The chosen image conveys several ideas that are present in the readings and throughout ecofeminism. The image depicts a figure cutting into meat, with another knife already in it. The cartoon figure in the image would probably be perceived by the viewer as male even though there’s no actual evidence of this, just that we typically see that style of figure on men’s bathrooms and facilities. Also because of the correlation between masculinity and meat consumption, explored in the Eisenburg article. Eisenburg explores recent studies that suggest, as she puts simply, “eat a steak, feel more like a man.” A similar argument is explored in the Curtin’s article and the imagery of the figure cutting up the meat could be related to “representations of woman as ‘meat’ ready to be carved up,” such as expressions referring to women as a “piece of meat” which actually contradicts the more positive associations and connotations given to meat related terms, which are also extensively listed in the Curtin article.
The relationship between gender and food consumption is especially interesting. Foods considered masculine include meat and beer. Generally, manliness seems to correlate with more unhealthy foods, while healthy food is considered more feminine, with a diet being considered more effeminate the more plant based it is. The correlation between men and meat seems to derive hunting, and in recent years has developed many sexual connotations, with meat of course being used sometimes as a euphemism for penis. These sexual connotations are further perpetuated by the food industry, seen in commercials such as the Carl’s Jr one below that aired during the 2015 Superbowl.
Imagery in advertisement of scantily clad women eating burgers is pretty common, particularly for that chain. It is interesting to see how the ad is attempting to convey a decrease in the processing of the meat, but this information is almost entirely lost in content of ad. As though the only way to sell naturalness to men is through the sexualization of women. The commercial of course targets a male audience, which doesn’t seem uncommon, though perhaps in more subtle ways, for food products that would be considered unhealthy. Salad is especially gendered, and demonstrates how healthier, plant foods are feminized. This also speaks to the greater societal pressure faced by women to be thin and conform to beauty standards. “Women in patriarchal cultures … more than men, experience the effects of culturally sanctioned oppressive attitudes towards the appropriate body shape,” Curtain explains, further arguing that these attitudes serve to further disembody humans and distinguish them from animals.
Another food I think of as oddly being gendered is yogurt. Besides that John Stamos campaign, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yogurt commercial starring a man. Similar to the burger commercial, these ads took a sexual and comedic approach though, so I think that possibly when commercials for gendered foods feature the *opposite* gender, it usually is in this way. This trend would be interesting to study more closely.
Saved from a dog meat farm in South Korea, we meet the two puppies who almost ended up on the dinner table, and owe their lives to their new owners pic.twitter.com/CypYYGi1pc
— This Morning (@thismorning) December 7, 2018
Gaard’s discussion of our keeping of animals as pets and our consumption of them as food reminded me of this interview that was circulating in December (tweet above). The conversation holds obvious racial and cultural biases, especially evident in her orientalist language like “them out there.” While generally thinking of the farming of dogs as horrific and monstrous, nearly identical facilities exist in our own country for breeding and slaughtering animals with similar, and in some cases greater, intellectual capacities to dogs at astounding rates. The kill clock makes this clear.
Alternatively, I’m reluctant agree with Gaard’s comment that our relationship to animals is akin to the slavery millions of humans were and continue to be subjected to. I understand she is trying to convey the ecofeminist theory that our exploitation of nature mirrors our exploitation of other humans, but the way its articulated – “…if the situation were offered to humans, we’d call it slavery” – just doesn’t sit well with me.
This portion of the reading reminded me of a National Geographic article I recently read about a theory that cats domesticated themselves. While Gaard suggests that cat behaviors are socially constructed by humans, but the article proposes that these activities had began evolving prior to them being seen as companions to humans, and that cats themselves “approached human populations” and “settled themselves into a mutually beneficial relationship,” citing that unlike dogs and other domestic animals there’s been little genetic change in cats.
Overall regarding vegetarianism and veganism, its important to remember that even these practices are never entirely “cruelty” free. Many of the people who are picking our fruits and vegetables work under pretty horrid conditions, like minimal breaks and long hours, exposure to pesticides, other chemicals, and extreme weather conditions, along with being significantly underpaid, with employees exploiting their immigration status for cheap and unsafe labor. In the global south, entire communities feel the consequences of this exposure to toxic chemicals from companies like Monsanto. Near soy bean farms in Argentina people are experiencing higher rates of cancer and other related illnesses, miscarriages, and birth defects. While eliminating meat from your diet of course decreases the amount of harm caused by the things on your plate and the process that got it there, very few people, if anybody, can claim their diet is truly “cruelty free.”
Works Cited:
Curtin, Deane. “Contextual Moral Vegetarianism.” Hypothia, no. 6, 1991, pp. 68-71. Retrieved from http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/curtin01.htm.
Eisenberg, Zoe. “Meat Heads: New Study Focuses on How Meat Consumption Alters Men’s Self-Perceived Levels of Masculinity.” Huffington Post, 13 January 2016. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/zoe-eisenberg/meat-heads-new-study-focuses_b_8964048.html.
Gaard, Greta. “Ecofeminism on the Wing: Perspectives on Human-Animal Relations.” Women and Environments Magazine, 2001, pp. 19-22.
Sartore, Joel. “Cats Domesticated Themselves, Ancient DNA Shows.” National Geographic, 19 June 2017. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/domesticated-cats-dna-genetics-pets-science/.
Hi Kelsey,
I didn’t even think about the constant commercials with half naked women eating meat to bring in male audience. They do this constantly but I don’t think I ever connected the two. We also made the same point about yogurt! Yogurt has been become a “female’s food” and it’s also interesting to see how these commercials are targeting men and women. I was also taken aback by Gaard’s opinion on having pets. I understand where she is coming from but I don’t think she realizes that pets have been around for centuries. The Egyptians kept cats, dogs, others as pets, cavemen kept dogs as pets, etc.. we have domesticated animals for too long for us to not take them in. You also make wonderful points about how even being meat free isn’t cruelty free. It reminds me of the company Driscolls. They have workers in the fields for 10-12 hours a day for about $6, they have many children working for them, and there’s a lot of assault going on. Driscolls are berries, completely meat free but this is definitely not cruelty free.
Awesome post!
-Elizabeth
Hi Kelsey,
It’s interesting that you wrote you understood the doughboy-looking figure to be male, simply because of the meat. It makes me wonder which way people logically associate man-ness and meat consumption. What I’m wondering is if people think “if you are a man, then you eat meat” or conversely, “if you eat meat, then you are a man.” I also liked your discussion of women being sexualized in food commercials, as if a woman eating a burger somehow makes her sexier than women who don’t eat burgers. But before that, the commercials are absurd in their objectification of women. They imply that women should want to look like that and that men should want a woman who looks like that. I’ve also read that Nat Geo article on the domestication of cats. Of all domesticated animals, I’ve never particularly felt bad for any of the cats I’ve seen taken care of as pets. They sleep for like 18 hours a day, so being in a relationship with a human allows them a safe and warm shelter, year round. That being said, we can’t ignore how many people choose to buy a cat from a breeder rather than adopt from a shelter. The show animal culture of of awarding pet owner’s money for exploiting “their” animal’s body.
Great post!
Hi, great point about breeding and I entirely agree that this is where a potentially mutually beneficial relationship becomes exploitative. I was actually reading recently about how many cats actually consider their owners to be sort of inferior to them – like when they bring their owners dead animals or line up toys (for those that don’t go outside) they are actually taking on a parental role and trying to teach us how to hunt because they think we’re incompetent hunters, as they would do for their young in the wild. The whole dead animals things also supports the Nat Geo theory because it shows how they still have the same natural hunting instincts and abilities.
Hi Kelsey,
I disagree that being vegetarian or vegan cannot be entirely cruelty free. While in some instances this maybe true, there are many people who make a conscious effort to research before buying and consuming any product. For instance, one can purchase their produce at local farmers markets. This helps the local economy and also gives the consumer peace of mind knowing that they are not supporting the exploitation of others. Also, one can avoid Monsanto by not buying GMO products or anything affiliated with this company. An ecofeminist vegan/vegetarian may go as far as only purchasing local organic products also to avoid hurting valuable and vulnerable insect populations. People who are determined to be cruelty-free oftentimes avoid restaurants if they are not vegan and locally sourced also. Gaard states, “In advocating for contextual moral vegetarianism, feminists who act in solidarity with other animal species achieve not a moral destination, but a moral direction: we can make significant actions to move us in a direction of reducing animal suffering”. We can also use our moral compass to make efforts to reduce human suffering by shopping local and/or growing our own produce.
I agree! I think this is an extremely rare circumstance though. I suppose more accurately what I meant was that being entirely cruelty free is pretty inaccessible to the vast majority of people (food deserts where no local produce is available & socioeconomic factors). Making this an affordable and accessible choice should be a priority for those who promote these lifestyles to others.
I agree. I honestly didn’t really consider the workers much when considering cruelty free. I haven’t always considered animals when thinking about mass food production and how my food is being prepared. It wasn’t until I took a ethics class in college that I began to realize how horrible our food productive system is set up. Growing up you don’t really think about where your burger came from. You don’t realize that there are several components to a simple cheese burger. Do we really consider how the meat of the cow was made? Do we care about the life that that cow had before it became a patty? What about the onions, tomato, and lettuce? Do we care how that produce was plated, picket, and transported? Do we care about the workers? Do we care about the long hours they work or the chemicals they are exposed to that can cause help problems later on? I don’t think the average person considers this before they gobble down their delicious burger. After doing a research project in my ethics class on food, I was able to now take all of this in consideration. Cruelty free is the goal but we have a lot of damage control to do before we can say that we eat 100% cruelty free.
Hi Kelsey,
I thought that was a great analysis of the image. You pulled in different references from the class articles to help back up what you were saying. I think you are correct when you compare the image to Curtin’s thoughts on women being portrayed as a piece of meat ready to be carved up and served. It’s interesting how these ideas of women referenced as meat and other animal terms is so normal in our society. I use to never question these terms because I had heard them so frequently, but when you stop to think about what we are actually saying, it is awful. Then when you think of all the other comparison there are of women and animals, you think, how did this start? Why are there so many expressions relating women to animals, and do the people using these terms even realize what they are saying? It is so easy to say, “oh that women is a bitch!” or “she’s a cow”, but when you stop to think about how you are constantly referencing women to animals, you notice there is a deeper meaning behind it. Animals mean nonhuman. It is always means women are lesser than man, because in our society animals are not of the same value as humans. You can tell these terms have been used for a very long time, because we are at the point where we say it without actually realizing what we are saying. It is so embedded into our society, and I just want to know how it started. Another phrase I hear on pretty much a weekly basis, is “what a pussy” or “don’t be a pussy”. This is typically said to a man and it is meant to make him feel like he is weak or lesser than. It bothers me because I think, is it so wrong to be a woman?! I hear this kind of comparison so much, I can tell the people using it don’t actually realize what they are saying.
-Victoria
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