertainment option, they might opt for bloodshed, especially since gladiatorial combat ending in a human combatant fatality is no longer a legal form of entertainment in any Western legal jurisdiction.

[Kali]

6. "Perhaps they would prefer to see the roosters and dogs posting in GD"

:spray: :rofl: wouldn't it be GD:P?

[Kali]

5. they are extreme examples of organisms competing in an organized way

humans have been enjoying "sports" for a LOOOONNNGGG time, everything from gladiators to chess, foot races and wrestling to horse and turtle racing. Boxing to bear baiting. Football and polo. You get the picture, right? Usually it involves gambling of some sort. All of it.

[raccoon]

13. But if PEOPLE are engaging in sports, it is (usually) their choice.

(Unless they're political prisoners being thrown to the lions.)

Animals don't choose to engage in cockfights, dogfights (not the ones humans arrange), bear baiting.

"Usually it involves gambling of some sort. All of it."

Yes, good point.

[Kali]

28. well, yes animals DO do those things

that is why they "work" in the human gaming aspect of it. If those roosters didn't instinctively fight to begin with it would never work as an organized gambling activity. You don't see hen fights because they don't really fight by nature (well they do a bit, but nothing like a couple of roosters will and I'm not even talking about fighting breeds)

Note also that almost all of the "fighting" type sports participants are virtually always male. :P

[Beacool]

7. Because human beings get a thrill from seeing the suffering of others.

Why was the Roman circus so popular? How can anyone enjoy seeing human beings being torn to shreds by wild animals or watch gladiators fight to the death?

Ironically, we have evolved very little. Fighting to the death may be illegal, but there are plenty of games and "sports" whose main purpose is to inflict pain and the humiliation of the opponents.

[RB TexLa]

8. Go to a cockfight and ask them.

[Lyric]

9. Because they have violent tendencies, an obsession with aggression,

and they're too chickenshit and cowardly to fight *themselves*, rather then forcing poor animals to be their surrogates?

Bring back dueling to the death, dammit. It'll help reduce the population of frustrated, testosterone-fueled maniacs.

[LiberalEsto]

10. Because they're too cowardly

They're too chickenshit to act on their own aggressions, so they get their kicks watching other creatures fight.


It's a lot like parents who let their kids bully other kids -- their little bullies are acting out the parents' own aggressive impulses.

[navarth]

11. because they're lame sick twisted worthless fucks?

that might be a possibilty...

[Sal Minella]

20. That one works for me.

[Squatch]

12. Or boxing?

:popcorn:

[raccoon]

15. With boxing, a person has a CHOICE whether to get in the ring or not.

The animals in dogfights, cockfights, etc., don't have a choice.

[Squatch]

19. So, with boxing, the only person who bears the ethical consequences is the boxer?

Or the people who CHOOSE to watch the match?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. What are the ethical consequences of boxing?

:shrug:

[MicaelS]

14. Because some people like blood sports

That's why. "Chicken fighting" is still quite prevalent in parts of Texas. I knew lots of people that did it, and were damned serious about it. Not defending it, just explaining. Personally I find cock, dog and bull fighting all barbaric.

I think the same as well of boxing and the "unlimited" cage fighting, but many adult Americans from all walks of life, like those last two..

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121706dntexcockfighting.1604449d.html

New Mexico and Louisiana are the only states that allow cockfights, but Texas permits people to raise fighters and teach breeding and training methods.

This article may be dated, but it explains the mindset. http://www.mangossubic.com/cock_fighting.htm

In Enclaves of Rural America, a Cockfighting Industry Thrives

ELLYVILLE, Okla., June 5 -- In urban America the blood sport of cockfighting survives only furtively, in seedy pits like one that the police raided in the Bronx on Saturday night. But the game remains far more entrenched in many rural communities like this one, where in a carnival atmosphere on Friday night 200 people gathered at the local cockfighting club to watch roosters tear each other apart and to bet on their fates......

[paparush]

16. The same reason they voted for Bush. nt

[napi21]

17. Probably the same reason some enjoy football, boxing, and

auto races where they always subliminally hope for a spectacular crash!

[NNN0LHI]

18. It all began with the great popularity of the Roman Gladiators

I think.

Don

[devilgrrl]

21. because they're sadistic assholes who love the sight of blood?

:shrug:

[guitar man]

22. cowards

They're too chickenshit to jump in a ring themselves and fight, so they throw surrogates in to do it for them. I imagine you'd find a lot of wife beaters and child abusers in this crowd...

[sammythecat]

23. I think it's the tension and drama.

There's nothing more intense and dramatic than a life and death situation. It's pretty much guaranteed the participants will give maximum effort and the whole thing, from introduction to the death of the loser, is played out, live, in a relatively short period of time.

If my memory is right, people brought their families and had picnics on a hill overlooking one of the first major battles of the civil war. We got to do almost the same thing from our living room couches when CNN gave us live footage during the beginning of our invasion of Iraq. Remember the Russian roulette scene in "The Deer Hunter"? Horrifying, appalling, and disgusting, but totally riveting drama.

The drama is undeniable, but to derive entertainment requires some kind of suspension, or total lack, of understanding, empathy, and compassion. When I was a kid (8) I can imagine I would have been excited to go to a bullfight. I think the actual event might have turned me against such barbaric cruelty, but I can't be sure. At some point in my life I came to realize that such things were nothing more than what I just said, barbaric cruelty. Sadly, too many people grow up(?) never having such a realization.

I have an understanding, NOT an appreciation, of why this sort of thing appeals to some people. I also have an understanding, and a frightened appreciation, of the cruelty and under-developed moral sense of the people that find these sorts of things entertaining.

[tomreedtoon]

31. Thanks, sammythecat, for a little empathy.

I don't like cockfights or "blood sports," but I understand how some people can get their emotional thrills out of them. There's a tendency to demonize people who like something you don't like, and while that's also emotionally satisfying, it doesn't solve the problem. Empathy means walking in someone else's shoes, and there are too many progressives that are afraid of putting on the work boots of the rural people they hate so much.

[Kali]

35. I VERY MUCH agree.

[AngryAmish]

24. As one of the few DU cockfight fans, I'll tell you why:

1. I like violence. Boxing, cage fighting, football, etc. I like fighting in my younger days and now I enjoy watching it. There is a visceral thrill to violent sport that is lacking in yachting or ice skating.

2. It was an excuse to drink beer and hang out with my friends.

3. Gambling was fun, even when I can't tell what makes a good sporting cock.

4. Hanging out in another culture in a non-tourist way was interesting.

[Kali]

33. I don't care for much of any organized sports but confess I watch with interest

both bulls and roosters determining who will be dominant around here.

Love this song though:

Gallo Del Cielo - Tom Russell,

Carlos Zaragosa left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was full
He had no money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in Gold
He headed for el Sueco, stole a rooster named Gallo Del Cielo
Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that roosted nestled deep within his arm

Galllo del Cielo was a warrior born in heaven so the legends say
His wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin crazy in his head
He'd fought a hundred fights and the legends say that one night near El Sueco
He fought Cielo seven times, seven times he left brave roosters dead

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Antonio
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Outside of San Diego in the Onion fields of Paco Monte Verde
The Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silk
Adn they laughed when Zaragosa pulled the one-eyed Del Cielo from beneath his shirt
But they cried when Zaragosa waked away with a thousand dollar bill

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Barbara
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the fighting sand
A wicked black named Zorro faces Del Cielo in the sand
And Carlos Saragosa fears the tiny crack that runs across his roosters beak
And he fears that he has lost the 50,000 dollars riding on the fight

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Clara
The money's on the table, I'm holding now your good luck framed in gold
Everything we dream of is riding on the spurs of Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

The signal it was given and the roosters rose together far above the sand
Gallo Del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro's shiny breast
They were separated quickly but they rose and fought each other time and time again
And the legends all agreed that Gallo Del Cielo fought the best

But then the screams of Zaragosa filled the night outside the town of Santa Clara
As the beak of Del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his hand
And they say that Saragosa screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho Villa
As Zorro rose up one more time and drove Del Cielo in the sand

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Francisco
I have no money in my pocket I no longer have your good luck framed in gold
I buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved Del Cielo
I will not return to buy the land that Villa stole long ago

Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes?
Does the scar upon my brother's face turn red when he hears mention of my name?
And do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo Del Cielo?
Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. why do people like boxing?

[-..__...]

26. How's this for a blood sport?

Two bugs enter... one bug leaves...

http://www.japanesebugfights.com

[cliffordu]

27. O!!! The Humanity!! The Humanity!!

You are one sick individual....

:rofl:

[nam78_two]

29. I don't know but it is sickening.nt

[LeftyMom]

30. Because they are douchebags and a waste of perfectly good oxygen.

:shrug:

[ensho]

32. well, actually it is not 'people' that like the fighting, it is 'men'

that do it. true some women are found at the fights but its a man thing.

[Sheets of Easter]

34. Bloodlust, plain and simple.