Feminists Attack Meat

by Scott Behnan

On March 23 at Rackham Auditorium, the University Activity Center’s Speakers Initiative and the Michigan Animal Rights Society sponsored “The Sexual Politics of Meat,” a lecture and slide show given by Carol Adams, a self-proclaimed feminist and animal rights activist. In her slide show, Adams presented a collection of American advertisements, cartoons, and photographs (many pornographic) which apparently “oppress” women and animals. However, she took a unique stance on feminism and animal rights, in that they are linked close together in today’s popular culture. According to Adams, “Men animalize women and at the same time sexualize animals.”

She first addressed the audience with the following question: how does someone become a piece of meat? According to Adams, the men of popular culture accomplish this feat by portraying that “someone” as consumable. Apparently, Adams is upset over a current trend in society, in which our “racist patriarchal system” leads to the oppression of animals and women. Adams even went as far to say that men seek power and money predominantly for “great sex and great steak.” As a result, over the past ten years she has led a crusade to rid society of this perspective, while also propagating vegetarianism.

In her explanation for this animalization of women, Adams showed photographs of women crawling, which apparently subordinate them to an animal-like status of a dog or a horse on all fours. She explained that humans surpassed animals when they became bipedal, or could walk on two feet. However, Adams criticized this superiority complex of humans over animals, and argued that we must realize that we too are animals. Adams also showed a slide from Playboy Magazine of LaToya Jackson with a snake wrapped around her body. According to Adams, this was an attempt by men to show that “women are out of control” with reference to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, in which Eve’s decision to obey the snake leads to man’s pain and suffering. In cartoon of Betty Boop slightly leaning to one side, Adams observed that her tilted pelvis also indicates this animal-like status.

Adams then went on to exhibit slides describing the sexualization of animals. For example, she pointed out that cartoonists falsely portray pigs as having feminine eyelashes, and also sexualize them by making them pink, despite their many other skin tones. In addition, she claimed that “Animals often become vehicles for showing prejudice toward other humans.” For instance, she cited examples during wars when Americans have referred to their enemies in animal-like terms such as “beastly.”

How do we eliminate the sexual politics of meat? According to Adams, the key is to get more in touch with our feelings. Furthermore, she encouraged that it is necessary to do the following: raise our consciousness, make connections, resort to direct action, and resolve the absent reverent. The term “absent reverent,” a recurrent theme throughout the presentation, refers to the absence of acknowledging the source of the hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, and ribs we love to eat at the family barbecue, which all come from once-alive animals.

Finally, Adams devoted the rest of her lecture to animal rights and the benefits of vegetarianism. She showed even more slides, this time revealing images of butchered animals and the conditions in which they are processed. In addition, she condemned the Food and Drug Administration for its proposed balanced diet found on many cereal boxes in the 1980s, and its classification of meat as a necessary food group. Furthermore, she exposed other statistics such as that 50 percent of antibiotics go to animals for our consumption, and that 6 out of the 10 most fatal diseases for humans are linked to meat and dairy production.

Although she addressed a mostly pro-vegetarian audience, a few of its members were still skeptical. One person asked, “What grounds do you have that meat eating is morally wrong?” Adams evaded the question for a while and then added, “Meat is not necessary for a proper diet,” after which the audience roared in applause. In an off-the-subject question, Adams also revealed her pro-choice doctrine, indicating that while she denies the rights of a potential human being, she adamantly upholds the rights of a Canadian goose roaming a swamp.

After the lecture concluded, the sponsors of this event treated the audience to a feast of tasty vegetarian dishes in the Rackham lobby. Still, whether or not the average American would consider such a cuisine a “feast” is debatable. MR

This article was published in the 31 March 1999 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 9).
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