Look at me! I am writing! These characters form words and ta-da! OFFICIALLY BLOGGING.
I’ve been putting this off, because I have these fantasies in which inspiration hits me (but in a friendly way that neither bruises nor offends my feminist sensibilities) and I write the perfect first blog. I had hoped that a recent internship would fuel that blog. I am only a week in, but I think inspiration is something I’ll have to fake for the time being.
Today I have deliberately decided to slow down my productivity for fear of running out of things to do before the workday is over. I am listening to a podcast my supervisor sent me so at least I am multi-tasking. I am also ignoring messages from a friend who tells me that maca has increased her sex drive. She highly recommends it. I’d only be interested in finding the opposite of maca. I’m more than 1,000 miles away from my partner so all the maca in the world can burn for all I care.
I am also reading Matthew Scully’s new article “Pro-Life, Pro-Animal” at National Review Online (http://www.nationalreview.com/node/359761/print). It becomes problematic about one word into the title. I respect Matthew Scully’s craft. Dominion is an animal activist’s wet dream, filled with powerful, righteous quotes. I love that shit. That being stated, I don’t agree with his conservative (ahem, patriarchal) stance taken here. I anticipate that many of my friends who aren’t especially into denying reproductive rights will promote his article regardless, because he is oh so polite in asking that women not have autonomy over their bodies! It’s kind of subtle if you’re desperate to promote veganism at almost any cost. You might not even think of it as throwing women under the bus. You might think of it as targeting a new market. Finally, someone is telling those “pro-life” people to go vegan! If it requires reinforcing every misconception about abortion in the process, so be it! After all, in the long run, what’s one more article proliferating the idea that women’s rights are second to the “greater cause” of animal rights?
Can we think about that for one moment and what it means to give “props” to an author for reaching out to a constituency hellbent on denying the rights of women?
To clarify, I understand that this is not a ploy by Matthew Scully, who truly believes the crazy things he writes about the “abortion industry.” (It’s just like factory farming, folks! because factory farms enslave, confine, exploit, and slaughter sentient creatures, and so does… hey, wait a minute… that’s actually a pretty shitty analogy.) If you are likewise anti-choice, then this is the perfect article for you to share with your anti-choice brethren. I don’t waste much breath trying to convince people to change their beliefs when it comes to reproductive rights, because it’s a struggle enough just to get the people who agree with me to become actively engaged with the political system. So, if you’re anti-choice, do what you’re gonna do, cray-cray. That’s my mentality.
However, I, personally, specifically take issue with the idea of pro-choice individuals supporting this article. These individuals maybe don’t even want or need my input, but I need to vent. These individuals MAY NOT EVEN EXIST, but I still need to vent. I need to vent about the very IDEA of these people. I’m on a farm, people; I have too much time to ruminate. (Is this a pun? I am eating a lot, too.)
The key concept here is that anti-choice is anti-woman. The pro-choice individuals I know grasp this concept. If you grasp this concept, also, why would you EVER applaud an article that is Anti-Woman, Pro-Animal? Would you also give kudos to an Anti-Gay, Pro-Animal article? (Don’t forget to invite the Westboro Baptist Church to next month’s vegan potluck.) I’m not saying that hate-crazed people are off-limits when it comes to advocacy efforts, but I don’t think getting through to them should be at the cost of anyone’s rights. Animal advocacy shouldn’t and doesn’t require reinforcing hatred and ignorance. The notion of animal rights does not negate basic human rights. An animal rights movement that doesn’t care about women’s rights is one in denial of its own constituency. The two struggles should be one and the same. Feminism + Animal Rights = BFF. ❤ ❤ ❤
I started this blog entry on October 7th, the date Scully published his article. I ranted and raved to my roommates over the course of that weekend, but I didn’t feel motivated to contend with the slowness of the house desktop computer long enough to complete my blog. Work picked up the following week, which partially explains why I left the entire matter on the back burner. Mostly, however, I came to the realization that Scully’s article missed the mark in a crucial way: Who has the patience to read a 13 page article? (It printed at 29 pages.) There are 600+ comments on the article itself, but I see little reverberation throughout the AR-community or Internet at large. Most of the comments just serve as a reminder to never read the comments.
Now I am left to wonder why I even bothered to read it. I worked myself up in a huff for probably nothing! In my defense, I’m on an isolated farm 500 miles from friends and family. What else am I going to do in my spare time? Be productive? Yeah, sure.
Average-Looking Vegan 