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FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM Intersections

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FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM Intersections Running head: FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM Intersections: Vegetarianism from an Ecofeminist Perspective Anne Proescholdt Luther College FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM 2 When I was about a month into a semester-long college course called “Buddhism, Animals, and Animal Welfare,” I noticed that I was no longer eating meat. After watching and reading about the slaughter of animals for food, I was faced with the reality of what exactly I had been eating for two decades of my life, and I could not stomach it anymore. I was forced to acknowledge that I had been eating individual beings who had eyes like my cats’ but who did not get to live out the same long and happy life. American cultural norms dictate that we are not supposed to think of pet animals as food, but I began to question how and why we make distinctions between certain animal species and how we use them to our “benefit.” Dogs and cats are supposed to love us; cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys are meant to feed us; primates, rats, and mice are science experiments; rabbit eyes are for chemical testing; horses are for laboring; and the list goes on. When I used to eat meat, I always requested my portion “well-done,” as I did not want to cut or bite into something that would bleed. “That’s not blood,” I was told. “Those are juices.” I decided to accept the euphemism—thinking about it too much would ruin my appetite (which, in hindsight, was a big clue). The myths we tell ourselves in order to assimilate to cultural norms operate to silence dissension, critical thought, questioning of any kind. The meat I ate had to be meat—not a dead animal that bleeds. It had to look like something other than what it really was, an object for my consumption—not the remains of a life that had been taken on my behalf. I did not want to think about my having caused any kind of death and suffering in the world, needless or not. First and foremost, it was out of sympathy that I became a vegetarian. I began to recognize parallels between vegetarian theory and feminist theory in my studies. As a feminist, I wished to explore these further. I am attracted to the feminist movement because it asks the difficult questions, those that address disparity among different groups and FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM 3 why some are more prone to death and suffering than others. I also admire the variety of perspectives that aim to offer tangible solutions ensuring that the popular feminist mantra “the personal is the political” is not just lip-service. This concept recognizes that personal struggles women face result from systematic oppression of all women. It suggests that women find solidarity in their individual experiences and take action under a united feminist movement. Those calling themselves “ecofeminists” open the door to thinking about disparities beyond human relationships, and this can include vegetarian theorizing. Feminist-vegetarians have argued that the consumption of animals conflicts with the goal of the ecofeminist movement and feminist movement in general, and they call for the integration of a feminist-vegetarian critical theory into these movements. Yet, there are feminists who remain uncomfortable with full integration of vegetarian practice and theory into the movement, due to fears of oversimplifying the links between the treatment of women and other oppressed humans and animals. Based on their arguments, I propose that the relationship between feminism and vegetarianism requires further theorizing that considers multiple perspectives for a holistic approach to understanding. The ultimate goal should be accessibility and desirability for serious inclusion in feminist discussion in and out of the academic realm and across generations. In order to understand the context of the relationship between feminist and vegetarian theory, it is important to acknowledge ecofeminism’s role. Ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, coined in the 1970s, describes a feminist focus on the natural world and its relationship to humanity, which draws parallels between the oppression of the earth and the oppression of particular groups of human beings through the identification of dualisms that describe dominator over dominated. These dualisms include but are not limited to: culture/nature, male/female, self/other, rationality/emotion, and humans/animals (Gaard, 1993 & Adams, 1996). Ecofeminists FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM 4 maintain that the oppressions found in nature emerge from the same ideology that motivates oppressions elsewhere and that the liberation of women and other oppressed groups will not be successful without the liberation of nature. It is this philosophy that seeks to emphasize interconnection between life forms in response to patriarchy, which requires a separation between self and other in order to operate. This separation is used to justify rankings, power- over, and hierarchy. The self/other binary results from a wide-spread individualistic mindset reliant on fear of one another, as if competitors in a game of survival, a fight for power. Ecofeminism brings to light the complexities involved in rights and moral understanding through the promotion of relationships and responsibilities toward one another (Gaard, 1993). Because animals are an undeniable part of the natural world concerning ecofeminists, some have pointed to animal rights and vegetarian practice, the abstention of animal consumption, as crucial components to the ecofeminist movement. Even if they were rarely allowed to formally fill leadership positions until the post-World War II era, women motivated by connections identified between animal cruelty and human abuse in the home have played a significant role in animal rights advocacy groups since the mid-1800s. Caroline Earle White was one founder of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which advocated for animal rights through the investigation of animal cruelty cases and conviction of their perpetrators, in 1867. In 1883, she founded the American Anti- Vivisection Society, which aimed to abolish animal experimentation (Beers, 2006). A subscriber to the abolitionist movement and haunted by her childhood memories of overworked draft animals, White identified commonalities between the enslavement of human beings and animals. No longer able to justify a separation between cow and steak, she became a vegetarian and boycotted clothing made of animals. Unsurprisingly, White and other female animal rights FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM 5 activists faced intense scrutiny for acting “overly-sensitive” about the plight of animals and were accused of “neglecting” the domestic sphere (Beers, 2006, p. 57). Even though they were constantly criticized both for falling victim to the hysterical “nature” of their gender and for abandoning their “womanly duties” at home, these women stuck to their convictions and helped expose animal rights issues. By the time World War II ended, women continued to advocate for animal rights and endure scrutiny, but the radical social justice movements of the 1960s helped bring attention to environmental issues, animal rights, and the connections between them. Resulting from a booming economy, average human meat consumption at 55 pounds per person per year in the late 1940s nearly doubled by 1970 (Beers, 2006). Demand for speed and efficiency in slaughterhouses did not necessitate concern for animal suffering, however. Animal rights activists like Helen Jones fought to bring attention to this issue, and in 1960, the Federal Humane Slaughter Act went into effect. The law requires that cows and pigs are stunned before slaughter, with the intention of reducing their suffering. No longer convinced that this interpretation of “humane” slaughter was enough, Jones adopted vegetarianism. Inspired by the radicalism of the civil rights movement, she renamed her National Catholic Society for Animal Welfare to the Society for Animal Rights in 1972. From research practices to wildlife protection, the 1960s and 70s saw various legislative and consumer victories for animals, but Carol Adams’ 1974 The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory and Peter Singer’s 1975 Animal Liberation maintained that a huge shift in the cultural consciousness about human and animal relations had to take place. These works would become the monumental go-to resources for radical animal rights theory. At the core of their theories, Adams and Singer find “other-ing” FEMINISM, ECOFEMINISM, & VEGETARIANISM 6 problematic, as they maintain that other-ing is the cause of the oppression of certain groups of people and all animals. Singer (1990) uses the term “speciesism” to describe “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of one’s own species and against those of members of other species” (p. 6). He is, of course, pointing to members of the human animal species exercising dominion over other species of animals. Singer maintains that equal treatment is a ridiculous goal for any being of any species; the goal should be “equal consideration” (p. 2). He says that there are differences between animals and humans—like the right to vote, for instance—that cannot be extended animals because they are not concerned with such an activity. Singer points out that babies and adults with cognitive handicaps cannot necessarily exercise the same intellectual ability that a non-human animal can, but they still deserve to be considered. It is really the “capacity to suffer and/or experience enjoyment” that should be of concern, as the suffering experienced by any being cannot be any “better” or “worse” than the suffering of another being (pp. 8-9). Singer demonstrates how he sees speciesism as analogous to other, more familiar “isms”: Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of another race. Sexists violate the principle of equality by favoring the interests of their own sex.
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