Animals and Women Feminist The

by Carol J Adams

  30. It should be noted that Snyder ’ s exchange is predicated on holist principles. The animal "gives" her or his individual life in exchange for the fertility of the herd .

  31. Significantly, the celebration of killing and eating as an act of "love" is always at the animal ’ s expense. A truly "equal exchange" would require "ecstatic celebration" wherein hunters are killed and eaten as well.

  32. Jane Flax has referred to the feminist interest in the unconscious motivations and drives that underlie abstract theories and ideas as the "return of the repressed" (see "The Patriarchal Unconscious," 249).

  33. My use of object relations theory is not intended to imply an unqualified acceptance of this theory. Object relations theory has been aptly criticized on a number of accounts, foremost among which are its presumption of cross-cultural validity; its focus on the heterosexual, nuclear family; its failure to identify the material and structural roots of male domination; its mono-causal analysis of women ’ s subordinate status; and its simplistic (and problematic) "solution" for ending male domination by introducing male parenting into the nuclear family. While recognizing these cogent criticisms, I still believe that aspects of object relations theory can be useful for shedding light on the formation of masculine self-identity as it is conceived in opposition to not only the mother figure, but to all of the female (and natural) world. Object relations theory need not imply that this oppositional consciousness is learned exclusively in a heterosexual, nuclear family setting. Certainly, schools, the media, and other aspects of cultural conditioning exert an equally important influence. On object relations theory, see Nancy Chodorow, and Dorothy Dinnerstein. For feminist critiques of object relations theory, see Pauline Bart, "Review of Chodorow ’ s Reproduction of Mothering, " and Iris Young, "Is Male Gender Identity the Cause of Male Dominance?" in Trebilcot.

  34. It is interesting to note that the subject of initiation has been one of the recurring themes of the men ’ s movement. The lament has been the lack of appropriate male mentors in our culture who are capable of initiating men into masculine self-identity (see, for example, Sam Keen, and Robert Bly). In an excellent critique of the men ’ s movement, Jill Johnston (1992) points out that what is crucial to the boy child, according to the men ’ s movement, "is the boy ’ s separation from his mother, who has to stay at home and take care of the boy, for the appearance of a male mentor to be significant or necessary. If the mother doesn ’ t stay home, the boy will have no good emotional reason for being pried away. There would be no initiation story." Johnston goes on to conclude that "Male initiation always has to do with gender distinctions and the devaluation of women. If women were important, boys wouldn ’ t need to get away from them and mothers wouldn ’ t need to cling to their boys" (29).

  35. For a comparable analysis of the psychosexual roots of violence against women, see Hartsock.

  27. Unfortunately, the question of whether Native Americans exhibited exemplary ethical conduct toward nonhuman animals is usually conflated with the question of whether they had a conservation ethic. According to Tom Regan, although Native Americans generally had a conservation ethic, at least prior to white contact, this conservation ethic was, in all probability, instrumental in nature and did not include a respect for the animals ’ "inherent worth." In Regan ’ s opinion, their overall approach followed the precepts of a "shallow ecology," which sought to "conserve" nature for future (human) use (Environmental Ethics, 206 – 39). Baird Callicott also seeks to distinguish the instrumental notion of a "conservation ethic" from an "ecological consciousness," which accords a respect to all living beings. According to Callicott, the conservation ethic of Native Americans was primarily a by-product of an ecological consciousness which regarded all parts of the natural world as a single family or community (Traditional American Indian, 203 – 19). Other commentators, however, have argued that a number of Native American tribes killed animals indiscriminately, with little or no regard for the issue of "conservation" or for animal suffering. According to Calvin Martin, "the Indian was everywhere, except in the Rocky Mountain trade, the principal agent in the overkilling of furbearers" (2). And, according to Clifford Presnall, Indians engaged in "wasteful killing of buffalo, and to a lesser extent of antelope, deer, moose, and caribou, by driving them over precipices or into ponds" (458). One of the issues raised by both Regan and Callicott is the extent to which the hunting practices of Native Americans were governed by a "respect" for the inherent worth of animals, or rather by a sense of fear. The question centers around whether the "restraint" and propitiatory rites found in the hunting practices of Native Americans may have been due to fear of the "Animal Master" or the "Keeper of the Game," rather than to reverence for the animals themselves. In considering this question, it is worth noting that the prayers said by Native Americans were typically directed not to the slain animal, but rather to the Animal Master who controlled the hunt. For further challenges to the romantic contention that all tribal cultures treated animals with reverence and respect see Johnson and Earle, Hames, Carrier, Ornstein and Ehrlich, and Lewis. On Native Americans, in particular, see Dasmann, Moore, Rostlund, Martin, and Presnall.

  36. The "birth-giving" properties of hunting find a parallel in the literature that describes hunting as a generative force not only in individual self-development, but in the development of culture as a whole. Thus, a number of authors have argued that hunting provided the evolutionary impetus for the development of a wide range of cultural practices, including technology, language, song, art, dance — in short, everything that is typically thought to define us as human beings. Hunting, according to this hypothesis, is seen not only to initiate men into masculine self-identity, but to initiate humans into the realm of culture as well (see, for example, Washburn and Lancaster, Laughlin, Dart, Ardrey, and Tiger and Fox). The "man the hunter" hypothesis has been countered by a number of feminist writers, who have pointed to the pivotal importance of gathering in the development of the human species (see, for example, Dahlberg). For a historical analysis of the popularity of the "man the hunter" hypothesis, see Cartmill.

  16. For an in-depth examination of the critical role of hunters in the origins of the conservation movement, see John F. Reiger. Despite the fact that Reiger is intent on demonstrating the positive contribution made by hunters, his book is a good chronicle of their central role.

  17. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of chroniclers of Aldo Leopold ’ s life gloss over his repeated allusions to the pleasures to be found in the hunt. The discourse of the happy hunter has clearly become an embarrassment to many environmentalists who prefer the more dispassionate discourse of the holist hunter.

  18. It is frequently maintained that Leopold had a conversion experience, which significantly altered his attitude toward hunting. Although Leopold did, in fact, undergo a "conversion" after shooting a wolf, which significantly influenced his environmental philosophy, he never renounced his love of hunting. Up until this event, he had been an unadulterated happy hunter intent on killing as many predators as possible so as to multiply the number of deer that hunters could kill. After shooting the wolf, however, and arriving in time to "watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes," Leopold writes that he "sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view" (Thinking Like a Mountain, 138 – 39). Nonetheless, a careful reading of this passage demonstrates that Leopold did not believe any wrongdoing had been committed in killing the wolf. He had simply come to recognize the important ecological role played by predators and the need for hunters to demonstrate greater self control. Self-restraint is needed not to protect individual animals, but rather to ensure that only the right ones, in proper quantities, were killed.

  19. Leopold ’ s legacy of scientific management is, perhaps, not surprising in light of his dictum to " think like a mountain." Leopold does not ask us to feel what the inhabitants of the mountain might feel .

  20. For book-length refutations of the typical arguments made by modern hu
nters, see Amory, Baker, Cartmill, Livingston, and Regenstein. See also the Defenders of Animal Rights pamphlet The Case Against Hunting and the Fund for Animal Rights Fact Sheets on Hunting.

  21. For more on the confluence of the early conservation movement and the emerging field of scientific business management, see Hays.

  22. Callicott has subsequently softened his earlier position in an attempt to achieve a reconciliation between animal liberation and environmental ethics (see "Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics").

  23. The environmental movement and environmental philosophy ’ s condemnation of the animal liberation movement oscillates between neglect, dismissal, and vehement critique. For feminist critiques of the divisions between the philosophies of animal liberation and the environmental movement, see Marti Kheel, "The Liberation of Nature," and Josephine Donovan, "Animal Rights and Feminist Theory."

  24. Cruelty typically is defined by reference to the state of mind of the perpetrator of a particular act. If I accidentally harm someone, it is not considered an act of cruelty. On the other hand, if I intentionally inflict harm and derive pleasure from this act, I am considered cruel. Since clearly many hunters derive great pleasure from hunting, they have faced a delicate predicament. To defend themselves against the charge of cruelty, they must either downplay or deny the pleasure that they derive from hunting, or they must convince the public that conventional conceptions of cruelty do not apply to nonhumans. Hunters typically have employed both strategies.

  25. On the notion of "Self Realization" within deep ecology, see Devall and Sessions, Naess, and Fox.

  26. "Indian" and "Native American" are culturally constructed categories. Prior to the European invasion, the indigenous population of North America did not see itself as a unified "race," but rather as separate peoples, often in hostile relation to one another. Recognition of this fact is increasing among Anglo historians; see, for example, Richard White (1 – 54). I am indebted to Linda Vance for the above citation.

  37. Gilligan ’ s work has inspired a large body of writing, which both supports and critiques the notion of an ethic of care. Critics argue that the proponents of an ethic of care lack a power analysis. Caring practices, they argue, are both a product of socialization and a strategy for survival under oppression. To endorse an ethic of care is thus to ask women to reinforce their own institutionalized oppression. In addition, a number of lesbian philosophers have pointed out that caring conduct is not universally appropriate. A woman in an abusive relationship, for example, would be better served by severing her connection with her abuser than by extending him more compassion and care (Hoagland, Lesbian Ethics and "Some Concerns About"; and Card, "Caring and Evil"). Despite these cogent criticisms of an ethic of care, I nonetheless believe that it is possible to speak of "appropriate care." The question then becomes, when is caring conduct appropriate, and what constitutes appropriate care — or what prevents the development of appropriate care. On the subject of an ethic of care, see Noddings, Manning, Tronto, and Ruddick. For a series of critical essays, see the anthologies by Card ( Feminist Ethics ), Kittay and Meyers, and Larrabee.

  38. The connection between the act of attention and caring can be discerned in the use of the words "careless" and "careful." When we say that someone has acted "carelessly," we mean to say that they have failed to pay attention to a particular situation or thing; on the other hand, when we admonish someone to "be careful" we are, in effect, telling them to pay more attention to their surroundings. For other works on the topic of attention, see Weil, and Ruddick.

  39. Carol Adams refers to a similar eliding of responsibility or agency in what she refers to as the "aggressive" and "relational hunts." Adams ’ s "aggressive hunt" corresponds to what I have called the "happy hunt," whereas her "relational hunt" is analogous to my "holy hunt" (137 – 38).

  40. For a philosophical development of the argument that hunting is an instinctual activity, which is therefore beyond ethical reproach, see Causey. Significantly, Causey avoids any speculation as to whether hunting is "instinctual" only to men. For a critique of Causey ’ s argument, see Pluhar.

  41. According to Tronto, an important aspect of caring entails the recipient ’ s acknowledgment of the caring action. The problem in evaluating caring conduct toward animals, of course, is that we do not share the same language. Although we are often in positions where we have to use our imagination and empathy to infer what an animal ’ s needs might be, I suspect that, at least for "wild" animals, the most caring thing that we can do most often is to leave them alone.

  42. This is not to say that hunting and meat-eating are only matters of individual moral concern. Clearly, both activities have enormous repercussions for the environment as well (see, for example, Robbins, and Rifkin). The failure of the environmental movement to address the morality of these activities is all the more reprehensible in light of the far-reaching destructive impact of these activities. The mutual interest of the animal liberation and environmental movement in eliminating these activities could go a long way toward breaking down the divisions that currently plague these movements.

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