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?
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?