On Nonhuman Slavery

Originally published in Satya Magazine, 2001. Language has always played a key role in liberation, a fact well known by both those who benefit from and those oppressed by the status quo. The civil rights movement would no doubt have had an even harder struggle had African-Americans not retired the epithets nigger and boy, just [...]

…Often, we refer to carnists as “omnivores,” “carnivores,” or “meat eaters.” But these labels are inaccurate and likely detrimental to animal rights; they reinforce the assumptions that eating animals is natural and normal, two of the most entrenched and compelling myths used to justify carnism. The terms “omnivore” and “carnivore” describe one’s physiological disposition, rather [...]

“…I mean, there are so many mortifying things in our culture and society. But that [killing animals for food] certainly is one of the worst and people ignore it the most because they think that animals don’t matter…I feel a lot for these animals. Just the thought is really upsetting…I’m crying.” While many [readers] likely [...]

Speciesism is a ubiquitous ideology in which countless nonhuman beings are sacrificed to serve human ends (Singer, 1990). Moreover, the system may well be supported by a web of deleterious psychosocial processes (Arluke & Sanders, 1996) and, as such, can be detrimental to humans as well as nonhumans. Psychology, as the field that seeks to [...]

“Carnism allows people to eat animals without thinking about what they are doing or why. But just because an ideology is so entrenched and widespread doesn’t mean it’s natural or true. It was once widely believed that the earth was flat, women’s honorable position in life was in the home, serving men, and that black [...]