Oppression Connections
"Human Exceptionalism" Exceptionally Arrogant
Published July 16, 2009 @ 12:35PM PT
Friends, I've landed in Los Angeles, and I'm now writing to you from a hotel lobby computer while waiting to check in. I have a lovely story to share with you later tonight or tomorrow morning about the flight here, but in the meantime, please enjoy this smart, thoughtful guest post from Tracy Habenicht, author of the always thought-provoking blog Digging Through the Dirt. -S. Ernst
For hundreds of years white men have lived as if the Earth and its inhabitants and resources were theirs for the taking.
Animals were beneath them, people of color were reduced to "savages," and the land was stripped and degraded. White men placed themselves on the top rung of the planet's hierarchy.
Much of that belief exists today in the form of "human exceptionalism," what "bioethicist" and animal-rights opponent Wesley J. Smith defines as "the view that ultimate moral value comes with being a member of the human species."
Women and people of color are now included next to white men, at least by definition, but animals and nature are still looked down upon.
Women, Cows, Speed Bags, and Steaks: One of These Things Is Not Like the Others
Published July 13, 2009 @ 08:16AM PT
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence wants you to know that "it's not acceptable to treat a woman like [a piece of meat]."
Look! They've even devised an ad campaign to spread the word!
The ad depicts a large chunk of "meat" - a cow (or pig?) thigh, suspended in the air, hanging upside-down by a hook thrust violently through the limb. The "meat" slab is dressed in a mini-skirt and halter top in order to denote its female gender.
What possible issue could I, a vegan feminist, take with this message?
Religious Discrimination and the Killing of Egypt's Pigs (Part 2)
Published June 24, 2009 @ 06:47AM PT
Please see part 1 of Kelly's exploration of this topic, "Egypt's Pigs: Beaten, Stoned, and Burned Alive (Part 1)", as well. -S. Ernst
Egypt is predominantly Muslim, with an estimated 85-90% of Egyptians practicing Islam. In contrast, about 9% of the country's population is comprised of Coptic Christians. In nations with such a power imbalance - where new legislation must conform to the religious majority's personal beliefs - those who belong to minority faiths are particularly vulnerable to discrimination.
Indeed, as the consumption of "pork" is prohibited by Islamic religious doctrine (and pigs are reviled as dirty and foul animals*), virtually all of Egypt's pig farmers are Coptic Christians. As we saw in Part 1, raising pigs for human consumption is their livelihood.
Obviously, a mass of animals, crammed into deficient housing and subsisting on garbage, constitutes a public health risk in and of itself. The Egyptian government's stated "public health" reasons might seem plausible, had they not initially cited "swine flu" as the overriding concern. Authorities promise that the "culls" aren't the end of pig farming, but rather a new beginning: with the nation's existing pig population gone, the government can relocate the farming operations to larger, less urban areas. Even so, Egypt's Coptic Christians remain skeptical - and with good reason.
Speciesism--Not Sexism--Is the Foundation of "Isms"
Published June 14, 2009 @ 10:22AM PT
Friends, the weekend has gotten away from me, and the post I was preparing to share with you isn't quite finished yet--and I absolutely have to head out the door. So until I can get back to the computer and finish up, do me a favor and check out the following post, will you?
Guess who's really at the bottom of the shitpile? from I, Bonobo
It fits in perfectly with the guest posts from Kelly earlier this week, and it's an excellent response to a conversation at Feministing to which I was desperately hoping a feminist animal rights advocate would respond.
If you're a feminist, if you're a progressive, if you're an animal rights advocate--if you are any of these--read this post.
"Being a speciesist, even if one is a feminist, is playing by men’s rules. You’re better than that."
Intersectionality and Animal Advocacy
Published June 11, 2009 @ 06:22AM PT
This is part 2 of Kelly's two-parter. Please see yesterday's post, Intersectionality 101: Sexism, Racism, Speciesism, and More, as well. -S. Ernst
There are a number of reasons why animal advocates should - indeed, must - strive to incorporate the concept of intersectionality into their activism.
The most obvious reason, of course, is that intersectionality is part and parcel of animal exploitation. That is, individual animals may be discriminated against because of their species membership, yes - but in addition to speciesism (and perhaps one day absent it), they may also suffer sex-, age-, look-, and religion- (humans', that is) based oppression. In order to truly liberate them, we must understand and dismantle all the forces of domination.
On a more practical level, animal advocates should appreciate, recognize and avoid - if not actively work against - sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, religious discrimination, sizeism, ageism, colonialism, nationalism, xenophobia and the like because, to be crass, it's good for the bottom line. When an activist (for any cause) engages in an "ism" - whether it's sexism, ageism or xenophobia - she's disempowering fellow activists who belong to this marginalized group.
Intersectionality 101: Sexism, Racism, Speciesism, and More
Published June 10, 2009 @ 06:36AM PT
This look at the way oppressions intersect is Kelly's first guest post here (and is part 1 of a two-parter) on the Animal Rights blog--and it's thoughtful, important, and terribly smart. Welcome her! For related discussions on this blog, see the "Oppression Connections" category of posts. -S. Ernst
No one is free while others are oppressed.
A young, single African American mother of four asks her doctor to remove the Norplant device he previously inserted into her arm. Since first receiving the implant, she's experienced a number of troubling side effects, including severe headaches, weight gain and depression. Because the woman is receiving government assistance in the form of Medicaid, however, the doctor refuses her request.
Animals Are Mothers and Have Mothers Too
Published May 10, 2009 @ 04:30AM PT
It's Mother's Day. The animals people will eat today as they celebrate the women in their life? Those animals had mothers too. Some of those animals were mothers too. Love between mother and young is not unique to humans. The mother-child bond is real and deep and strong in the animals we forcibly separate, abuse, and kill. In particular, today, please think about the cows (and calves) being used and killed for dairy; the pigs being used as birthing machines so that humans can eat their children; the hens being put through hell so that humans can eat their unfertilized eggs and the hens being put through hell as breeders for hatcheries. They are all mothers. And they are being exploited and killed as mothers.
In particular, remember the bellowing and grief of mothers that accompanies not only flesh consumption, but also and especially consumption of dairy--all dairy, conventional, organic, whatever. Remember the frightened, slaughtered babies.
Is any taste worth their suffering? And is there anything more horrible you can do to a mother than tear away her babies, over and over again, while she cries out and looks helplessly on?
Celebrate your mother today, but please do it without contributing to and sanctioning the suffering of so many other mothers. They loved and were loved too. For the love and respect of mothers, go vegan.
Photo above from Farm Sanctuary. Original caption: "A mother cow refuses to leave the side of her dead calf at a California dairy."
