Intersectionality and Animal Rights Activism

[Dedalus]

This has been bandied about amongst vegans / AR activists for awhile now - and it has taken me awhile to fully understand it.

Intersectionality - what is it?
For those of you unaware, Intersectionality is a theory which “holds that the classical models of oppression within society, such as those based on race/ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, class, species or disability do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate creating a system of oppression that reflects the “intersection” of multiple forms of discrimination.” - See more at: Intersectionality | The Angry Black Woman

Pretty straightforward. Here is a little more:
...not recognizing that your activism, useful and wonderful though it may be, does not give you a pass on other problematic behavior. No matter if that behavior is active or passive, as when the concerns of one group are simply ignored or not considered. People aren’t going to ignore your sexism just because you work against racism. People are not going to ignore your racism because you campaigned for marriage equality. No one is going to allow you to oppress others just because you’re oppressed yourself. - See more at: Intersectionality | The Angry Black Woman

So as I stated above, there has been quite a bit of vitriol in the vegan / AR community surrounding this topic - along the lines of "One really cannot be an activist for animals and not be an activist for others who are also oppressed." (IE: Human rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, etc).

Yet there are those (Gary Yourofsky being a good public figure example) who only advocate for animals - **** humans.

The conundrum for me is that if this theory holds true - one cannot be and advocate for (say) human rights - while at the same time ignoring animal rights.

I'd like to get opinions and thoughts on where others here at VV stand on all this. Thoughts?

 

[kibbleforlola]

A good book that talks about the intersection of feminism and animal rights is "The Sexual Politics of Meat". (here is a pdf of articles talking about the book, I haven't read through all of them, but they should give a good idea about what the book is about). She links the objectification of women's bodies with the commodification of animal's bodies.

I do not believe that I could be an advocate for human rights without advocating also for animal rights. They are two sides of the same coin for me. We cannot dismantle one oppression while upholding another, because they provide support for each other. Think of two pillars holding up a roof. Either both must stay, or the roof comes crashing down on us. We must dismantle the entire system.

I have noticed, and this is purely anecdotal evidence, that feminists are more likely to be vegetarian, but the vegetarian community at large tends to dismiss feminism.

In the words of the great anon: "My feminism will be intersectional, or it will be ********".

 

[Dedalus]

A good book that talks about the intersection of feminism and animal rights is "The Sexual Politics of Meat". (here is a pdf of articles talking about the book, I haven't read through all of them, but they should give a good idea about what the book is about). She links the objectification of women's bodies with the commodification of animal's bodies.

I do not believe that I could be an advocate for human rights without advocating also for animal rights. They are two sides of the same coin for me. We cannot dismantle one oppression while upholding another, because they provide support for each other. Think of two pillars holding up a roof. Either both must stay, or the roof comes crashing down on us. We must dismantle the entire system.

I have noticed, and this is purely anecdotal evidence, that feminists are more likely to be vegetarian, but the vegetarian community at large tends to dismiss feminism.

In the words of the great anon: "My feminism will be intersectional, or it will be ********".

Though, vegetarian feminists are still contributing to the exploitation largely of specifically female animals. Which seems like complete hypocrisy. No?

 

[Andy_T]

Bringing this thread back from the depths of oblivion ... as I consider it a very important topic.

 

[Andy_T]

So as I stated above, there has been quite a bit of vitriol in the vegan / AR community surrounding this topic - along the lines of "One really cannot be an activist for animals and not be an activist for others who are also oppressed." (IE: Human rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, etc).

This part hardly strikes me as "vitriolic", IMO it should be pretty straightforward for most vegans to understand and agree upon.

Most vegans I know (mind you - not all!!!) are also opposed to other forms of oppression based on race, gender, preceived gender, religion, sexual orientation. Yes, unfortunately, there are a few racist/misogynist vegans, and there are also some who say "all meat-eaters are scum and should be killed/raped/tortured" .

I think the topic starts to become difficult the moment that vegan activists insist that they think what is happening to animals is just as bad / even worse than what is happening to other oppressed humans. (Typically followed by other people poiting out why the oppression they are facing does not allow them to consider going vegan, because of limited financial means / "food deserts" / culture or similar reasons). Cue disastrous discussion.

Right now we can - unfortunately - observe this as the "Me Too" campaign trying to highlight the high occurrence of sexual violence (predominantely against women, but of course also against some men and persons identifying as trans or non-binary) is getting co-opted by advocates against dairy.

This is, of course, especially disingenuous if the person doing the co-opting is male .

So if anybody is interested in discussing this topic in a serious way, I think it would be a discussion well worth having here!!!

 

[Dedalus]

This part hardly strikes me as "vitriolic", IMO it should be pretty straightforward for most vegans to understand and agree upon.

The vitriol I've seen is mostly on Facebook, not here. But it's there - always is. I've dropped out of almost every vegan FB group I've been in, except for a few. I find the back and forth between vegans is a nauseating waste of time and energy. But I'm all for reviving this VV discussion. Especially since nobody replied to my question above...

 

[Blues]

I find the back and forth between vegans is a nauseating waste of time and energy.

^^^ I agree.......I do think there is an element of guilt projected with the vitriol . It comes down to "you can't really call yourself a vegan unless " .......you are a vegan for my reasons .

 

[Andy_T]

I would phrase it differently ... I am always surprised and very disappointed when people would stand up for animals, but ignore injustices to other humans. I simply do not understand it.

And some behaviour that I observe in the "vegan movement" - to be more precise, the "White Vegan Movement" - deeply dismays me. To give a concrete example ... on a recent thread in the Facebook Group "Vegan Humor", posted by none less than one of their admistrators with the title "Intersectional Veganism is a cancer on the vegan movement", another moderator of that group answered to the comment "Tell that to the starving children in Africa" with the words "who grow up to oppress non-humans".

Now, all I can say to people who stand up for animals, but believe it is better if children in Africa starve to death, because otherwise they would only "grow up to oppress non-humans" is "OK, you're vegan - I give you that. But you are also an ******* and I do not want to be associated with you!"

And yes, I would also call this "very vitriolic" ... I am now starting to understand the people who say that they live vegan but do not want to identify as vegan because they are wary of "the vegan movement"

 

[Andy_T]

BTW, anybody who is interested of the concept of "intersectionality" (or, better, "pro-intersectionality", if you yourself do not belong to any of the oppressed groups), I have found a number of very interesting and enlightening short (most about 10 minutes each) podcasts on the issue.

Those podcasts are short interviews with a number of people that were performed before the first "Intersectionality" converence at Vegfest UK 2016, and are available at "ARZone".

ARZone Podcasts: intersectionality

I would suggest them as helpful for anybody who is interested in Animal Rights activism, social activism or any other kind of activism (they are all related, as the oppressions are all related as well)...

 

[Amy SF]

I’ve always like the concept of intersectionality, especially as a member of two oppressed groups: Women and Jews.

 

[Mischief]

Now, all I can say to people who stand up for animals, but believe it is better if children in Africa starve to death, because otherwise they would only "grow up to oppress non-humans" is "OK, you're vegan - I give you that. But you are also an ******* and I do not want to be associated with you!"

Amen.

I do think that these kinds of people can be found in any group with a cause. I think that they are drawn to a cause, not because of the merits of the specific cause, but because they need a cause -any cause - and they could just as easily have landed in a camp diametrically opposed to the one in which they are currently. (Some of these people also will jump from one camp to another from one moment to the next, and be virulently anti whatever they professed to believe in previously.) That's why there's no cohesion in their thought/belief processes.

 

[Moll Flanders]

Interesting.

I lived in poverty as a teenager and I am a (white) woman, bisexual and have a disability. I do notice sexism and misogyny the most, but I do notice discrimination being a bisexual woman. Some of the invalidation of my sexuality comes from the LGBTQ community as well. It's not just mainstream society.