As someone who just recently learned the truth about the industry that feeds us, I truly believe that if people knew the truth, they would also feel the need to change the way they eat. In my opinion, it is the ignorance caused by an intentional veiling of the food system that keeps animal cruelty, ecological destruction, corporate greed and denial, and food safety failures going. Maybe this is hopeful thinking on my part. Maybe it's just my way of coping with the truly depressing facts. Maybe it's my way of maintaining my belief in the innate goodness of human kind. No matter the reason, it's something I'll hold on to tightly for as long as I can.
That being said, I've decided that it's time for me to share some sources of this knowledge with the ones I love. There is a very thin line between educating and sharing the truth and being perceived as aggressive and preachy, and I truly hope that I'm not crossing it by sharing this.
Articles
Meat and the Environment- Why Truly Going Green Means Cutting Out Meat
The Health Benefits of Going Vegan- Nutrition, Disease Prevention, and More
The Case Against Meat- Meat Based Diets are Bad for the Environment, Aggravate Global Hunger, Brutalize Animals and Compromise Our Health
Widespread Mistreatment of Workers in the Meat Processing Industry
Government Regulation is Failing Consumers
The True Cost of Factory Farming
What Humans Owe to Animals
Videos
Warning- These videos are very graphic and upsetting. They still bring me to tears. That being said, I'm glad that I watched them and I think it's important that people really know where their food is coming from. I completely agree with Paul McCartney, who says that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.
Glass Walls
Meet Your Meat
(I want to make a note that this is the video that changed my mind. After viewing it, I made the decision that I couldn't morally justify contributing to this system of cruelty. It still makes me cry to watch it, but it reminds me why I've made the changes I have in my life.)
Chew on This- Reasons to be a Vegetarian (or Vegan)
45 Days in Hell: The Life and Death of a Broiler Chicken
The Reality of Egg Hatcheries
Battery Cage Egg Production
Fowl Play- A great movie on the truth behind eggs
On a lighter note,
"Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows"- A great question to ask yourself!
There are a few really great videos on this subject that you can rent as well. I highly suggest that everyone watch Food Inc. at least once. It's a well made movie which doesn't necessarily preach vegetarianism, but gives you a great inside look on the food production industry.
There are many more great sources of information on human consumption of meat and alternative lifestyles. Simply Google it! I hope that you will take the time to contemplate all of this a little further, and about the personal choices you make everyday.
I would NEVER tell someone else that they must become a vegetarian or a vegan, or that the personal decisions that they make about the way they live are wrong. It's a deeply personal decision that must be made on your own. That being said, I hope you know that there are plenty of resources if you have more questions or want to discuss all of this further. Once again, the Google has become my best friend when I have random questions on the topic. Furthermore, I'm always willing to sit down and have a talk on the subject. I am by no means an expert, but I love to share what I know and I'd love to help you find the resources you need to make informed choices that are right for you!
Foundations of Women's Studies- My Personal Feminist Stance and How it Can Be Used to Educate the Next Generation
My understanding of and approach to women’s studies are inseparable from my own experiences as a privileged white, upper-middle class, woman in a long-term heterosexual relationship. It is also influenced by my own hope to someday raise socially conscious, ally minded children in our deeply flawed society. This has lead to a construction of a feminist approach that borrows from liberal, post-colonial, radical, social construction and third-wave feminism as well as from feminist theorists who address the social issues of rape and compulsory heterosexuality. By considering all of these various approaches, I am better able to consider my own privilege within society and how to reject it while combating the continuing sources of inequality that surround me.
Many feminist theories, including liberal, social construction and post-modern, recognize the social-construction of gender as one of the key concepts that must be addressed when confronting oppression. These theories assert that gender is not based in biology, but is instead “constantly created and re-created out of human interaction, out of social life, and is the texture and order of that social life” (Night to His Day, 54). In the same way, sexuality and race are also socially constructed and used as ways of dividing labor and creating the pattern of domination and submission in all aspects of life. These societal constructions of clear cut categories of race, gender, and sexuality despite evidence for the presence of a wide-spectrum of genders and sexualities, their characteristic fluidity, and the lack of any biological evidence of racial categories forms the backbone of my theoretical approach to women’s studies.
In line with the assertion that gender, as well as race and sexuality, is a socially constructed phenomenon is the assertion that many of the sources of inequality in our society are tied to this construction. One such source of inequality, the gendered socialization of children, ensures that the dualistic categories of gender will continue through the generations. The process begins when children are very young and is so deeply integrated into the way we interact with infants that “Experimental studies have shown that adults respond differently to an infant depending on whether they are told it is a ‘girl’ or a ‘boy’” (Gender Inequality, 253). This gendering of children also involves the socialization of boys that encourages aggressive behavior and lack of emotion, a process recognized as a source of inequality by feminist studies of men (Gender Inequality, 218). Another main source of inequality is patriarchy in all of its forms in our society. As Radical feminism asserts, patriarchy is “a worldwide system of subordination of women by men through violence and sexual and emotional exploitation” (Gender Inequality, 118). Many of these same tools are used to create inequality based on race and sexuality, which are also socially constructed phenomena. Heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality, as described by lesbian feminism, are additional sources of inequality based on sexuality (Gender Inequality, 143), while the devaluation of women and men from subordinated racial ethnic groups functions as an additional source of inequality based on the flawed conception of race (Gender Inequality, 199).
In order to confront these sources of inequality in our society, strategies for change have been formed. In my own personal approach to women’s studies, I often focus on strategies for change that concentrate on raising children in a way that addresses these inequalities and helps them grow into advocates for change and equality. In order to combat the social construction of gender, liberal feminism calls for gender-neutral child rearing and education (Gender Inequality, 26). Truly combating the gender roles set out by society may also require some gender-specific rearing in order to fight constant social pressures. This may include encouraging empathy and emotional awareness in boys while discouraging aggression, and encouraging independence and self-respect in girls while discouraging subservience and other qualities that stem from the “cult of womanhood”. Some strategies of change for combating heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality include fighting homophobia wherever we encounter it, and providing children with examples of all types of love between all types of people through children’s literature, movies, and toys. Strategies for fighting the inequalities based on race also include recognizing the value of contributions made by those in subordinate societal groups, educational materials and structures which include knowledge created by individuals from varying backgrounds, recognizing and pointing out racism wherever it is found, and recognizing and rejecting unearned privileges brought on by race.
As I have previously stated, a great focus of my interest in women’s studies is how to use feminist theories to assist in raising socially aware children to be allies. The strategies of change that I previously set out are just the beginning of the discussion of how to go about doing this. Many feminist theorists and philosophers have addressed the subject of mothering as a feminist and fighting the continuing sources of oppression in our society by raising children who are aware of them and who know how to go about fighting them. It seems a logical conclusion that if we are to ensure that the fight against oppression will continue in the next generation, we must teach the next generation how to go about doing so. One focus of many theories about combating oppression through education and socialization is how feminist approaches can be used to combat the cycle of sexual violence for the next generation. By actively fighting the gender roles and values that contribute to the continuation of violence, we can help prepare the next generation to continue the fight against it.
One of the main sources of oppression that feminism, especially liberal and social construction feminism, is concerned with is the construction of gender, the oppression based on this socially constructed phenomenon, and the prevalence of gender roles in our society. One of the most disturbing consequences of this gendering process is the prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence in our society. In her article, Raising Girls in the Twenty-First Century, Emilie Buchwald asserts that “our culture will need both women and men who are strong, wise, and generous if the future is to be better than the present. The nurture and education of girls must emphasize the importance of their role in that future” (213). When considering our society as it stands today, this need becomes even clearer. We live in a country “where violence against women is so epidemic it is their leading cause of injury” and “nearly a third of all murdered women are killed by husbands, boyfriends and ex-partners” (Sklar, 279). We are all a part of a society in which a woman is beaten every three minutes, a woman is raped every five minutes, and little girl is molested every ten minutes (Shange, 387). When considering these facts, the immediate need to tackle the issue of sexual violence in our society becomes clear. Buchwald lays out a list of tools for raising girls who will grow up to be women that have the strength to fight against societies pressures and to fight against a culture of violence. She includes sharing with girls the resources that you used to help you deal with the challenges of growing up, giving them your attention and approval, encouraging fathers to become allies for change, teaching girls the truth about sex, teaching them their own strength as agents of change, helping them find women mentors and role models, finding ways for girls to play and work together, and teaching girls to be story- and media-critical (Buchwald, 221-229).
The importance of fighting gender-roles that play into sexual violence also applies to the education and socialization of boys. Feminist theories of men, in particular, focus on an analysis of masculinity and how it encourages aggressiveness and violence in men and boys (Gender Inequality, 219). Furthermore, they consider how the high value placed on these qualities and the devaluation of more “feminine qualities” contributes to the dominant position of men in our society. When considering how to combat the negative connotations of masculine roles in our society, it is once again helpful to consider how a change in the way we socialize boys will assist in the fight. The media that boys are exposed to plays a huge role in socializing them to value aggression and violence, especially since children learn by imitating those they admire. When we consider the fact that many boy’s role models are action-adventure stars, musicians with violent and degrading lyrics, and aggressive and violent sports stars, it is easy to see how boys may come to value these characteristics even if they aren’t directly taught to by caregivers (Miedzian, 164-165). According to Miedzian, the best tool to combat this aggression is to encourage nurturing and nonviolence as well as to teach responsible fathering skills (169). Miedzian suggests that the most effective intervention would be to introduce mandatory child-rearing classes into our school systems. She asserts that these programs would deter violence because “they encourage nurturing, caring, informed fathering; they make boys feel that empathy, sensitivity and caring are acceptable-even desirable- male qualities; and they strongly discourage child battering” (Miedzian, 170). Even if these programs were not implemented as an institutional tool, it would be advantageous for parents to take this type of education on in their own homes. By teaching your children how to value nurturing, empathy, and child care, you could help to deter the processes by which they put value in aggression and violence.
When considering how education and socialization can be used to deter sexual violence in the next generation, it is easy to see how similar strategies could be used to deter sexism, racism, and heterosexism. As a feminist and ally, I consider it my responsibility to pass these values on to the children that I help raise and educate, and the theories and strategies set out by feminist theorists and philosophers can assist me in this quest.
Works Cited
Buchwald, Emilie. “Raising Girls in the Twenty-First Century”. Transforming a Rape Culture. Ed. Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2005. Print.
Lorber, Judith. Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company, 2005. Print.
Lorber, Judith. “’Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. Ed. Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers, 2004. 54-63. Print.
Miedzian, Myriam. “How Rape is Encouraged in American Boys and What We Can Do to Stop It”. Transforming a Rape Culture. Ed. Emilie Buchwald, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2005. Print.
Shange, Ntozake. “With No Immediate Cause”. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. Ed. Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers, 2004. 54-63. Print.
Sklar, Holly. “Imagine a Country-2003”. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. Ed. Paula S. Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers, 2004. 54-63. Print.
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