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Animal Liberation in Popular Feminist Media

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Animal Liberation in Popular Feminist Media ‘BE A VEGAN OR JUST DRESS LIKE ONE’: ANIMAL LIBERATION IN POPULAR FEMINIST MEDIA by Juawana Grant B.A., The University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2016 © Juawana Grant, 2016 The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: submitted by Juawana Grant in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts . Dr. Jodey Castricano, Faculty of Critical and Creative Studies, UBC Okanagan Supervisor, Professor (please print name and faculty/school above the line) Dr. Constance Crompton, Faculty of Critical and Creative Studies, UBC Okanagan Supervisory Committee Member, Professor (please print name and faculty/school in the line above) Dr. Ilya Parkins, Faculty of Community, Culture, and Global Studies, UBC Okanagan Supervisory Committee Member, Professor (please print name and faculty/school in the line above) Dr. Jim Robinson, Faculty of Community, Culture, and Global Studies, UBC Okanagan University Examiner, Professor (please print name and faculty/school in the line above) External Examiner, Professor (please print name and university in the line above) 08/6/2016 (Date Submitted to Grad Studies) Additional Committee Members include: (please print name and faculty/school in the line above) (please print name and faculty/school in the line above) ii Abstract Contemporary feminist media, such as Bust Magazine, participate in spreading the messages of progressive social movements at the street level by packaging easily digestible articles with glossy photos and celebrity covers. The inclusion of vegan and animal activist messages represents a long history of feminist media including animal activist topics throughout feminist history. Further, alternative media have the potential to foster counterpublics and play a role in the development of social movements. This textual analysis examines the way discourses of veganism and animal activism are represented in Bust’s online media content and how Bust links veganism and animal activism to feminism. This analysis found that Bust represents animal activism in three ways: (1) By linking veganism to ethical consumerism; (2) By linking veganism and animal activism to celebrity and style; (3) By commenting on current events related to veganism or animal activism. Applying ecofeminist and critical animal studies theories, this research explores the potential and limitations of Bust’s subcultural appeal and commodity activism approach to animal advocacy. Bust’s subcultural “hipster” appeal and feminist politics make it an interesting site to explore the potential of feminist media to spread intersectional social justice messages that include nonhuman animals to an audience already primed for political protest by way of their feminist identities. This analysis finds, however, that Bust’s exclusion of diverse vegan perspective and ambivalent stance on animal activism compromises their feminist politics. iii AcknowleDgements I offer my immense appreciation to the faculty, staff (especially Shauna Oddleifson), and students in Creative and Critical Studies who generously supported me and my work in myriad ways throughout the course of this research. I owe particular thanks to my supervisor Dr. Jodey Castricano for welcoming me into the program, inspiring bravery in my writing, and always reminding me that I was in the right place when I let doubt creep in. I also extend enormous thank yous to my committee members: Dr. Constance Crompton and Dr. Ilya Parkins. Dr. Crompton’s generosity and enthusiasm for my project directly resulted in the skills and texts I needed to see it through. The knowledge Dr. Parkins has shared with me has led me in a new direction in research--without which I may have just have stalled out at this point. I would also like extend my gratitude to Dr. Ruthann Lee whose conversation and support during the past two years has been invaluable. A loud and obnoxious thanks to the many friends I made in Kelowna. Without the warmth I received from them, I would surely have frozen to death by now. Thanks also to all those who loved and encouraged me before I arrived here for without them I would have never thought to try at all. A final thanks to my four-legged sister and roommate, Sitka. She’s heard it all. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS ........................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 ECOFEMINISM, CRITICAL ANIMAL AND VEGAN STUDIES ............................................. 7 CHAPTER 3 ECOFEMINIST CONNECTIONS IN FEMINIST MEDIA: A BRIEF SURVEY ......................... 14 BRITISH ANTIVIVISECTIONISTS AND VEGETARIAN SUFFRAGETTES .................................................................. 15 A DIFFERENT TACTIC: AMERICAN ANTIVIVISECTION AND FEMINISM ............................................................. 18 THE SECOND WAVE: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FEMINIST VEGETARIAN CONNECTION .................................... 21 THIRD WAVE: CONNECTIONS THROUGH CONSUMPTION ............................................................................ 25 CHAPTER 4 VEGANISM IN THE WEB PAGES OF BUST .................................................................... 31 BUST’S FEMINISM ................................................................................................................................ 35 HIPSTER FEMINISM .............................................................................................................................. 38 METHOD ........................................................................................................................................... 42 ‘GET HIP TO ANIMALS AND GET HIP DOING IT’: VEGANISM AS SUBCULTURAL IDENTITY PRAXIS ........................... 45 Vegan as Ethical ......................................................................................................................... 46 Vegan as Hip ............................................................................................................................... 51 Vegan as Feminist ....................................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 5 PROGRESS AND PITFALLS ........................................................................................... 58 COMMODITY ACTIVISM AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SUBCULTURAL COUNTERPUBLICS FOR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ... 61 VEGAN COMMODITY ACTIVISM IN BUST: INTENTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ..................................................... 64 BUST FEMINISM AND THE HUMANE MYTH ............................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER 6 RADICAL FEMINIST MEDIA, MOVING FROM SYMPATHY TO EMPATHY, AND AN EPISTIMOLOGICAL REVOLUTION ................................................................................................... 74 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 83 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION One of the strengths of feminist thought is that it is never 'just' about women: it is a critical discourse that tends to ask uncomfortable questions about everything. –Lynda Birke, “Exploring Boundaries: Feminism, Animals, and Science” The blind spot of both Rudy and Friend’s thought is extending core issues of feminism, gay, and queer rights (such as control of one’s own reproductive life and sexual choices) to only human animals. However, as Carol Adams has taken great pains to point out, feminism should not simply end at the species divide. Nor, for that matter, should gay, lesbian, or queer rights. --Vasile Stanescu, “Why ‘Loving’ Animals is Not Enough: A Response to Kathy Rudy, Locavorism, and the Marketing of ‘Humane’ Meat” Feminist media, such as Bust magazine, participate in spreading the messages of progressive social movements at the street level by packaging easily digestible articles with glossy photos and celebrity covers. Suzy D’Enbeau found that Bust “link[s] feminism with other social change movements and reinforce[s] a feminist political agenda”1 through the use of paid advertisements (which fund the magazine). Barbara Marshall has noted that alternative media with a social change agenda plays a role in facilitating a revitalized public sphere.2 By analyzing a popular feminist media outlet like Bust, this project seeks to explore how contemporary popular feminist media fosters a new politics of consumption as a way to link feminism with animal activism. Focusing on how this link is currently situated between a subcultural counterpublic and rising in mainstream popular culture with the trope of the “hipster,” I engage in an analysis of the representation of veganism 1 Suzy D'Enbeau, “Sex, feminism, and advertising: The Politics of Advertising Feminism in A Competitive Marketplace,” Journal of Communication
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