Home > Work > Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
41 " In the racist, sexist United States, nonwhite racialized minorities—and women in particular—are subjected to more than their share of horrific violence, but no human being would wish to trade places with nonhuman animals in factory farms or laboratories. . . . The legal status of women and nonwhite racializedminorities has improved markedly in the past fifty years; matters have grown considerably worse for nonhuman animals. "
― Lisa Kemmerer , Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
42 " Social justice activists in general, and animal advocates in particular, must work to expose the injustices they have learned to see . . . . To correct social problems, we must expose them to the light of day. "
43 " Advocacy is better served when fellow activists are able to respond in ways that do not build walls or burn bridges. Change takes time and tends to come hard to human beings. Those who understand this human tendency are more effective activists. "
44 " After we make a radical change in thought or behavior, we have a tendency to distance our new selves from our previous selves. That’s understandable, but not useful. If we can’t remember—much less have empathy with—our former ways of thinking and feeling, how can we make meaningful contact with those who still think and feel as we used to do? And, if we can’t make contact, how can we prompt others to rethink what feel to them like intensely personal choices? "
45 " Acknowledging and protecting nonhuman individuals places limits on human power, and will put an end to a host of ill-gotten gains – just as emancipation curtailed white power and put an end to the ill-gotten gains of Caucasian-Americans. Consequently, animal activists who push for change are often met with derision and indifference by those who wish to continue their accustomed diet, those who do not want to rethink their leather shoes, toiletries, or treasured forms of entertainment. Feminists and civil rights protesters who asked others to change for the sake of justice – to give up their ill-gotten gains – were and are met with similar insults and raucous rejections. "
46 " Another reason I fight for the rights of nonhuman animals is because they are a class of living beings who request only to “be.” Nonhuman individuals are not asking for more oil, or a fancier car, or to take over the Middle East. They only desire to be free from harm and injury, to be able to live their lives naturally. Their needs are modest: food, water, shelter, and "
47 " Inasmuch as animal products in Westernized nations are brought to the table only by exploiting those who are less powerful—usually in an extremely gruesome manner—those who stand against exploitation of the less powerful by the more powerful will need to select vegan food options whenever possible. "
48 " Those who suggest that individual animals do not matter in light of larger ecological problems, fail to realize that speciesism and ecological devastation are interconnected. "
49 " Violence is central to patriarchy, and Western society’s various forms of systemic violence are interconnected. Recognizing similarities across forms of oppression such as racism, child abuse, speciesism, and sexism, for example, is essential . . . . We can curb this tendency only if all forms of violence are exposed and challenged—rape and slaughter, rodeos and brothels. We cannot expect to put out a fire by removing only one coal. "
50 " Those who seek greater justice in our world need to work toward a deeper understanding of oppressions. Activists need to develop the kind of understanding that will lead to a lifestyle—a way of being—that works against all oppressions. "
51 " Diversity” too often diverts attention from the root problem: Normative whiteness. "