Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ttngx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-13T15:04:38.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecofeminism and the Eating of Animals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Carol J. Adams
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this essay, I will argue that contemporary ecofeminist discourse, while potentially adequate to deal with the issue of animals, is now inadequate because it fails to give consistent conceptual place to the domination of animals as a significant aspect of the domination of nature. I will examine six answers ecofeminists could give for not including animals explicitly in ecofeminist analyses and show how a persistent patriarchal ideology regarding animals as instruments has kept the experience of animals from being fully incorporated within ecofeminism.2

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 6 , Issue 1: Special Issue: Ecological Feminism , Spring 1991 , pp. 125 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 by Hypatia, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at two conferences: “Ecofeminism: The Woman/Earth Connection,” April 1990, Douglass College (sponsored by the Rutgers School of Law-Newark and Women's Rights Law Reporter), and “Women's Worlds: Realities and Choices, Fourth International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women,” June 1990, Hunter College. Thanks to Karen Warren, Nancy Tuana, Melinda Vadas, Marti Kheel, Batya Bauman, Greta Gaard, Tom Regan, Neal Barnard, and Teal Willoughby for assistance in thinking and writing on this topic.

References

Abbott, Sally. 1990. The origins of God in the blood of the lamb. In Reweaving the world, 35–40. Diamond, Irene and Orenstein, Gloria Feman, eds. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Adams, Carol. 1975. The oedible complex: Feminism and vegetarianism. In The lesbian reader. Covina, Gina and Galana, Laurel, eds. Oakland, CA: Amazon.Google Scholar
Adams, Carol. 1990. The sexual politics of meat. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Ahlers, Julia. 1990. Thinking like a mountain: Toward a sensible land ethic. Christian Century (April 25): 433–34.Google Scholar
Akers, Keith. 1983. A vegetarian sourcebook. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.Google Scholar
Albino, Donna. 1988. C.E.A.S.E: Building animal consciousness. An interview with Jane Lidsky. Woman of Power. 9: 64–66.Google Scholar
Barnard, Neal. 1990. The evolution of the human diet. In The power of your plate. Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Benney, Norma. 1983. All of one flesh: The rights of animals. In Reclaim the earth. Caldecott, Léonie and Leland, Stephanie, eds. London: The Women's Press.Google Scholar
Brody, Jane E. 1990. Huge study indicts fat and meat. The New York Times. May 8.Google Scholar
Callicott, J. Baird. 1989. In defense of the land ethic. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Clift, Elayne. 1990. Advocate battles for safety in mines and poultry plants. New Directions for Women (May/June): 3.Google Scholar
Coats, C. David. 1989. Old MacDonald's factory farm. New York: Continuum.Google Scholar
Collard, Andrée, with Contrucci, Joyce. 1988. Rape of the wild: Man's violence against animals and the earth. London: The Women's Press.Google Scholar
Collins, Sheila. 1974. A different heaven and earth. Valley Forge: Judson Press.Google Scholar
Comstock, Gary. 1990. Pigs and piety: A theocentric perspective on food animals. Presented at the Duke Divinity School conference, “Good News for Animals?” October 3‐‐4, 1990.Google Scholar
Corea, Genoveffa. 1984. Dominance and control: How our culture sees women, nature and animals. The Animals' Agenda (May‐June): 37.Google Scholar
Davis, Karen. 1988. Farm animals and the feminine connection. The Animals' Agenda (January‐February): 38–39.Google Scholar
D'Eaubonne, Françoise. 1974. Feminism or death [Le féminisme ou la mort]. In New French feminisms: An anthology. Marks, Elaine and de Courtivron, Isabelle, eds. New York: Shocken Books, 1981.Google Scholar
Donovan, Josephine. 1990. Animal rights and feminist theory. Signs 15(2): 350–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ecofeminist Task Force Recommendation‐Item no. 7. 1990. Presented to the National Women's Studies Association national meeting, June, Akron, Ohio.Google Scholar
Elson, John. 1990. This little piggy ate roast beef: Domesticated porkers are becoming the latest pet craze. Time. (January 22): 54.Google Scholar
Fox, Michael W 1984. Farm animals: Husbandry, behavior, and veterinary practice (viewpoints of a critic). Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Fraser, David. 1987. Attraction to blood as a factor in tail‐biting by pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 17: 61–68.10.1016/0168-1591(87)90008-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaard, Greta. 1989. Feminists, animals, and the environment: The transformative potential of feminist theory. Paper presented at the annual convention of the National Women's Studies Association, Towson State University, June 14‐‐18, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Goodyear, Carmen. 1977. Man kind? Country Women (December): 7–9.Google Scholar
Hoagland, Sarah Lucia. 1988. Lesbian ethics: Toward new values. Palo Alto: Institute for Lesbian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hur, Robin. 1985. Six inches from starvation: How and why America's topsoil is disappearing. Vegetarian Times (March): 45–47.Google Scholar
Hur, Robin and Dr. Fields, David. 1984. Are high‐fat diets killing our forests? Vegetarian Times (February): 22–24.Google Scholar
Hur, Robin and Dr. Fields, David. 1985a. America's appetite for meat is ruining our water. Vegetarian Times (January): 16–18.Google Scholar
Hur, Robin and Dr. Fields, David. 1985b. How meat robs America of its energy. Vegetarian Times (April): 24–27.Google Scholar
Kevles, Bettyann. 1990. Meat, morality and masculinity. The Women's Review of Books (May): 11–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kheel, Marti. 1987. Befriending the beast. Creation (September‐October): 11–12.Google Scholar
Kheel, Marti. 1988. Animal liberation and environmental ethics: Can ecofeminism bridge the gap? Paper presented at the 1988 annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, March 10‐‐12, 1988.Google Scholar
Kheel, Marti. 1990. Ecofeminism and deep ecology: Reflections on identity and difference.Reweaving the world 128–37. Diamond, Irene and Orenstein, Gloria Feman, eds. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Krizmanic, Judy. 1990a. Is a burger worth it? Vegetarian Times 152(April): 20–21.Google Scholar
Krizmanic, Judy. 1990b. Why cutting out meat can cool down the earth. Vegetarian Times 152(April): 18–19.Google Scholar
Lappé, Frances Moore. 1982. Diet for a small planet: Tenth anniversary edition. New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar
Lawrence, A. B., Appleby, M. C., and Macleod., H. A. 1988. Measuring hunger in the pig using operant conditioning: The effect of food restriction. Animal Production 47: 131–37.Google Scholar
Leaps forward: Postpatriarchal eating. 1990. Ms. (July‐August): 59.Google Scholar
Lewis, Andrea. 1990. Looking at the total picture: A Conversation with health activist Beverly Smith. In The black women's health book: Speaking for ourselves. White, Evelyn C., ed. Seattle: The Seal Press.Google Scholar
Lorde, Audre. 1980. The cancer journals. Argyle, NY: Spinsters, Ink.Google Scholar
Mason, Jim and Singer, Peter. 1980. Animal factories. New York: Crown Publishers.Google Scholar
Mead, Nathaniel. 1990. Special report: 6,500 Chinese can't be wrong. Vegetarian Times 158(October): 15–17.Google Scholar
Moran, Victoria. 1988. Learning love at an early age: Teaching children compassion for animals. Woman of Power 9: 54–56.Google Scholar
Newkirk, Ingrid with Burnett, C. 1988. Animal rights and the feminist connection. Woman of Power 9: 67–69.Google Scholar
O'Neill, Molly. 1990. The cow's role in life is called into question by a crowded planet. New York Times. (May 6, 1990) Section 4: 1, 4.Google Scholar
Ortega y Gasset, José. 1985. Meditations on hunting. Wescott, Howard B., trans. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Pimental, David. 1975. Energy and land constraints in food protein production. Science 190: 754–61.Google Scholar
Pimental, David. 1976. Land degradation: Effects on food and energy resources. Science 194: 149–55.Google Scholar
Pimental, David, Oltenacu, P. A., Nesheim, M. C., Krummel, John, Allen, M. S., and Chick, Sterling. 1980. The potential for grass‐fed livestock: Resource constraints. Science 207: 843–848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, John. 1987. Diet for a new America. Walpole: Stillpoint.Google Scholar
Ruether, Rosemary. 1975. New woman/new earth: Sexist ideologies and human liberation. New York: Seabury Press.Google Scholar
Ruether, Rosemary. 1990. Men, women and beasts: Relations to animals in Western culture. Presented at the Duke Divinity School conference, “Good News for Animals?” October 3, 1990.Google Scholar
Salamone, Connie. 1973. Feminist as rapist in the modern male hunter culture. Majority Report (October).Google Scholar
Salamone, Connie. 1982. The prevalence of the natural law within women: Women and animal rights. In Reweaving the web of life: Feminism and nonviolence. McAllister, Pam, ed. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers.Google Scholar
Salamone, Connie. 1988. The knowing. Woman of Power 9: 53.Google Scholar
Serpell, James. 1986. In the company of animals: A study of human‐animal relationships. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Shiva, Vandana. 1988. Staying alive: Women, ecology and development. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Singer, Peter. (1975) 1990. Animal liberation. 2d ed. New York: A New York Review Book.Google Scholar
Spretnak, Charlene. 1990. Ecofeminism: Our roots and flowering. In Reweaving the world. Diamond, Irene and Orenstein, Gloria Feman, eds. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Walker, Alice. 1986. Am I Blue, Ms. July 30.Google Scholar
Walker, Alice. 1988a. Why did the Balinese chicken cross the road? Woman of Power 9: 50.Google Scholar
Waring, Marilyn. 1988. If women counted: A new feminist economics. San Francisco: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Warren, Karen J. 1987. Feminism and ecology: Making connections Environmental Ethics 9: 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, Karen J. 1990. The power and the promise of ecological feminism. Environmental Ethics 12: 125–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar