Some questions for “feminists” who aren’t vegan.
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, because I seem to never be able to escape all of you illogical so-called feminists who aren’t vegans. I’m really trying to wrap my head around you guys. I keep coming across “feminist” blogs who are self-proclaimed cheese lovers or dairy fanatics, or feminists who are so enthralled in defending women’s rights, all while completely disregarding the ways in which they themselves are supporting an entire system that exploits billions of females’ bodies every year. The dairy industry being the main one you all seem to so shamelessly have some sort of sick infatuation with. I’m just so sick of your bullshit, I really can’t take it anymore.
I can safely assume that you all are strong proponents for body autonomy, and you all believe (as a major aspect of feminism) that no female’s body is someone else’s for the taking, right? You all so blatantly promote the idea that only the individual gets a say in what happens to her body and no one has the right to use a woman’s body or treat a woman as if she’s simply a vessel for reproduction. And this is an absolutely valid and essential fight that needs so much more attention than it currently has, I’m a feminist myself and I back these struggles 100%.
But why is it that you constantly fight for your rights to your own body, and you vehemently insist that no female’s body is up for subjugation and manipulation at someone else’s discretion, all while doing the same to countless other females? Why are you allowed to cast aside all of the plights and utter manipulation so many female animals are currently facing? What makes their suffering so different from your own, or any other woman’s? Are their bodies not being turned into machines? Are they not being objectified? Are their reproductive systems not being exploited and claimed as public property under a patriarchal system? What gives you (or anyone else) the right to have complete domination over another being’s body like that?
You cannot claim to be against the oppression of females and fight against gender inequality while eating animal products or supporting animal exploitation of any form. It’s just so absolutely outlandish given the ways that our patriarchal culture is so heavily rooted within animal agriculture. It is debatable that perhaps the animal agriculture system is where the entire patriarchal system began. Do you not understand that the meat, dairy, and egg industries flourish off of the subjugation of females and their reproductive systems? Can you not see that this entire system is built around the principle of reproductive control of female bodies and the objectification of them? They literally thrive off of female oppression. In fact, they wouldn’t even exist without it. The ways that these animals are treated is the exact same as the way human females have been treated since the dawn of time. Having compartmentalized compassion and only believing that some females should be respected as individuals is so ass-backwards I can’t even comprehend it.
Sows are thrown into gestation crates and their entire miserable lives consist of nothing more than being viewed as incubators and units of mass production. They live in stalls so narrow that they can’t even turn around, most of them spend the duration of their lives wallowing in their own feces. They are repeatedly inseminated, again and again, only to give birth to endless litters of piglets until they are “spent” and their bodies are no longer “profitable,” so they are then killed. Egg-laying hens are seen as nothing more than items and their bodies are also abused and their lives are stolen from them so that they can be forced into mass production for agricultural businesses.
Dairy cows are treated as mere milk machines. They’re continuously impregnated just like sows, and they are repeatedly milked throughout their lives. Dairy cows are intentionally kept underweight because all of the energy from the food they consume goes right out of their bodies and into the milk they secrete, which is supposed to be feeding their babies. Instead, their babies are stolen from them, their babies are slaughtered and disposed of, while the mothers are kept alive in order to be used as production vessels. Animal agriculture robs all animals of their individuality and body autonomy, but especially female animals. Female animals have arguably some of the worst treatment inflicted onto them all because of the fact that they have a uterus which deems them to a life of reproductive exploitation and commodification. Whether it’s their milk, their eggs, or simply their uterus that the government is after, being able to produce any of these things guarantees that animal a life of absolute hell as a reproductive slave.
Tell me that is not exactly what you claim to be against as a feminist. Tell me that these industries don’t profit off of the exploitation of females, I fucking dare you. If I see one more “feminist” who so proudly supports the subjugation of other females and rants about how much they just “LOoOoOoOoVe cheese and milk and eggs~!” (i.e. products which are the epitome of our patriarchal system), I’m going to have to start breaking some necks. You are not feminists. You’re fucking hypocrites and nothing more. Either fight for the right of every individual’s body autonomy and refuse to continue supporting industries that revolve around the oppression of females, or shut your mouths and admit that you don’t truly believe in equality.
Most of you know exactly what it feels like to be treated like dirt, to be told that you’re a lesser gender. You know what it means to be viewed as nothing but a body. You understand how awful it is to be objectified constantly, to be looked down on and to be cast aside all because you’re viewed as less powerful and less important and less worthy of consideration as men are. You know what it feels like to have your autonomy denied to you. So why the fuck are you turning around and doing it to these animals? By supporting animal agriculture and other industries that oppress and exploit animals, you are treating these animals exactly as I just described. You are brushing aside another female’s suffering. You’re ignoring the ways in which other females are being exploited and taken advantage of. You’re saying it’s okay to treat another female as nothing more than a body. The very things you want to destroy, you are constantly perpetuating every time you consume animal products of any kind. It is only through a vegan lifestyle that one can truly embrace feminism for what it genuinely is.
I really can’t do anything but scoff at those of you who claim to support gender equality and women’s rights all while you blindly shovel things down your throat that were produced through the rape, reproductive system manipulation, and exploitation of such a vast number of other females. Those females are just as worthy of your consideration as anyone else is. Their bodies and their lives are just as much their own as yours is. So next time, before you want to start talking about how the government needs to stay out of your body and your life, you sure as hell better make sure that your own lifestyle doesn’t entirely revolve around objectifying other females and exploiting someone else’s body.
I am just going to leave this here
TL;DR: “You, a woman, are physically, emotionally, intellectually, and materially identical and equal in value to a farm animal.”
That’s not feminism.
too bad its “too long; didnt read” because if you bothered to read it you’d probably see the point and thus not make blindly ignorant statements. oops, your bad.
I did read. That’s how I got the synopsis. “TL;DR” is for other people who may stumble along and not have twenty minutes to kill on their dash right now.
But please, enlighten me as to how your post above does not equate human beings with farm animals. Because your many many many paragraphs seem to support my synopsis.
I AM GOING TO FLIP EVERY FUCKING TABLE IN THE GODDAMN WORLD
I’ve read a LOT of these arguments—a LOT. But this one probably takes the cake for being the longest-winded and most fucked up.
I AM NOT A COW YOU IGNORANT FUCK. How dare you claim ~true feminism~ when you lord around pretending like you’re a better person by comparing the trauma and pain of my life and experiences to that of a cow.
And you know what? Come break my fucking neck—please! No really, I want to see you try it. I’m really digging the “I’M THE REAL FEMINIST HERE SO I’M GOING TO BREAK THE NECKS OF ALL THE WOMEN THAT DISAGREE WITH ME” motif you’ve got going on. I’m not criticizing your “threat” because I understand what it is—a way to express your outrage—but the point is all the same. You’re shitting on women in a way we’re fucking USED TO and you’re pretending like it’s somehow radical or new or that you’re a better person than us because of it.
I DO love eggs. I DO love meat. You know why? In part for the taste, sure, BUT ALSO BECAUSE I FUCKING NEED IT. You’re prancing around on this pedestal of self-righteousness thinking you’re the ultimate ~inclusive~ feminist, and you’re literally shitting down the sides of it and right on top of the heads of women everywhere who need meat in their diet in order to survive. You’re shitting on the heads of poor women who know that a pound of beef is cheaper and easier to put on the table than a vegan dinner. You’re classist, sexist, and you ought to be damned ashamed of yourself for pretending to care about women while simultaneously attempting to use their suffering as a springboard to launch your vitriol.
No one’s going to argue with you that the meat and dairy industry is gross as hell, but you vegans need to jump off this sinking boat of attacking the consumers in any way you possibly can. Take your anger and your emotion to the proucers instead of frolicking around here telling poor, sick women that they should die rather than eat a cow because of some fucked up idea of solidarity or something.
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This is just..I’m going to guess the OP doesn’t actually give a shit about women if she is going to compare all of our experiences to that of animals. Fuck off.
“I’m a vegan and therefore better than you because I equate women’s bodies to farm animals and also did I mention that I do not give a flying fuck about the incredibly awful and abusive work conditions that undocumented immigrants are forced to work under to harvest my vegetables?”
I am an animal lover. I worked at a vet hospital for four years. My love of animals is absolutely central to my personality. And I will never, ever, ever claim that a farm animal is equal to a human. Because that is insulting and anti-feminist and anti-equality.
