The various activities and events that Animalia had worked with, at least with Lyre, were all looking good, and the stories on some Animalians actually starting families came as fairly warming news Clara. In a world where the future was always uncertain, reports of families seemed to warm her heart, and that helped her with what she was presently working on... the comments section from the various Animalia Ambassadoria podcasts.
The idea was working fairly well in that it got Animalia out there and got them more recognition, and in ways more than just as news reports that related to the uncontrolled outbreaks of the Animalia Virus that had created Animalia in the first place. A great deal of the negativity that was out there was likely due to the fact that Animalia's creation was accidental and from something that many had termed a "mad science project" in the comment section of various online articles, newspaper editorials, and a few television news reports. That really couldn't be changed, but Animalia Ambassadoria was opening eyes and minds to the idea that Animalia was more than just an accident that gave animals a more human like form.
"Well... the good news," Clara spoke as she looked up to Robbie, her deputy mayor and good friend, "is that I think we are making some progress with these podcasts."
"That's good," Robbie commented, "as looking through the negative comments has seemed to stress you... I've seen that much."
Clara looked up to the Red Fox Animalian. Their first meeting had been after she'd been exposed to the virus and uplifted and then Robbie being uplifted as well. They both drank from the same stream, then they mated and essentially gave each other their second dose of the virus. It had felt good and Clara fondly remembered it, and Robbie had been helpful in getting Animalia going. He seemed to have that sort of cleverness that people always attributed to foxes and used it help create something that Clare found to be quite beautiful. In this, Clara felt she actually loved Robbie, though, the fact that they were different species would mean that they could never truly breed with each other. If they went beyond a professional relationship, they would only be able to adopt children and could only enjoy each other physically outside of Clara's mating season. Anything else would violate the Edicts, yet the tone in Robbie's voice and the warmness in his eyes almost made Clara willing to make that sacrifice and not breed.
"Yes, well," Clara spoke after a brief moment, "that doesn't mean that there isn't any negative issues to deal with. I'd say we're making some progress... but there is still plenty of issues to deal with."
The poster " ih8Ulibs" continued to be a feature comments on many of these posts with his or her acidic brand of hatred that often seemed to have no real reasoning behind his comments besides spewing hatred. And not all of them event dealt with Animalia. A few seemed more to be arguing with those defending Animalia in the comments section and bragging that the Democratic Party was going to be outlawed in January because "America woke up to the fact that the Communist Regime of the past eight years failed in its love of Radical Islamic Terrorism." Clara had begun to think that ih8Ulibs was nothing more than what some called an "internet troll."
However, he wasn't the only person leaving negative comments. There were others that both Robbie and Clara were far more important to deal with as they were a bit more reasoned and dealt specifically with issues that related to Animalia, and protecting Animalia and its future was more Clara and Robbie's concern. There was a wider world, but for the moment, that wider world wasn't threatening Animalia directly. The comments that they looked to focused on issues that dealt specifically with Animalia and Animalians.
One read: "ih8Ulibs IS an idiot, but on some levels, he's had some points that are clear. There is a lot about Animalia that seems openly sexual and slutty. Look at many of the Animalian events that have been on TV. Nearly every female Animalian is wearing something low cut and showing as much cleavage as possible. Dresses are split up the sides to well above the hip and the same goes up the back. That's showing an grossly improper amount of leg and a few of them didn't even seem to be wearing panties. I have no personal problem with them being as well built as they are. I'm actually a bit jealous of that... BUT there is a difference between being beautiful and being a slut. And the way so many Animalians dress... it's clear they prefer slutty over beauty and are setting a BAD example to our children. I mean, if I dressed the way some of these Animalians dress, my five year old think it's okay to do that. The proper amount of skin to show in public is one's face and arms... maybe the leg below the knee if it's hot out... but we really don't need to be looking at people who are nearly nude in every possible public appearance."
Many of the other comments went similarly with people complaining about the way many Animalians dressed, and Clara could admit that many Animalians did dress in a way that would be considered provocative on some level. However, that wasn't something that every Animalian did or did all the time, and it wasn't as though Animalians dressed that way to be deliberately sexually provocative. In many cases, and particularly for bird and mammal Animalians, it was more do minimize skin irritation. Humans ultimately wore clothing more for warmth rather than modesty. In fact Clara had seen some National Geographic magazines that showed that some humans in much warmer climates, and consistently warmer climates, such as some of the tribal peoples in parts of Africa or the Pacific islands, wore less clothing than people in North America or Europe.
However, Animalians didn't NEED clothing for warmth. Many simply grew thicker fur as winter arrived and shed that fur when spring came. This made it less necessary for Animalians to wear clothes to keep warm. And for mammal Animalians covered in fur and bird Animalians covered in feathers, they also had to deal with the issue that cloth often rubbed their fur or feathers the wrong way which created irritation to the Animalian's skin that humans didn't have problems with. Humans only had a lot of hair on their heads. Their body hair wasn't thick enough to get irritated by cloth.
"I'd think the best point to make is that not all Animalians dress the way they describe and much of what they are arguing on has more to do with the fact that most cloths and fabrics would also irritate our fur, making wearing them uncomfortable," Clara commented, pointing to the comments she was referring to, "we may have gained many human like traits but we aren't human and thus things that aren't issues for humans can be issues for us."
"That's workable," Robbie nodded, "though we'd need to make sure everyone can understand an analogy to a person wearing a stocking cap and having their head itch because it's irritated their hair... Though that may not settle things with regard to other areas where some Animalians HAVE dressed provocatively..."
Clara sighed, "there... I think the only real defense we'd have is point to humanity's own confusing and at times hypocritical obsession with sex. Many humans cling to criticizing others for not being as chaste as others while often being committing the same things they accuse to be wrong in others. In that Humans and Animalians are probably equally sexual creatures. The idea that we're all supposed to be completely chaste and so in is ultimately coming from a idea that rejects the very basic nature of what all sentient beings are."
"The people who make their criticism on that won't accept that sort of retort though," Robbie commented, "the idea is religious in nature and mirrors many of the things we even put in our Edicts. Simply saying that everyone enjoys sex isn't going to be seen as popular and these people won't see that as popular."
Clara sighed and then nodded.
"Perhaps," Clara then nodded, "it would then be key to point that under our Edicts that that while we may be more openly sexual than Humans in general, our personal love for our mates is the same. Our ambassadors Abby Brown and Sarah Wesley have their mates whom they love dearly and would not leave and have bonded to as deeply as any human marriage should be. And that love is true for all Animalians with their mates and that no Animalian mateship has suffered the issues of divorce that Humans deal with... something no "slut" would do."
Robbie nodded to that. That made sense and might work, but he also had noted a different negative comment. It read: "There is also the open selling of sexualism. Granted humanity has had Playboy and pornography in general for centuries, but they don't advertise in common areas where everyone can see it. It's done in back corners and in their own magazines and videos... or online. The US government has never seemed to directly advertise adult entertainment the way Animalia HAS."
"We'll need something to counter that," Robbie pointed to the lines he had noticed.
"For one, the idea that sex isn't popularly advertised is silly," Clara answered, "even with their sports on television, supposedly on when Human children are watching, they show multiple ads for drugs to help human males keep their sex drive even AFTER they've grown old and feeble. And their football teams dress their cheerleaders in outfits that covers no more of their cheerleaders than they complain our clothing covers us... Not to mention many of those cheerleaders have also worked as strippers and the Human adult entertainment industry. It's ultimately another sign of their own hypocrisy when it comes to sex. The defense is simple... that those in glass houses should not throw stones and that is what we will have to make our stand on... we promise that we won't involve children...."
Robbie watched as Clara shuddered, as if not wanting children exposed to such things.
"And that we will keep everything within the limits of the law," Clara finished, "but humanity has no right to accuse us of supposed "sins" they themselves openly commit."