Viewpoints / Women & Vegetarianism

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Women, Vegetarianism, and Animal Research

With Thanksgiving day near and people looking forward to eating turkey, we looked at women's relationship with animals. We considered the growing trend of vegetarianism among women, and then looked at a new study by Americans for Medical Progress showing a majority of women support using animals in medical research. Here are some responses we got...

• "While I support all social justice issues, I focus my attention on animal rights because the sheer magnitude of animal suffering dwarfs all other forms of suffering. Our society is built upon the abuse of animals...All that animal rights activists ask is that you widen your range of compassion to include animals. To exclude them is completely arbitrary, just as excluding women, children, and minorities from protection and legal rights was arbitrary."
  Susan Gordon, New Jersey
• "Julianne Malveaux's attempt to educate [the panel] about the insanity of the animal rights movement was brilliant. I know of no one who could state the case so clearly. Even this old honky can see that the urban-centered movement is an insult to those who deal with real human problems like racism."
  November 23, 1998

• "Insensitivity to the suffering of sentient creatures is indeed, speciesism. Compassion must extend to all beings. I am a black woman who does, indeed, acknowledge the comparison between both the inhumane treatment of my ancestors and the insensitivity toward the suffering of animals...Creatures of the earth are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, nor to be used for entertainment. If Martin Luther King were here today, I believe he would join the struggle for the alleviation of suffering of all animals."
  Anita Mackey

• "On your recent show there was no one present who believed in vegetarianism. You had people professing views saying we should test more on animals, but no one saying why we shouldn't. How about the moral issue that they test makeup on rabbits' eyes because they don't have tearducts to wash it away...We are animals. We may be the most "intelligent" animals but doesn't that mean we should be watchers/protectors for the world?"
  Almeda, California

• "Vegetarianism and vivisection are two issues that are linked inextricably to feminism and women's health issues. The panel on this week's show seemed to miss this. The American meat-based diet is inherently violent, and based on the exploitation of those who are weaker than us...A meat-based diet harms the environment by wasting and polluting water, deforestation, and loss of topsoil...A meat-based diet is unhealthy, causing cancer, diabetes, and heart disease."
  New Jersey