Author: lparadis

I successfully went a week with going vegan as far as eating vegan food. However, there are a lot of products everywhere that people use daily and do not even know that they are made with animal products. Though I was not fully successful I still feel like I made a difference and I am proud of myself. Bridget commented on my original post and I did take her advice. All week I did eat any foods that contained animal products and I also used vegan cosmetics. ELF is a completely cruelty free and vegan cosmetic brand. I am not a person who wears a lot of makeup, but I do wear primer, foundation and mascara. I already had the primer and I went out to the store to buy mascara and foundation by ELF. The part that was the most challenging was planning what I was going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks every day. Since I was very new at this I kept it very simple. I went online and looked up vegan recipes and then I wrote down all the ingredients I would need to buy for the week. I made sure that I got everything in one trip because during this pandemic I did not want to go to the grocery store more then necessary. I am not a huge breakfast fan so every day for breakfast I had blueberry Belvita bars. For lunch I would either have a salad or leftovers from a vegan meal I made the night before. I had veggie burgers for dinner a few nights and I also found a few really good vegan recipes online. My two favorite meals were veggie pasta and spinach lasagna. I really like fruit so if I wanted a snack I would have some type of fruit.

Though I was not completely vegan all week I think my plan was successful. I am going to try and continue to eat vegan meals and snacks for a while and hope that I can stick to it. I have always wanted to go vegan, and this could be the beginning for me. Going vegan is definitely difficult and it is going to be a challenge to completely convert to it, but my hope is that I will slowly transition. As far as personal activism goes I believe that this was very successful. How I felt all week made me want to continue to do this. I also think it raised some awareness. For example, one day when I came back from my lunch break at work my manager asked me what I had for lunch. I told him it was spinach lasagna that I made, and he replied saying that sounds interesting. That was a perfect opportunity for me to tell him I was trying to go vegan for a week. Even though I am only one person that is one more person that is advocating for the animals.

I have always cared a lot about animals and when I say that I do not just mean cat and dogs I mean all animals. For the most part cats and dogs and the other typical animals that people have as pets are “respected.” However, there are so many other animals that are abused and killed every day and it is all for food. There are dogs and cats and other pets that get abused by their owners but the number for farm animals is so much higher. Ecofeminism is the connection between women and nature and it is the idea that women and the environment are not only connected but they are viewed in similar ways by men. Then one week we talked a lot about animals and vegetarianism and that section was shocking to me. Factory farming is a high demand business and the animals get treated so poorly. Both animals raised for meat and animals raised for milk and eggs are all raised in terrible conditions. I have thought about being a vegan for a long time and I really hope one day I am so for my action plan for the week is to go vegan. I hope that everything I eat for the entire week contains no animal products.

To successfully eat vegan for a week I have to go grocery shopping because no one in my family is vegetarian or vegan. When I am at the grocery store I will have to keep track of the ingredients in the products I am buying to make sure they do not contain any animal products at all. I often eat eggs for breakfast, so my alternative will be cereal with a plant-based milk such as almond milk. I am also going to buy veggie burgers and a lot of fruits and vegetables to assure that I am still getting the nutrients that I need. I also drink a lot of coffee so I will need to either add a dairy free creamer or almond milk to my coffee. This plan is more on a personal level and I will know for myself that I am saving animals lives. However, I could also try to inspire some other people by telling them what I am doing and educate them about the meat or animal industry in general. I believe a lot of people are unaware how bad factory farming really is and if I can educate some people it could really make a difference.

 

It is well known by many that women have been oppressed throughout history in all parts of the world. However, something that a lot of people do not know or do not care about is how the environment and nature have also been oppressed. However, who is more likely to notice that nature is oppressed? Women are because they play so many important roles in taking care of the wildlife and it has been like this for many years. Wangari Maathai is a women rights activist and environmentalist from Kenya. She understands and acts upon issues that threaten women and also threaten the environment because she can see the clear connection between the two.  She starts off by explaining the role that women have in Africa and how important taking care of the land and the crops is to them. Women in Africa know when something is wrong or could be dangerous to themselves or the wildlife. This inspired Maathai to start what is called the Green Belt Movement to help assure that crops and the land could be kept safe. Women in Africa understood what environmental degradation is and wanted to get involved in this movement. However, this was not Maathai’s only concern. She also protested against women’s rights as she could see that they were being oppressed.

Warren explains this relationship between the oppression of women and the oppression of nature by explaining that domination and oppression are very similar ideas. If you think about women being oppressed and nature being dominated, then they can be closely related. Women are deeply connected to land especially indigenous women. When the land that they feel so connected to is destroyed it hurts them physically and emotionally. They feel at ease when they are with the land that they know and when they move away from it or the land is destroyed they feel like they lost something. Oppression of women and oppression of land are connected in many ways. Destruction and violence do not happen to either women or the land it happens to both. If the land is destroyed, then the community becomes angry and it bring out violence amongst a community that was once tight nit. There are many practices that can lead to environmental degradation and when these practices occur it is not only destroying the environment, but it is also destroying the communities who call that land home. Deforestation is a great example to explain these ideas. Men go out into the forest and cut down dozens and dozens of trees to make room to build a house or some other building. Those trees are now dead, and the environment relies on trees to maintains a good balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Now that those trees are gone it is directly hurting the environment and people.

Since there are so many ways of destruction on the environment, activism is very important. Women feel oppressed by men just like the land is oppressed by men or whoever is involved in these destructive practices. Women like Wangari Maathai want to fight for rights of women and the land. Many women have been both feminist and environmental activist to help protect the lives of both.

Warren, Karen J. “Feminist Environmental Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 27 Apr. 2015

Intersectionality is this idea that race, gender, and class can be combined to other social aspects. It is this idea that parts of the social world like politics for example can create assumptions about specific groups. Intersectionality typically has three levels that explain and describe what it really is. It can be described on a level of one person experiencing their own life as an individual. Every person has their own characteristics and all those characteristics within one person is what makes up this level of intersectionality. The next level is solely focused on women as a whole. All women no matter their race, class, or any other identity face oppression. This second level takes into consideration that despite anything else a woman will experience some sort of unfairness. The third branch is focuses on social injustice and there will always be social injustice if there is racism and other discriminatory factors. Intersectionality connects all different factors that can affect a person from being themselves and having total freedom and interpreting it as a social issue.

When you take intersectionality and ecofeminist perspectives and combine them they make a really interesting connection. Going back to the beginning of this semester we learned about the basic ideas of ecofeminism and to sum it up it a connection that women have with nature. To go into more detail, we can draw upon some readings from earlier in the semester. Women over the years have consistently been seen as the ones who have more of a connection with nature. This goes back to the life of women and men during hunting and gathering. Men would go out hunting for animals or go to work while women would stay home and take care of the house or go out to find plant-based ingredients. This is where ecofeminist believe that the connection women have with nature all started. I think going back to Warren’s reading in the first week she explained this connection really well. She talks about the basic ideas of ecofeminism but then goes on to explain the woman and nature connection and how this can be traced back for many years. This connects really well with the ideas of intersectionality.

Carson explained intersectionality in a really interesting way. She talks about sea life and how all the creatures in the ocean are seen to also be this web of intersectionality.  All life human a non- human has a form of hierarchy and in this reading, Carson explains that by talking about sea life. An article by Arica Coleman explains when intersectionality was first termed and the movement that evolved. She explains how women have always been at a disadvantage, but there has also been a lot done throughout history to help women. However, not all experience the same disadvantages. Women of color and middle class white women do not face the same challenges (Coleman).

Coleman, Arica L. “What Is Intersectionality? A Brief History of the Theory.” Time, Time, 6 Nov. 2019, time.com/5560575/intersectionality-theory/.

Norgaard and York explain the relationship between gender and environmentalism. Like we have heard in previous readings women are more likely to be connected to nature then men. Women are more likely care about the environment and be aware of environmental issues. This leads us to consider the impact women can make when they are government officials. Norguaard and York explain gender inequality and how this effect the relationship women have with the environment. Woemn and men also have different beliefs and views on the world that make their relationships with nature and the environment different. Norgaard and York state that “women have been estimated to make up 60 to 80 percent of membership in mainstream environmental organizations and even higher percentages in grassroot movements” (Norgaard and York). Why is this the case? This all has to do with that relationship going way back to the beginning or time. Throughout history women have been seen to have a relationship with nature and it has led to those statistics. Women in the government are more concerned about the environment and making changes related to environmental issues. However, sometimes gender inequality can negatively affect what women in government positions can do. The more we fight for gender equality the closer we will get to make greater environmental decisions that can change for the better.

When you search the web, it becomes clear that there are so many women out there fighting to make changes in the world to help the environment. The first female activist I want to mention is very well known and she has already been mentioned a lot in this class. Greta Thunberg is a seventeen-year-old climate and environmental activist. She has traveled all over the world to spread the word and share her activism. At such a young age she has become a very important part of the global environmental activism. Christiana Figueres is another example. She was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from 2010 to 2016. She saw how bad this climate change crisis was becoming and wanted to jump in and help. She has also been known for many other achievements as a government official aiming to make the environment safer and healthier.

I found an interesting statistic that could support the ideas that Norgaard and York were explaining. This website states that “Statistics indicate that 80% of household shopping is performed by women “(Berk 1988). This supports the ideas of Norgaard and York because they explained how women throughout history and over time have been shaped and as a result it makes them more connected to the environment. If women are the ones who are buying items for their families, they can decide it they want to make good environmental decisions. This can have an impact on the environment and they are more likely to buy ecofriendly items then a male would because of their connection to nature and their awareness of the environment. https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/7417/volumes/v20/NA-20

An article by Amy Caiazza and Allison Barrett explain the importance of women in environmental activism. There is a lot of importance to this and from an ecofeminist stand point giving women the opportunity to be heard and stand up for what they believe in. Caiazza and Barrett make a lot of similar points that Norgaard and York made as to why women feel so obligated to help the environment and are more likely to then men. This has given women leadership and voices to share their beliefs.

 

Caiazza, Amy, and Alison Barrett. “Engaging Women in Environmental Activism: Recommendations for Rachel’s Network.” CSU, Sept. 2003.

 

Susan. “Women and the Environment: Applying Ecofeminism to Environmentally-Related Consumption.” ACR North American Advances, 1 Jan. 1993

 

Abortion is a very controversial issue that many people have very strong opinions about. Their views can be shaped based on religious beliefs, feminist beliefs, or just by how they truly feel and what they know about the topic. There are three common views on abortions and them either that the human life is formed at conception and an abortion is consider homicide, the human life is defined at or after birth so there is no killing of human life. The view that is in the middle of these two extremes that does not believe a fetus is a human but is part of a human but has different moral rights. Abortion is one of those topics that can be difficult to talk about because of the different views people have on it. A lot of people argue that it is the woman’s body and she has the right to decide if she wants to have an abortion or not. However, if people believe that it is a human and they are killing a human then they do not think that is the mothers right. They believe that in no circumstances should the mother or anyone else be given the option to kill a human life.

I know a lot about abortion and have my own views and opinions about it. I have also always been aware of how other people view it and I have always been open to seeing these different sides and understanding why they believe what they believe. However, Hawkins view was something I have never heard of or thought of before. Environmental issues are something I have always been passionate about. I have a minor in sustainability and with the classes I have taken to fulfill this minor I have learnt a lot about environmental degradation and the things that effect the environment the most. Population growth is a big factor into this. The more the human population grows the more problems that continue to develop. The first website we looked at called the “worldometer” shows the population and the impacts it is having on the environment

Hawkins argument on abortion is that sometimes people need to look at the bigger picture instead of their own personal experience that they are dealing with. Every human that enters the world makes an impact on environmental degradation. Ecofeminists believe that this should factor into their decision when having an abortion. Women should have the right to decide if they do or do not want to have an abortion, but they need to think about whether this baby will have a good life. Hawkins explains how some people have kids so that they can work and make money. Working on farms and in factories negatively impacts the environment. I do not agree nor disagree with Hawkins. I understand where she is coming from and the point that she makes definitely make sense. I think it is hard for people to decide based on this because I believe women feel very vulnerable when they in a position where they need to decide if they will have an abortion or not. However, population growth is a major factor in environmental degradation so as an ecofeminist I see why she looks at it this way.

I found an article that talks about how different laws can shape people’s views and opinions. I do not completely disagree with this because in some state’s abortion is illegal and in other states abortion is legal. There are many states where it has not been determined yet if it is legal or illegal. However, I don’t completely disagree with this argument because surrounding beliefs, views and opinions can definitely come into play when someone else is trying to see where they stand. If abortion is illegal in one state, then the people in that state will start to look at it and assume that if it is illegal is it bad (Diamant and Sandstrom).

Diamant, Jeff, and Aleksandra Sandstrom. “Do State Laws on Abortion Reflect Public Opinion?” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 21 Jan. 2020,

 

 

The advertisement that is a newspaper article with a “feminine” looking cow holding a picture of a cow is advertisement for ground meat. The purpose of this is to make the product appealing to consumers and its target is toward white males. The cow that is standing up and looking more like a human is skinny and supposed to be appealing in two different ways. First the woman type figure is meant to catch men’s attention and it is skinny to emphasize that this meat is healthy meat. It says, “low fat, low cholesterol ground meat.” The picture that the skinny cow is holding is of a cow that most people would think of when they think of a cow. It is standing like a cow would stand and it is not as skinny. They want the consumers to believe that their meat is better, and they do that by making it look more appealing by sexualizing the cow.

The picture that says “campus talk survey says” has a turkey with a bikini tan line. This ad is sexual, and I think it may also be racist as well. It says “60% breast, 14% thigh, 26% leg. Those are all parts of a turkey that are most commonly consumed by humans, but they are sexualizing it. The bikini line made the turkey into something that would grab a male’s attention. At the bottom in quotes it says, “The darker the meat the sweeter the taste.” This is what made me think this ad was racist. Some people like dark meat more but I feel it was also meant to be insulting towards black people.

The third picture that I chose to discuss was the sign that says, “Betty Beavers Truck Stop and Diner.” The beaver on the sign looks feminine by the pose it is positioned in and it has breasts. It is wearing a tight shirt and skirt that is American Flag themed. Truck drivers are most often men, so they made the beaver on the sign feminine to grab their attention while they are on the road. They want truck drivers to see that sign and stop to eat at their diner.

Those three images were all sexualizing animals by making them look feminine. The purpose of them was to grab attention of men, but it was mostly aiming toward white men. Some of the ads also had some racial remarks in them. These ads are objectifying women and animals. By sexualizing and animal to resemble a female body that becomes offensive to women, but also causes people to overlook the cruelty animals face. There is no thought about how they are forced to reproduce and then they are killed to be a meal for someone.  This also shows a connection between women and animals because in ads like these the women and animals are being consumed in a sense while men are the consumers.

I chose this picture because it has a lot of aspects that are similar to the points that Adams has made. The way the chicken is posing can be seen as sexual even by the way it is looking. It is definitely meant to have a feminine figure and even the way the eyes look is feminine. The purpose of this is to draw in men’s attention. Like I mentioned about the pictures I chose from Adams. By making this chicken look sexual and also feminine it grabs the attention of men for other reasons then what an aid should aim for. They want to sell the chicken, but their approach is wrong.

There is an article by Dan Neil that I found, and it backs up a lot of the arguments that Adams has made. He explains that the purpose of these ads is to draw in the attention of men. One argument he makes is how the United States views sex. He explains that this culture compared to most takes these situations more lightly and can easily make an ad sexual to grab the attention of consumers where in other cultures people would likely be more disturbed and offended by these ads (Neil).

Barwick, Emily Moran. “Do Animals Want to Be Eaten?” Bite Size Vegan, 10 July 2019, www.bitesizevegan.org/bite-size-vegan-nuggets/main-nuggets/do-animals-want-to-be-eaten/.

Neil, Dan. “Sexualization of Fast Food in Advertising on the Rise.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2019,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My interpretation of the picture is the idea that humans only see the end result of a long ongoing and inhumane process. There is a character dressed as a chef cutting up a piece of meat that would look appetizing to most people. However, that piece of meat was a living creature at one point and it went through a lot of pain and suffering until it was killed and put on the dinner table. The way the character is standing and cutting the meat resembles the idea that humans have a lot of power and control over animals instead of thinking that they are equivalent to animals.

Two gendered foods are salad and steak. Steak is associated with men and salad is associated with women. This idea comes from a social construct that has made people believe that men will not eat a salad, or it would be strange for a man to eat a salad. It also can relate to the idea of women being more equal to nature while men are seen as above nature. I found a study that looks at how women are more likely to be vegetarian then men. There are a number of different factors and some of them go back to hundreds or thousands of years ago. Men are most commonly known to be hunters over women. Over time it has molded society and made women more likely to be vegetarian while a lot of men actually kill animals for themselves to eat. Back when hunting and gathering was necessary for survival women would go out and collect plants and herbs for there meal. Another factor is that people associate meat with masculinity, There are all sorts of ways that contribute to not a lot of men being vegetarian (Love and Sulikowski).

Gaard explains the relationship between humans and animals. She starts off the article by talking about a bird in a store that she could see was not getting treated very good and did not get a lot of attention from the owner. She explains that the way humans treat animals can be compared sexism and oppression of women. Animals who are pets, farm animals, zoo animals, have any sort of tie with humans are oppressed in some way. When animals interact with humans their freedom is taken away from them. Gaard states “To be a pet is to have all one’s life decisions controlled by someone else: when and what we eat, how to act, whom to socialize with, whether or not to reproduce. If the situation were offered to humans we’d call it slavery” (Gaard 20). Pets can be treated very well or not treated well at all but either way it does not make it right. Animals should not be in captivity they are meant to be in the wild living their own life on their own terms. All pets and other animals that are confined by humans do not get to experience that choice. Gaard mentioned the bird at the beginning because that bird lives a controlled life in captivity but also explains this idea of the power humans have or at least believe they have over animals. Curtin focuses on this idea of moral vegetarianism. This considers that if necessary humans can kill an animal for food, but if it is not necessary then humans should find other options. There are many other forms of food and in the United States especially people have access to these other foods. Factory farm animals endure so much pain and suffering to then be killed for a human to have for a meal. Curtain explains that if you are lost and starving you can kill an animal and eat it, but if that is not the case then find something else to eat. When men choose to be moral vegetarians they are choosing to support women in their attempts to protect animal rights.

I found website “the kill clock” to be very disturbing. I think humans have managed to cover up a lot of what really happens in farming factories. I think people are not educated enough on what animals endure because I know that I am always learning new things. If what happened behind the scenes was revealed to more people I think a lot could be changed. Humans have created an industry that is brutal and disturbing, and billions of animals should not have to experience that.

 

Love, Hamish J, and Danielle Sulikowski. “Of Meat and Men: Sex Differences in Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Meat.” Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers Media S.A., 20 Apr. 2018,

 

“NEIGHBORHOOD TREEHOUSE.” Jackson Junge Gallery,

The painting attached above can have various different interpretations. However, when I look at it I feel like it really explains who I am as far as my connection with nature and what is around me. I live in a neighborhood in a small town. Behind my house there are very deep woods. I have a mix between secluded and not secluded. My neighborhood is very quiet because there is not a lot of human activity going on except for my other neighbors. This painting is called the neighborhood treehouse. We are all connected to nature but not secluded to only nature. If I want to just be alone and take in nature for what it truly is I can, but if I want to have a social life without going far I can talk to my neighbors. We all live in a community tree. We all have access to nature and the social world. Kingsolver explains how she loves to just be alone in nature and be able to look out for miles and see nothing but untouched earth. It is also clear that the log cabin is very secluded. “On a given day I may walk the half mile down our hollow to the mailbox, hail our neighbors, and exchange a farmer’s evaluation of the weather (terrible; it truly is always either too wet or too dry in these marginal tobacco bottoms). I’ll hear news of a house mysteriously put up for sale, a dog on the loose, or a memorable yard sale” (Kingsolver). It is so secluded that she has to walk very far to even see a person and she never knows about anything going on until she goes and talks to people. I agree with Kingsolver that we need “wildness” because it is a part of the planet that we live on. Whatever is not a part of nature is man-made and has been created as people evolve and develop. Nature allows us to have a better understanding of many different things and it also gives us access to resources. Even if you live in the city you can still form a connection with nature. There is nature all around and your appreciation for it depends on how much you allow yourself to connect with it.

If this is not painting is not considered a landscape, my landscape would have a lot of woods and a few houses. Williams explains that there always needs to be a balance between nature and a community. We must feel connected with nature but our “homework” that he talks about is when we need to transition later on and be connected with society. Nature and society both need to be a part of life and Williams defines this as “bedrock democracy.” Hooks piece explained the connection that black people have with land. She explains that goes back to ancestors. History and the events that have occurred over time like sharecropping for example. She explains her childhood and the impact her grandfather had on her because he was a farmer. Having a sense of the beauty of nature helps you to appreciate it more. People can get caught up with their lives, especially today with all the technology and hardly ever give nature a thought. Part of the appreciation comes from what your parents and grandparents have showed you. The house I live in now is the house I have always lived in and when I was younger my parents would make me go outside every day. I would explore the woods behind my house and always get excited when I would find something that was unfamiliar to me. Even if I was just playing with toys outside it still allows you to feel more connected with nature.

I found an article titled “How Modern Life Became Disconnected from Nature.” This caught my attention because it is obvious that society continues to grow further and further away from nature. This is based on a choice and there are people who connect with nature but there are more who do not. Kesebir and Kesebir start by explaining that there have been studies to prove that nature can keep us healthier. However, the question I wanted to know is why we are disconnected with nature. The authors performed a whole study on this and found that there are many different causes to this. However, the two most prominent ones are urbanization and technology development. People are becoming more dependent on man-made products but there are a lot of natural things in nature that can help us just as well (Kesebir).

Kesebir, Selin, et al. “How Modern Life Became Disconnected from Nature.” Greater Good

 

 

Environmental degradation is this idea that the planet is breaking down due common practices of humans. Anything that humans do that hurts the environment in some way is a type of environmental degradation. Women in the Global South are suffering the consequences of environmental degradation from the poor water supply. The water is not clean, and they do not have easy access to water. Women rely on water for basic hygiene, but in this part of the world the women are the ones who are expected to go out and get water for their families. It is very different from how it is here because there are no pipes running through their house and they do not have the ability to turn on the faucet and have clean water in seconds. Everyone relies on water for hygiene, but women need it for more specific reasons and in the Global South they do not even have a private place to wash up and take care or other personal needs. Based on the interview with Vandana Shiva, she believes that society and the environment are closely linked. People normally care more about their rights and their lives then they do about environmental degradation. However, Shiva is trying to explain that it is also directly affecting us.

There are quite a few similarities to the views that Hobgood-Oster have and the views that Agarwal have. Agarwal talks how women and nature are viewed as equal and they are below men. Men have been thought to have more power over nature, but also women. Hobgood also mentions this by explaining the typical social hierarchy and because men have this idea that they are above women it also puts them above nature. However, Hobgood explains his views by taking a more philosophical approach and it is not as apparent with the views that Agarwal has. Warren focused a lot on making connections between different ideas. The different connections helped to understand the different approaches that can be taken and the different ecofeminist views. Agarwal mentions environmental degradation and the effect that has on everyone. She even draws in some points that Shiva talked about and compares her views. She also explains the different factors that play into this environmental crisis that can be eye-opening. Population growth for example has become a major problem. The human population is growing the fastest while other species are becoming endangered or extinct. Environmental degradation is hurting all the species in some way.

I found Agarwal’s perspective more interesting. Environmental degradation has always been something I have been curious about. There are so many things that can factor into it and everything humans do, especially humans in first world countries contributes to environmental degradation. Like Vandana Shiva said the people in the third world countries are suffering the most, however it is the people in the first world countries who are causing most of these problems.