Speciesism -- "Discrimination against or exploitation of certain animal species by human beings, based on an assumption of mankind's superiority." (Oxford English Dictionary 399)
Ever since I was a little girl, the only time I can remember my dad or uncles cooking was when they were on the grill or making sandwiches. My uncle always made the best ribs, wings, and steaks, and when it came to my dad, the more cold cuts in the house, the better. My mom was the primary cook of my household but, whenever steak was served for dinner, I knew that my dad was always the one to prepare it. The video below shows a man, grilling steak. Not only was it true in my household but, America wants it to be this way. TV commercials, movies, and even some music, emphasize the importance of a man cooking and eating meat.
When reading The Preface of "The Sexual Politics of Meat", I could see that the way we view gender and food is the way society tells us to. "When meat supply is limited, men will receive it. Assuming meat to be food for men and consequently vegetables to be food for women...because meat eating is a measure of a virile culture and individual, our society equates vegetarianism with emasculation of femininity."(734)
The video below, shows a variety of women eating salads, vegetables, and fruits, which was very easy to find, and the fact that there are so many pictures of vegetables and fruits associated with women is an example of how society wants us to view women.
(Disclaimer: There is a very obnoxious man making laughing noises to the images in the video. I would recommend watching the video without audio, but if you so choose to listen to the audio...you have been warned.)
"Vegetarianism defines meat eating as an effort at subordinating the natural to the human" (738). The definition that vegetarians use to describe meat eating is awfully similar to that of Speicisism. In a matter of fact it, these two words have the same meaning. Speceisists discriminate against anything that is nonhuman to show that humans are superior to all other beings. The vegetarian definition implies that if you are a meat eater, you believe that humans are superior to all. Language is everything and very powerful. The words and phrases we are taught to say, often help to belittle animals without us even knowing it. Our language is human male focused and the source of language. "...we use the word 'animal' as though it did not refer to human beings, as though we too are not animals...We have structured our language to avoid the acknowledgment of our biological similarity." (739) As humans, in a male dominated language, we use several words to separate ourselves from all beings giving humankind superiority and even words that give human males superiority over women human beings. Adams and Donovan further explain this : "Humans generally justify their exploitation of other animals by categorizing 'animals' as inferior and therefore rightfully subjected while categorizing humans as superior and naturally entitles to dominate." (Adams and Donovan 742). By calling animals "animals" and referring to them as "it" we are putting them below us in status and value when, in fact, we are not that different after all.
The above chart shows how each animal is unique and how we have the same traits as most of the animals in the world. It also shows which animals are superior to us in many activities such as : swimming, speed, hearing, eyesight, and even life span.
I found this advertisement for PeTA very disturbing. Although they are trying to show that animals and humans "have the same parts" and that the viewer should "go vegetarian", they are using female sexuality and referring to a woman as a cow. "As a term for a woman, cow is, in anthropologist John Halverson's words, 'thoroughly derogatory', characterizing the woman as fat and dull." (745) People use all sorts of words such as cow, bunny, and bitch to negatively talk about a woman. Insulting both non-human animals and human women. Because of speciesism, the source of all the negativity, domestic animals are forced to serve humans therefore causing humans to have little to no respect for these animals. So when human males or even human females, refer to other human females as animal names it becomes an insult, when in fact it should not. Nature is beautiful and the way that non-human animals function and the way that human animals function are unique and special which should all be exemplified and respected.
![At [Whit's] End](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhglGInnCPiCQolDwIQp-eHEl5LLLL8qmtip4RhVgKrWIqCS88A92L4dy8QstaxzF2v6YzCLvdctqL7Fgfqb3pI1UlW-0idCf0LDXblT4KquIc_Hb_lhHLK3WoX4Q-aLqQWVTPZ9eRQ71Q/s1600/at+whit%2527s+end)
