Dismantling Oppression: An Analysis of the Connection Between Women and Animals

Abstract

This chapter addresses the oppression of the nonhuman animals with whom we share the planet. It examines the connection between women and animals by discussing some of the various ways in which it is manifest in contemporary theory and in everyday life. Because women and animals are judged unable to comprehend science and are thus relegated to the position of passive object, their suffering and deaths are tolerable in the name of profit and progress. The theoretical frameworks may be seen behind contemporary practices that involve, to varying degrees, the oppression and exploitation of women and animals. Hygiene has unarguably improved the health of those living in industrial societies, yet Western cultures have perverted the need for cleanliness in order to provide manufacturers with profits, subjugate women, and further distance man from nature. Animal liberationists can gain much, both personally and politically, by embracing feminist practices.

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