What women and animals have in common
Three leading women in the animal rights movement take on #MeToo
DARIEN, Conn., June 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Humans and non-human animals sharing things in common and being treated the same sounds like a victory for the animal rights movement. But when it comes to #MeToo, it's anything but.
That issue is front and center in a ground-breaking discussion featuring three leading women in the animal rights movement, Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral, LAIKA magazine Editorial Director Julie Gueraseva and Rutgers University Animal Rights Law Clinic Co-Founder Anna Charlton, who sat down to explore the intersection between feminism and animal rights in a cover story published in FoA's summer Action Line.
The forward-thinking roundtable conversation by the women, each of whom have spearheaded innovative animal advocacy campaigns, delves into sexist animal rights media campaigns, male-dominated hierarchical nonprofit structures and the objectification of all living beings in a movement that is supposed to focus on moral values and compassion but has been criticized for becoming a misogynistic cult.
"Feminism challenges the objectification and the status quo, and a division of labor,'' said Feral. "Animal rights theory requires feminist principles."
Feral started the Southwestern CT Chapter of National Organization for Women in 1971 and became president of FoA in 1987 after the retirement of its revolutionary founder, Alice Herrington.
Gueraseva founded LAIKA, which showcases modern vegan living, in 2012. She noted the parallels between feminist and animal struggles.
"Animal agriculture is built on the violation of motherhood, reproductive subjugation,'' she said. "There are terms like rape rack; it's all about subjugation, subjugating a species and reducing them to objects."
Charlton, who co-authored three books on animal rights and veganism, questioned campaigns by such groups as PeTA that show sexy, naked women rejecting fur, and said it's time to call out all sexist messages. "We have a chance to reinvigorate the movement in light of what's going on now. It's a new injection of energy and I hope people run with it."
Action Line's cover story can be read here and the full discussion can be heard here.
Friends of Animals, an international animal protection organization founded in N.Y. in 1957 and headquartered in Darien, CT, advocates for the rights of free-living and domestic animals. FoA is proud to be a woman-founded and -led organization for more than 60 years.
SOURCE Friends of Animals
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