How are Veganism and Feminism Connected?
These seemingly unrelated movements are more intertwined than you think.
*If you haven’t already, please read my articles on the explanations of Veganism and Feminism. The definitions explained in each article are necessary to grasp the intersection of these two movements.
On the surface, Veganism and Feminism seem to be completely different philosophies and ideologies that never cross paths. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Veganism’s goal is for everyone to be treated equally, while feminism’s goal is for everyone to be treated equally. However, Veganism tends to focus on extending equality to nonhuman animals, whereas Feminism tends to focus on extending equality to human animals. Veganism is very beneficial to humans, yet the common Feminism practiced today participates in the exploitation of nonhumans, especially female nonhumans.
The animal agriculture industry benefits from the suffering of nonhuman females. Female hens are the only chickens that lay eggs, and female cows are the only cattle that produce milk. This industry uses these female’s reproductive abilities against them, treating them as mere means and commodities for their “product.” The mistreatment of nonhuman animals based on their sex may not sound alarm bells, but surely, the industry’s means of extracting these byproducts will have them ringing in your ears.
To learn the explicit details about the process of females in the animal agriculture industry, read my articles “Defiled for Dairy,” “Molested for Milk,” “Violated for Veal,” “Egg-scrutiating,” and “Exploited for Eggs.”
Carol J. Adams’ 1990 book, The Sexual Politics of Meat, coined the term “feminized protein” for eggs and dairy products. This term is used to refer to the plant protein produced through the abuse of the reproductive cycle of female animals. Feminized protein is taken from living female animals, whose reproductive capacity is manipulated for human needs. Adams believed the unique situation of domesticated female animals required its own term, one that represented “sexual slavery with chickens in battery cages and dairy cows hooked up to milking machines. Even though the animals are alive, dairy products and eggs are not victimless foods. This is why vegan-feminist rather than vegetarian-feminist” (Adams).
When we reflect on the women’s suffrage movement, we see many women fighting not only for their own rights but also for the rights of nonhuman animals. Many of the suffragist activists, including Lady Constance Lytton, Charlotte Despard, Teresa Billington-Greig, Margaret Cousins, Anne Cobden-Sanderson, and Leonora Cohen, incorporated vegetarianism into their fight. Some of these women believed animal rights to be such an integral part of their fight that they remained meat-free even behind bars.
Heavily influenced by the patriarchy, men feel it is wrong to show empathy and compassion. Based on my time as an animal rights activist, I have found that most of the hateful rhetoric spread around the animal rights movement and Veganism is perpetrated by males. Women are more likely to be vegan and make up the majority of vegans. Although the animal rights movement is mostly made up of women, the leaders of the fight have predominantly been men (James Aspey, Joey Carbstrong, Earthling Ed, Tom Regan, Peter Singer, Gary Yourofsky, etc.). Any feminist should look at the leaders of this movement and feel cheated. Women are putting in the work, yet men are receiving the credit. The most prominent animal rights activist and pioneer of Vegan-Feminism is Carol J. Adams, yet she is rarely discussed and is often laughed at for her philosophy.
Veganism isn’t about credit; it’s about nonhuman animals. From a feminist view, there is a large sense of inequality where the men of this movement are applauded and appreciated far more than the women. This imbalance has seemingly gone undiscussed, thanks to the patriarchy. Even in our current era, men are far more respected and listened to than women. When it comes to the conversation of animal rights, women are regarded as dramatic, emotional, and irrational. In the same conversation, men are positively seen as stoic, compassionate, and diplomatic. Negatively, vegan men are compared to women in a derogatory manner.
Veganism, a philosophy primarily held by women, is belittled, criticized, and regarded as a weak mindset. In my time as an in-person activist, I received daily messages from men threatening to hunt me down, rape me, and kill me; simply for my views and my advocacy for nonhuman animal rights.
When someone sides with nonvegans, they side with oppressors. Oppressors of women, females, humans, and nonhumans. There’s nothing feminist about that.
