although i do not like this deep manly man voice giving all this wisdom, i wanted to share it anyway. thoughts?
Commentary: Using Sexism to Promote Animal Rights
December 28, 2009 by dontgetrats
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged animal rights, commodification, pornography, sexism | 6 Comments
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This was really cool.
“the proof is in the vegan pudding” lolz
lolz. ive been eating copious amounts of vegan pudding.
Um, I listened to the last five minutes of this (from 22:34) with Chris and was kind of bored and annoyed. I just listened to the rest of it, and now I’m profoundly unimpressed and angry.
Gary Francione is some big dude in the AR movement. For what it’s worth, Francione uses his privilege and visibility to draw attention to the disconnect between liberatory politics and PETA’s tactics.
His main point is that you should not use techniques that oppress one group to draw attention to and end the oppression of another; that veganism is an ethical code which opposes the exploitation of ALL sentient beings, not just the non-human ones. He makes some easy analogies between commodification of women and commodification of animals. He says this pattern of commodification, practiced against anyone in any form, perpetuates itself against everyone in every form. Great! There are plenty of people who don’t get this but would probably respect Gary Francione enough to listen.
However, these are all TOTALLY FUCKING OBVIOUS points which are necessarily the center of any honest, cohesive politics of liberation. I am angry that this is even a question, and that anyone needs to hear it from a white cis male to respect and agree with it. I am angry that anyone is so oppressed, privileged, or self-centered as to believe that animal liberation is separate from their own liberation or anyone else’s. (Side note: people have personal oppression to work on and limited energy. I don’t fault anyone for focusing their attention away from animal liberation.) I am angry that Gary Francione can talk about this so calmly and intellectually. I’m also angry that he’s ableist as fuck: “moral schizophrenia,” my ass.
Vegan women need far more support for working on their internalized oppression than this stupid male-centric shit: “Sexism doesn’t promote animal liberation. Patriarchy exists and is similar to animal oppression. I’m super confused that women still think PETA’s tactics are empowering, even though I understand they are pressured by the patriarchy!” Vegan men need to open their damn eyes and move beyond, “What’s good for the movement?”.
Francione’s second point is that sexist messaging cheapens the movement, hurts its credibility, and makes it look stupid. He’s right, but he’s engaging in classic victim-blaming. He thinks AR and female AR advocates will get more respect, attention and results if they engage with the public on terms our culture reserves for men—rhetoric, facts, morals—instead of using their only cultural power as women—their bodies?! He says they are not being “serious”?! That Martin Luther King would never have stooped so low?! I don’t want that fake-ass “solidarity” within a 500-mile radius of me and my movement. You think the systems are connected? Act like it.
It’s soooooo interesting that many self-described “abolitionist vegans” are straight white men…..I think you may have elucidated some of my thoughts on why this is so…I think?
And, I don’t think he is that big in the movement- at least not big compared to the welfarist groups he dislikes.
Also, yes, so much of this is NOT OBVIOUS to A TON of people. Such is privilege!
my genderfriend is a straight, white cis male who identifies as vegan way more strongly than i do. he’s described gary francione as being kind of a big deal to folks like himself, so i assumed he was. maybe not? francione definitely isn’t in the public eye as much as peta is, but it seems like he is well-respected and has a large niche within the abolitionist movement. at the very least he’s dedicated to his personal brand.
this kind of unknowingly hypocritical posturing—sexism and speciesism are the same type of discrimination, and btw, why won’t you cover up so people will take us seriously?!—is really predictable coming from a dude. it is one reason i don’t trust male authors, thinkers or philosophers and don’t really care to seek them out or follow them—i know they are prone to shit like this, and i know that having been socialized female, my tendency is to not see it *because they are men and men are awesome*. it is also a reason why i really don’t identify with the vegan movement so much.
i also thought his foundation was rotten. he argues that Western culture sustains animal oppression by excluding non-human animals from our imagined “moral community” of sentient beings. a moral community is defined as a group where members share the same values and objectives, so in this case those are freedom from pain, obtaining pleasure, and desire to live. he says that Western culture also accomplishes women’s oppression by excluding them from its imagined moral community. he doesn’t mention a “male” moral community, but rather implies that women and animals are excluded from the same moral community. BS. there is a moral community of males, imagined by males, that has a ton of really fucked-up shared values and objectives based on domination and the acquisition of power. it is by no means neutral, like the human moral community. inclusion should not be our goal here. i think that’s my jam when it comes to straight white male abolitionist vegans—they don’t want to challenge their relationships to other people, just to non-human animals, so they stop their analysis as soon as they see the edge of the cliff.
ugh, sorry to take up so much space in this discussion! i tend to get carried away thinking everyone wants to hear everything i have to say. i would really like to hear your thoughts on why so many abolitionists are straight white men. if you want, you can email me at emilifATgmail.com.