Breaking hierarchies and caring across species

A plea for anti-speciesist feminism

Creation 1931 by Diego Rivera via Picryl

What is the link between feminism and animalism? Recent feminist movements draw on animal advocacy and non-Western knowledge systems that critique the exploitation of both humans and animals. This new wave of feminism argues that caring for other species is also a way of caring for ourselves.

Late last year, I walked into Professor Leticia Flores Farfán’s talk, not knowing what to expect from the meeting between animalism and feminism.

A philosopher by training, Farfán is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and director of Gender Studies at the same institution, publishing extensively on distinctions between humans and animals in early modern philosophy. As she shared her background and discussed her inspiring insights, I kept asking myself: what first inspired this interest in connecting feminism and animalism? And, more importantly, how do women’s rights relate to animal rights?

Animalism is a philosophical and political movement that stands for the consideration that people “are identical to, are one and the same things as, an animal of a certain kind” (Blatti & F. Snowdon, 2016, p. 2). This stance questions the human superiority over living things, viewing animals as such and not as objects to use and exploit to our advantage.

In line with my own interests, I considered how these connections could prove beneficial to the feminist movement, especially in the so-called “Global South”. This led me to ask whether reclaiming other oppressed spaces could represent a turning point for feminism.

In the midst of my curiosity over this subject, I came across an article where animalism was linked to racism. The article discussed a scene in Toni Morisson’s “Beloved”, where a teacher instructed a child to put their human characteristics to the left and their animal characteristics to the right (McRae, 2022). This brings to light how mechanisms of oppression have equated Black people with animals in an attempt to strip away their humanity. However, what I found particularly interesting was the article’s observation that most “Black writing” and its field does not seek the expected separation from animals. In this sense, race studies found some solace in joining with animal studies.

Indigenous modes of knowing
Now, this leaves us asking: why do non-white acts of resistance embrace a connection with animals as a form of humanism? To think through this, I returned to Farfán’s lecture, which was grounded in the Mexican context. Mexico is rich in Indigenous culture and thoughts of knowing, which often embraces a sense of belonging, of being connected to the Earth, humans and animals. The West has imposed ways of knowing rooted in control and domination. As a result, systems of oppression have become deeply intertwined and difficult to both address single-handedly and to detangle. This, in turn, highlights the potential non-Western thoughts of knowledge have, shifting from a Western hierarchical and individualistic nature to a pluriversal and collective one.

For instance, in Mayan culture, there is a sacred foundational text called “Popol Vuh”. Animals can be found everywhere in this text, where they can “leap and lick and crawl and squawk and hoot and screech and howl” (Sequeira, 2021). In Mayan culture and in “Popol Vuh”, animals are sacred but not in the sense of disembodying them or finding them in distant realms - but in the coexistence with humans in our day-to-day lives and environments.

It is exactly this relationality which needs to be engaged with, to make the world a more welcoming, fair and positive place for all. Indigenous thoughts of knowledge are based within the idea that how we exist in this world or how we come into being is a communal experience where every human or even non-human actor plays a role in. Western way of thinking, on the other hand, organises life through rigid hierarchies, framing the world through different unequal categories.

Anti-speciesist feminism
Consequently, today’s feminists have turned towards making these types of connections in an attempt to build and create new ties between oppressed groups. Doing this will bridge connections instead of highlighting the same divisions which colonial and Western systems have exploited and deepened. This, in turn, has the potential to create a path towards detangling the interconnected oppressions of the world.

In this particular case, at the meeting of animalism and feminism, we arrive at anti-speciesist feminism. This feminism considers animals as oppressed political subjects and argues that discrimination based on your species is similar to gender-based discrimination (Guzmán, 2023). In short, anti-speciesist feminism foregrounds the idea that species or gender should not determine how a being is treated.

Professor Farfán’s talk urged the incorporation of anti-speciesist feminism, Indigenous modes of knowledge into Western systems as an all-encompassing approach for inclusion and uplifting of communities. It is through a combined approach of political and social action and critical interrogation that we can see common ground between oppressed groups. The hope is to extend this approach to broader leftist struggles, offering a way to recenter solidarity and relationality rather than exacerbating social divisiveness. I commend this anti-speciesist feminist movement as they show how, through caring for others, we care for ourselves too.

Thus, animalism is not a separate issue from feminism but should be part of the feminist movement, given as they emerge from the same logics of oppression. Feminist theory is evolving, including “more-than-human lives”, to challenge patriarchal, colonial and capitalist systems which are responsible for how we relate to animals, humans, the Earth and our urban environment. For this reason, I believe that animalism is fundamental to a feminist revolution and to achieving meaningful social progress.

Bibliography
Blatti, Stephan, and Paul F. Snowdon (2016), “Introduction.” In: Animalism: New Essays on Persons, Animals, and Identity, edited by Stephan Blatti and Paul F. Snowdon. Oxford Academic

Guzmán, Jacqueline (2023), “Dismantling Oppressions: An Anti-Speciesist and Feminist Approach - GenV.” GenV. March 7, 2023, https://genv.org/dismantling-oppressions-an-anti-speciesist-and-feminist-approach/

McRae, Calista (2022), “‘The Great Chain of Being Come Undone’ Linking Blackness and Animal Studies.” Environmental Humanities 14 (1). https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1215/22011919-9481517

Sequeira, Jessica (2021), “Belonging among the Beasts and the Gods in Mayan Cosmology | Aeon Essays.” Aeon. September 21, 2021. https://aeon.co/essays/belonging-among-the-beasts-and-the-gods-in-mayan-cosmology

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