Sociologist and Social Justice Activist
In 2014, the home of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer went on the market. This sale was understandably a contentious one. Seventeen boys and men, many of whom were children, gay, prostituted, and/or persons of color were raped, tortured, killed, and sometimes eaten by Dahmer at the site. Twenty-five years later, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made a bid to purchase it.
Continue readingSharing vegan food with family members will not only increase their familiarity with that food; it also creates positive associations with veganism and hopefully reduces any tension.
Continue readingHuman and nonhuman abolitionist movements, despite their similarities, remain two distinct movements, each with unique social, political, economic, and historical circumstances.
Continue readingThrough primary socialization, humans are taught to understand, engage with, and fill various social roles as necessary for participation in society. Nonhuman Animals living in or around human societies are often folded into this socialization process. Socially constructed identities may be projected onto other animals and this can lead to considerable stigma for humans and other animals alike. The politics of “pet” adoption illustrate this.
Continue readingOpen rescues, although exciting and heroic, unfortunately maintain the system as it is. This tactic therefore protects the interests of conservative foundations that maintain most grant monies. Open rescues also give non-profits something to write about and fund-raise behind.
Continue readingAggravating sexist understandings of Nonhuman Animal rights advocacy can only encumber efforts to achieve Nonhuman Animal liberation. Heganism works to assuage fragile masculinity to encourage men’s participation. In doing so, however, it reinforces the notion that veganism is essentially “for women” and that men will be stigmatized if they participate without veganism being explicitly defeminized. The otherizing of women, however, is exactly the type of otherization that sustains speciesism. Hierarchies must be dismantled, woman-hating must be challenged, and all persons–be they men, women, human, or nonhuman–should be acknowledged as sentient beings worthy of equal moral consideration.
Continue readingNames are more than personal identifiers. They are also symbolic representations of personhood. Witholding names from individuals has been an important ideological tool of oppression.
Continue readingCan analogies be helpful for advancing anti-speciesism? Sometimes. Capitalizing on rape culture to scare women into compliance is cruel, however. I cannot imagine how that would be psychologically persuasive, only traumatizing.
Continue readingA century ago, vegan founders warned that a disregard for science would imperil the movement’s effectiveness. “Veganism has everything to gain by a wholehearted scientific attitude, and everything to lose by an unscientific approach,” one such leader concludes. Has the modern vegan movement heeded the warning?
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