What is HuCow? A dairy queen explains the lactation fetish that imagines women as human cows
As seasoned netizens, we can all agree on the fact that cats rule and dogs drool the internet. Every once in a while, however, fluffy cows make their adorable comeback in a bid to exorcise routine doomism from cyberspace. Each time shampooed and blow-dried cattle grip the world wide web, they instantly gather a cult-like following and are subject to fanarts, meme parodies, and even Twitter cancellations.
While artists proceed to anthropomorphise the heck out of the floof balls, others call them out for “sexualising harmless animals.” Nevertheless, the cattle make their way onto Archive of Our Own to foster erotica and hit subreddits to ultimately inspire a range of hentai GIFs. An average journey for most things on the internet, if you ask me.
But before they are stowed away, fluffy cows almost always reignite conversations about a niche fetish—already imagining half the population as the popular livestock. Introducing HuCow, a sexual fetish that combines kinks including lactation, objectification, and domination to literally milk enthusiasts into submission.
What is HuCow?
HuCow, acronym for ‘Human Cow’, refers to a fetish that involves participants role-playing as cows and farmers, with or without dedicated costume, for sexual pleasure. While some enthusiasts wear onesies, headgear, and even use body paint as an attempt to emulate a full-blown cosplay, others prefer cow-printed garments and accessories.
In the latter case, visualise cow-eared headbands, ear tags, detachable tails, belled collars, thigh-high stockings, lacey garters, and ruffled maid aprons. Makeup-wise, there’s a heavy emphasis on curls, blush, and black lipstick. As an independent entity free of its fetish undertones, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see the aesthetic inspiring the parallel rise of an internet subculture.
So, what exactly does HuCow entail activity-wise? A quick scroll through adult entertainment sites would land you on a farm full of… milking devices. To put it in human context, intricate breast-pumping gear that will make you sh-udder from miles away.
Set against a wooden barn with stacks of hay, tropes of HuCow cams majorly include women (called HuCows), and occasionally men (dubbed HuBulls) being stretched taut on all fours over the torture-yet-pleasurable pumping devices. They are then “milked” to produce “quality cream and milk products” for their master’s “human cow farms.” Although bulls don’t exactly produce milk, it’s not hard to imagine which male bodily fluid would be extracted in the said fetish.
“One person is usually the animal and the other is the ‘owner’, ‘master’, or ‘trainer’,” said Hunny, an active member of the biggest subreddit dedicated to the fetish. Joining the community as part of their broader interest in petplay, they credited hentai as one of the factors backing the popularity of animal hybrid enthusiasts. Linking HuCow to the popular genre of Japanese pornography, Hunny acknowledged the presence of similar roleplay for cats, dogs, and even foxes. “Just Google ‘anime cowgirl hybrid’,” the enthusiast added, “It’s a thing.”
When asked about the tactical gear and equipment deployed in HuCow, Hunny highlighted a surge in listings for cow costumes on Amazon and credited the same to a growing demand fostered by new entrants in the community. “There are cow play websites too,” they said. “In HuCow’s subreddit, they constantly post new websites for more gear.” The enthusiast also added that some ‘pets’ sport full-fledged collar collections and other accessories typically gifted by their masters.
The curdled appeal
Although HuCow is considered to be a niche fetish, it overlaps with some of the most popular kink communities. With enough evidence to trace its origin back to 2011, HuCow combines objectification, domination, and submission to truly raise the steaks for its participants.
According to Hunny, maiesiophilia (pregnancy fetishism) is also thrown into the mix and is essentially looped into the insemination or ‘breeding’ aspect of HuCow. An entry on Urban Dictionary further mentions that enthusiasts prefer unprotected or bareback sex to reinforce this kink.
But before we break down the psychological appeal backing the fetish, it is essential to note that not every kinkster who enjoys other fetishes would be into HuCow. Heck, the preferences of members within the community itself vary wildly. Be it maiesiophilia or BDSM, however, HuCow enthusiasts profess their collective love for one specific kink: lactation.
On these terms, a second entry on Urban Dictionary describes female participants of HuCow as those who “choose to be objectified for [their] large mammaries and ability to lactate constantly.” In internet culture, this is problematically synonymous with all those ‘mommy milkers’ comments you see under TikTok videos.
“I’ve heard some men prefer sucking on boobs or squeezing them as milking,” Hunny said when I asked them about the lactation kink. According to the enthusiast, a good portion of the community is into the usage of breast pumps and other milking gear. “Some men also want to drink [the discharge] from what I’ve seen,” they added. Now, I know what you’re thinking at this point: don’t HuCows have to be pregnant in order to lactate? Or do they have some sort of gear to replicate the process? Maybe something that sprays translucent liquid in a consistent stream?
“Some people can lactate without being pregnant,” Hunny explained, in contrast to the specific need for breastfeeding mothers in the community. As reported by Cleveland Clinic, induced lactation is a complex process that typically involves using hormone-mimicking drugs for several months in order to produce milk. “The second part of lactation is expressing the milk through your nipple,” the academic medical centre noted. “Stimulation from infant suckling, pumping with a breast pump, or hand-expressing, signals the brain to release milk.”
“Some of the dairy royalty also pour milk on themselves,” Hunny continued when asked about the alternatives. Creative, huh? “I think it’s cute but I get embarrassed constantly while filming,” they admitted.
So what is it about lactation that makes ‘crying over spilled milk’ a sexually-pleasing activity? “Lactation leads to increased breast size, which explains its appeal to some,” said Rebecca Kukla, an ethicist who has previously written about the cultural perceptions of breastfeeding. This also explains why HuCow fanarts tend to feature women with large mammary glands. In fact, search results for the keyword on DeviantArt would hit you up with tons of 2D and 3D illustrations depicting well-endowed women spilling out of their bikinis. This imagery is so rampant that some members have previously banned ‘size 0’ HuCows from the community altogether.
In an interview with Vice, Kukla outlined that HuCowis more about “reciprocal pleasure”—with women majorly enjoying the stimulation of milking. Consuming breast milk also plays into paraphilic infantilism (age-regression fetish) gripping participants. That being said, one of the most important factors behind its appeal is the sexual reappropriation of something that is considered culturally asexual in society.
“Many kinksters get erotic pleasure from playing at what they fear most or find most violating of the proper order,” Kukla added.
Now, if you are someone who watches role-reversal videos on YouTube for ‘research’ purposes, you would have undoubtedly come across human-cow reversal skits—where women are bred and milked in barns while men end up… well, on plates. Although these videos on ‘MooTube’ aim to spread awareness about the cruelty that cattle are subjected to, there are occasional comments along the lines of “Wish I was the breeder” and “Who read my Wattpad fanfiction?” According to Kukla, this is because cows are “the ultimate animals produced specifically for consumption—bred into highly artificial-looking consumer products.”
“In HuCow, the cow-woman is simulating an object produced specifically to be consumed by her partner,” the ethicist added. This is essentially what makes HuCow appealing to both dominant and submissive communities.
In 2022, it’s safe to say that there are no fetishes that have managed to escape the callous hands of erotic writers. Be it dinosaurs or male pregnancies, they’ve all been there, done that. In terms of HuCow, common erotica tropes surround human farms, dairy spas, and nanotechnology experiments—with titles like Milk Maid, The Dairy Department, Milking It (For All It’s Worth), and Vegans Were Right. Here, farmers are seen engaging in a scientific-yet-sexual dialogue with their pets before milking, breeding, and ultimately punishing them for misbehaviour. When I mentioned some of the plot lines and dialogues to Hunny, they exclaimed, “Oh, men write that shit to me daily.”
“You are a sexy cow. I want to hear you moo all night,” reads a comment under one of Hunny’s pictures on the subreddit. “All cows are fun to play with. Big, small, heavy, and ready to pop,” reads another. Be it in the chat or comments section under their pictures, the enthusiast mentioned that users often express how much they want to breed them. “They tell me I look like a ‘good breeding cow’. That I’m cute and that they want to milk me,” Hunny said. “I use some of it with my own farmers,” they added jokingly.
The consensual way forward
Just like most submissive fetishes out there, HuCow may sound terrifying to the uninitiated. For most of its part, its association with objectification doesn’t sit well with some.
“Women are posting [on the subreddit] on their terms,” Hunny shared, disagreeing with all claims deeming HuCow as a problematic fetish. “Some are advertising, like myself. For others, it might just be a hobby.” In the interview with Vice, adult sexuality educator and pleasure advocate Sunny Megatron explained, “Remember: this is just fantasy role play where turning humans into fantasy cattle is fetishised. And just like any other kind of BDSM or fetish play, this is carefully negotiated by all participants and done consensually.”
“Treating a woman, or anybody, as just a mere object is very wrong—if it’s done without their consent,” Megatron continued. “But if objectification is mutually desired by both partners, they’ve thoroughly and clearly talked about it ahead of time, and then they play it out in a healthy fun fantasy sense, then that’s different.” The expert proceeded to explain that the submissive ultimately calls the shots in roleplay instead of the dominant.
“When BDSM scenes are negotiated, they are done so according to the desires and limits of the submissive,” Megatron added. Hunny also agreed to HuCow being a well-negotiated fantasy, rooted in both respect and consent.
In the foreseeable future, Hunny braces themselves for HuCow’s mainstream attention. “Cow prints were big in 2020,” the enthusiast said when asked about the factors pumping HuCow’s surge in popularity. “Doja Cat came out with the song ‘Mooo!’ and then it was everywhere.” Hunny also mentioned that cow fetishes were already a big part of hentai before the conception of HuCow as an official label.
Be it via fashion or pop culture references, HuCow is out there and breeding as we speak. And given its curdled appeal, the fetish is definitely not for the lactose intolerant. As for those whose interests are piqued by this article, lower your shields and surrender your ships, because resistance is moo-tile.
