Animal Rights and Ecofeminism

By Kylie Campanelli

I often think one of the saddest realities in American society is our use and treatment of the dairy cow. Used beyond their capacity in order to produce milk for us, they are subjected to a life of abuse, which saddens me deeply. It saddens me because as an ecofeminist and animal advocate, I only see the violation of their respect and rights. Thankfully, ecofeminism and animal rights are two ideas that are both very important and becoming more prevalent in today’s society. Ecofeminism explores the way the earth as well as other beings are oppressed and exploited, similarly to how woman are and have been treated in history. Animal rights advocate for the ethical treatment of animals, and explore our relationship with animals. As we oppress animals, see them as inferior objects, and take advantage of their reproductive systems, ecofeminism and animal rights begin to correlate. As an animal lover and feminist, I was highly interested in covering both topics as well as their relationship. Here I have selected articles from multiple sources that I believe contain great insights to different parts of either the topics on their own, or they combine the two.

Article: “On Speciesist Language” by Joan Dunayler, published 2009

I found this article to be not only very beautifully written, but also incredibly interesting and insightful. The author covers how our language, and more specifically our relation to what we define as “nouns”, influences our relationships and how we treat other beings. She examines how the words we choose and our view of animals are apparent in topics of descriptive language, sexism, species breeding, fur production, hunting, meat consumption and pharmaceutical testing. She stresses the point that we often disguise the things we do to animals behind “friendlier” phrases and words, which allow us to disconnect ourselves from the animals suffering. We choose to ignore the fact that animals also have feelings deserving of respect, because it is easier for us to see them as inferior and take advantage of them. I think this article explicitly examines specific examples of how our words alter our actions in numerous different situations, making it so effective at delivering it’s desired message. People are more likely to believe someone’s argument when they present well-explained details and examples, which I believe Dunayler does here. This article ties nicely into our topic project because it covers one aspect of ecofeminism and animal rights, our oppressions language.

Article : “Environmental Destruction” from Vegan Outreach, published May 2008

This article was compiled of facts about how meat production and consumption effects our environment, and was very informative. It completely serves its purpose of informing readers of the environmental advantages of giving up meat, as it provides accurate, and sometimes unnerving, information and predictions composed by scientists. People often do not make the connection between the outside effects eating animal has. This relates to animal rights and ecofeminism, but also expands the previously examined ideas, because it broadens the range of consequence these things cause from what we already considered. Our exploitation of animals and using them for our own benefit is perfectly exemplified by the meat industry, and our indifference to our faults is shown in our detachment to our effect on the environment. This article proves our awareness is extremely vital because we are causing problems of climate change, water insecurity, land degradation, biodiversity preservation and ocean stability.

Video : “Meet your Meat,” from YouTube, posted by PETA, uploaded March 2012

Found on YouTube and titled “Meet Your Meat,” this video was originally advertised and posted by PETA, an organization known for their outlandish advertisement of their beliefs on animals. PETA supports and promotes a completely vegan diet and lifestyle and seeks to expose any companies, organizations or individuals who cause cruelty to animals. This video shows live footage from factory farms and slaughterhouses in America. First, the title is ironic and correlates to the idea I previous discussed, of how our language affects our relationship to animals.  “Meeting” your meat ensues that the animals are sentiment beings, instead of objects, because one cannot meet an object or tool. Next, the footage in the video is as a whole very sobering and hard-hitting, and at some points just downright disturbing. The video covers every different type of meat-harvested animal such as chickens, pigs, and cows, and shows how each is treated in the industries and then slaughtered. I first saw this video when I was making the decision to go vegan about a year ago, and the severity of the footage is what makes it so powerful. Words and speaking about what happens to animals will only do so much, however, when real-life footage is presented in people’s faces, it’s much harder for them to ignore it. The animals in these factories are not treated well what so ever. They are not given respect or regarded as anything more than a never-ending supply of resource, with no value other than what food can be made from them. This ties directly to the idea that we see animals as less than us, and undeserving of proper treatment.

Article: “A Call to Feminists” by Katz and Angel Flinn, published June 2012

This article examined the relationship between feminism and the treatment of the dairy cow. Dairy cow’s are one of the most, if not the most, exploited animals on the planet. Dairy cows are bred to spend their lives being forcefully pregnant continuously until they are spent and withered, and then slaughtered. I think this article is effective for two reasons. First, I believe a lot of people are not aware of how dairy cows are treated in the milk industry. I lived in complete ignorance for many, many years of their sufferings, and I believe most Americans still do. Cows are mammals, that like humans, only produce milk when pregnant and it’s supposed to go to feed their babies. However, we have taken advantage of this natural cycle through the use of artificial insemination and things like “rape racks.” This, which leads me into my second reason, is a perfect example of oppression, exploitation, and violation of feminism and feministic respects.  This article provides a great examination of why what we do is so wrong, and how it relates to the way we as humans view the female reproductive system, which I think is something a lot of people are not aware of and don’t consider. This article stands as an example that we are not always completely aware of what we are doing, and how easy it is for us to turn a blind-eye to actions that are harmful and cruel.

Online News Article: “Novelists applaud Ringling Bro.’s decision to stop using elephants” by Ron Charles, published March 2015

This article and topic is one that is very special to me, because I love elephants with all of my heart. I previously used this article as my outside source for our animal rights blog, but thought it’d be useful again for this project. This article takes a different angle that the previous ones because it focuses solely on elephants and doesn’t directly reference feminism or ecofeminism ideologies directly, but they are still present in underlying messages. Elephants have been targeted for years for both their tusks, and for their participation in circus acts. Here we look at their participation in circuses and Ringling Brothers recent agreement to stop using elephants in their shows in the next few years. The elephants working in the show are lugged, by train or bus, from one city to the next all while being chained up and kept in cages. They are forced to dance and perform, and are beat until they are subservient. Again, we see this idea that animals are below us and are ours to use as we wish. We don’t see them as intelligent, loving, beings that deserve proper treatment, but rather objects that can bring us a prophet.

Article: “Local Versus Non-Local Food: Is The Kind of Food You Eat More Important Than Where it Comes From?” from thinkprogress.org, published December 2011

After discussing with Chad about the other sources I have found for the project, he brought up a great point. He brought up the idea that although we promote ecofeminism and not exploiting animals, are we then exploiting the land when we choose plant-based alternatives? Which is the lesser of the two evils? The answer is perhaps to buy plant-based, but to do so locally and sustainably. That is, I believe, the greatest answer to the problem. This article explores what the most sustainability friendly options in food production in regards to where your food comes from and where you purchase it. When you choose the most sustainable option you are avoiding exploitation as much as you can. This spares animals and thus helps support Eco-feministic ideas as well as animal rights.  This article is informative, and though it does not provide many apparent in-depth ideas, like the article on circus animals, it contains important underlying messages.

TV show:  “30 days: Animal Rights”  aired June, 2008

The episode, which originally aired in 2008, followed a hunter and avid meat-eater as he spent 30 days living with a family of vegan animal activists. The man’s name was George Snedeker and although he went into the 30 days swearing he would come out feeling the same way, he actually came out a changed man. In the beginning of the journey, George felt little to no sympathy towards animals and saw them as ours to use as we wish. However, the more George was exposed to animals and introduced to animal activist ideas, he began to see things in a different light. First he was mandated of three things: to get a job at an animal sanctuary, to participate in animal rights protests, and to eat vegan for the month. He fulfilled each one of these and it seemed even enjoyed them by the end. He even helped rescue a baby cow and began to take care of it everyday and bond with it. I thought this article worked with my project because it showed two completely opposing views on animal rights, and even showed how one could be swayed in a different direction. As I’ve previously stated before, I believe people are so insensitive to the way we treat animals because they remove themselves from the situation and choose to ignore what we know to be true about the way animals are treated. This was the case with George, but once he was shown the way animals were treated first hand, it was impossible for him to continue to ignore it, and thus his mindset changed.

I believe each of these works compares nicely to the others, whether it covers either ecofeminist ideas or animal rights separately, or contains ideas of the both of them. The ideas provide numerous angles of looking at animal rights and ecofeminism and the different forms of media deliver their messages in different ways. I am looking forward to bringing pieces from each source to support my over all argument about the importance of ecofeminism and how it also relates to the way we treat and regard animals.