The Dragon Keeper "Controversial?" Hobb and sexuality. *Major Spoilers up to RWC!

[maulkin]

Just on procreation...I loved Fitz's reaction to the charm of Jinna's that would prevent any reproduction from taking place during their love-making. In this, he seemed very animal-like/dragon-like in that he unconciously approached all sexual activity as a means for procreation rather than recreation, and this procreation was very important to him (and he didn't seem to particularly care who he 'procreated' with...Jinna, Molly, Starling, even the Pale Woman had him thinking for a time and this was via a Skill suggestion based solely on her knowledge of his strong need to procreate).

This got me thinking about sexuality in wolves and whether it is entirely procreative. Wolves are characterised by sexual suppression; only the highest ranking male and female in any pack are allowed to breed. Attempts by lower-ranking males to mate with the alpha female are aggressively interrupted by the alpha male and males appear to show no sexual interest towards lower ranking females. However, lower-ranking male wolves do engage in homosexual activity when the alpha female is in heat. The alpha pair also mate far more frequently than is required merely for procreation.

So, it seems that wolves practice birth control, recreational sex and homosexuality. What does this say about Fitz? Perhaps that his obsession with breeding and aversion to homosexuality are human rather than animal traits.