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lottiegasp's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Great book on the common structures that lead to both animal exploitation and ableism, and how to avoid ableism in animal liberation thinking and vice versa
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Animal cruelty
the_vegan_bookworm's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book is a must-read for any animal advocate, vegan or anyone who is interested in animal issues.
Taylor makes thoughtful, insightful arguments about the interconnectedness of speciesism and ableism, as well as challenging a lot of conventionally held beliefs in the animal liberation movement. Though Taylor can't provide answers for all of the difficult questions raised by the deep-rooted and systemic ableism and speciesism in our society, she offers lots to think about on these subjects and considerations to balance as we strive towards solutions.
I am really looking forward to re-reading this book in the future, so I can further absorb Taylor's reflections as both an animal advocate and a person with a disability.
Taylor makes thoughtful, insightful arguments about the interconnectedness of speciesism and ableism, as well as challenging a lot of conventionally held beliefs in the animal liberation movement. Though Taylor can't provide answers for all of the difficult questions raised by the deep-rooted and systemic ableism and speciesism in our society, she offers lots to think about on these subjects and considerations to balance as we strive towards solutions.
I am really looking forward to re-reading this book in the future, so I can further absorb Taylor's reflections as both an animal advocate and a person with a disability.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Ableism, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
mattp's review
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Interesting analysis of ableism and speciesism but the author shirks away from answering certain difficult questions. She left me somewhat unsatisfied with the conclusions she draws as a result of this
gabojaiko's review
3.0
IMO, If this book had been just the first 3 parts it would have deserved 5 stars. These sections contribute to a single, compelling argument; about the historical and present practices and attitudes that tie together the linguistic and actual treatment of animals and disabled people. These 3 sections balance historical evidence/ anecdotes, and Her personal anecdotes, and contribute to a new (to me) perspective that asks the reader to rethink how and why we value certain abilities, and how we practice valuing those abilities. I found sections 4 and 5 to have veered off into a different argument, that was related to the first, but wasn't as interesting (for me), and wasn't as well argued. sections 4 and 5 were more an exploration of tangents that were related to the argument she made over the first 3 sections. This book is provocative and accessible, and I think could/should be used in undergrad classrooms, as a good way to introduce students to thinking about disability/disability studies. (which should be included as an aspect over more classes that it is...).
cgbr's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Ableism
zombiezami's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
This is a beautiful and powerful book. I enjoyed it very deeply. It expanded my knowledge and curiosity. I thought that the author balanced personal experience with academic research very well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer and Bullying
Fainting, Slaughterhouseselisability's review
4.0
Sunaura Taylor is an American painter, writer and activist, both in the fields of disability and of animal rights. She was born with arthrogryposis, a disability that affects her articulations (and doesn’t keep her from being a painter, writer and activist, quite the contrary!)
In this book, she shows us readers the parallels between speciesism and ableism, the similarities to be found between humans who consider animals to be worthless and able-bodied people who consider disabled people the same way. She argues that the two movements, animal liberation and disability rights, are intrinsically connected and have to move forward together. One cannot ignore the other to make its own advances, and vice versa.
While I am also an animal lover (to a lesser extent than her though—for one thing, I’m not a vegan) as well as disabled, I was not entirely sold on the idea that the two movements are, in the way she describes it, one and the same. However, I did enjoy the book (although it was difficult to read at times, as someone who does not enjoy seeing or reading about animal suffering) and learned many interesting things. Would I recommend it to others? If you’re interested in the topics, go ahead, but I won’t say it’s an essential read.
For more discussion, follow this link to my blog.
In this book, she shows us readers the parallels between speciesism and ableism, the similarities to be found between humans who consider animals to be worthless and able-bodied people who consider disabled people the same way. She argues that the two movements, animal liberation and disability rights, are intrinsically connected and have to move forward together. One cannot ignore the other to make its own advances, and vice versa.
While I am also an animal lover (to a lesser extent than her though—for one thing, I’m not a vegan) as well as disabled, I was not entirely sold on the idea that the two movements are, in the way she describes it, one and the same. However, I did enjoy the book (although it was difficult to read at times, as someone who does not enjoy seeing or reading about animal suffering) and learned many interesting things. Would I recommend it to others? If you’re interested in the topics, go ahead, but I won’t say it’s an essential read.
For more discussion, follow this link to my blog.