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the_bookish_scorpio's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
georgina12345's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this. As a vegan feminist I was hoping for convincing arguments, but beyond the first few chapters she really seemed to be stretching the metaphors. The passages on female literature were unenlightening and just felt like a retelling of existing stories that she hoped fit her metaphor.
An interesting concept but the book could have been better.
An interesting concept but the book could have been better.
tomstbr's review against another edition
4.0
This updated version has lots of meat to it. There are great updates, aprticuarly the afterword that gives modern examples of the topic of the book. That topic, the link between meat consumption and misogyny, is constantly highlighted. The first half links feminism and vegetarianism as one philosophy, essentially saying you can't be one without being the other. It does this via actual consumption and cultural messages. The second half focuses on textual readings that explore vegetarianism/feminism. A convincing book that is well supported. Entertaining stuff.
11corvus11's review
4.0
Second review 15(?) Years later: My second pass of this shows me that some if it is a bit dated. Reading it as though you're reading a book written decades ago makes sense. But, I do wish there were more updates and tweaks from the initial version aside from new introductions. I adore Adams both as a human and activist/writer. I know this is her most popular, but I actually think "Neither man nor Beast" is better. I've seen her SPOM presentation multiple times though and that's definitely evolved with the times. Looking forward to seeing the discussion around this in VINE book club which yall should join if you're interested in zooming with some social justice minded feminist animal lib collective liberation proponents!
First review: This book is one of my top 5 in both the topics of feminism and animal lib. Adams accessibly and eloquently explains the connections and intersections between the experiences of women and nonhuman animals and how important these struggles are to focus on in tandem.
First review: This book is one of my top 5 in both the topics of feminism and animal lib. Adams accessibly and eloquently explains the connections and intersections between the experiences of women and nonhuman animals and how important these struggles are to focus on in tandem.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
4.0
Es fällt mir schwer, viel über das Buch zu sagen, weil das Thema so komplex ist und das Buch so viel Input gibt, den ich nicht kurz und knapp anzureißen vermag. Im Großen und Ganzen geht es darum, dass die Unterdrückung von Frauen und Tieren miteinander verknüpft ist (oder oft miteinander verknüpft wird, z.B. wenn Burger/Hot Dogs/Fleisch mit weiblichen Körperteilen beworben werden) und dass es deshalb auch eine viel größere Verkettung zwischen Feminismus und Vegetarismus (bzw. eigentlich Veganismus) geben sollte. Das Buch belegt seine Aussagen stets mit zahlreichen Quellen und hat einen hohen akademischen Anspruch, lässt sich aber dennoch größtenteils flüssig lesen. Mich haben vor allem die Kapitel angesprochen, in denen es um Vegetarismus in (feministischer) Literatur geht. Mir war z.B. gar nicht bewusst, dass Frankensteins Monster sich vegetarisch ernährt und ich habe jetzt noch größere Lust bekommen, Atwoods [b:The Edible Woman|133445|The Edible Woman|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320439047s/133445.jpg|1007843] und [b:Surfacing|46755|Surfacing|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924306s/46755.jpg|924766] zu lesen. Das 2015 hinzugefügte Nachwort zeigt auf, dass das Thema nach wie vor aktuell ist (das Buch erschien erstmals 1990) und hat mich mit seinen Beschreibungen von Tierquälerei zu Tränen gerührt.
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
There has never been a book that has captivated me so much in terms of both vegetarian and feminist theory. Finally, someone gets it, they really really get it. She understands the exploitation of female bodies, she understands the fact that we are supposed to be silent and complicit in our own oppression, she understands that our culture and media and institutions want meat to be on our plates, want women to be submissive, want the total domination of those supposedly weaker and lesser.
Through anecdotes, studies, and analyses of billboards and commercials, Carol J. Adams takes no prisoners with her analysis. Perhaps my favorite quotation from the book is this: "Vegetarianism announces that it will destroy the pleasure of meals as they are now experienced. Thus it is a given that vegetarians will be unable to determine the shape of the discourse when eating with meat eaters. But, it is inevitable that vegetarians will eat with meat eaters; and it is also inevitable that the absence of meat on their table will touch off a discussion. In this situation, the issue of vegetarianism is a form of meat to meat eaters: it is something to be trapped and dismembered." HOT DAMN. How was it that she was able to describe every single meal I've had with my family ever?
I remember when I first announced that I was going vegan. "Why? What compelled you? That'll last a week. We'll just slip eggs into whatever you're eating." Thanks, guys. And now that it's been five years, the conversation still remains. Family members won't even try the most non-vegan approved foods like the Impossible Burger, a tofu scramble, mac and cheese, or even Earth Balance butter. I thought it'd be obvious that we wouldn't be eating these things if they were actually disgusting...but go off, I guess. Every new person I meet asks, "Oh, why did you decide to go vegan?" And I ask them, "Do you want the real answer, or the nice answer?" The nice answer consists of me explaining that I learned some very unpleasant things and thusly changed my dietary habits. The real answer consists of me telling them about how unjust it is that baby chicks who are expected to grow into egg-laying hens are sexed on day 2 of their lives, and the males are either gassed, crushed, or thrown out like garbage. Not exactly a fun conversation starter... Just as Carol J. Adams wrote decades ago, my lack of meat was the meat.
And, just as she wrote, it held true and still holds true that women's bodies are the meat. Are men boobs or ass men? Maybe thighs? Our bodies are symbolically ripped apart to be digested by the patriarchal institutions that run not only our lives but the food we eat.
Is Carol J. Adams the Andrea Dworkin of vegetarian critical theory? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.
Review cross-listed here!
Through anecdotes, studies, and analyses of billboards and commercials, Carol J. Adams takes no prisoners with her analysis. Perhaps my favorite quotation from the book is this: "Vegetarianism announces that it will destroy the pleasure of meals as they are now experienced. Thus it is a given that vegetarians will be unable to determine the shape of the discourse when eating with meat eaters. But, it is inevitable that vegetarians will eat with meat eaters; and it is also inevitable that the absence of meat on their table will touch off a discussion. In this situation, the issue of vegetarianism is a form of meat to meat eaters: it is something to be trapped and dismembered." HOT DAMN. How was it that she was able to describe every single meal I've had with my family ever?
I remember when I first announced that I was going vegan. "Why? What compelled you? That'll last a week. We'll just slip eggs into whatever you're eating." Thanks, guys. And now that it's been five years, the conversation still remains. Family members won't even try the most non-vegan approved foods like the Impossible Burger, a tofu scramble, mac and cheese, or even Earth Balance butter. I thought it'd be obvious that we wouldn't be eating these things if they were actually disgusting...but go off, I guess. Every new person I meet asks, "Oh, why did you decide to go vegan?" And I ask them, "Do you want the real answer, or the nice answer?" The nice answer consists of me explaining that I learned some very unpleasant things and thusly changed my dietary habits. The real answer consists of me telling them about how unjust it is that baby chicks who are expected to grow into egg-laying hens are sexed on day 2 of their lives, and the males are either gassed, crushed, or thrown out like garbage. Not exactly a fun conversation starter... Just as Carol J. Adams wrote decades ago, my lack of meat was the meat.
And, just as she wrote, it held true and still holds true that women's bodies are the meat. Are men boobs or ass men? Maybe thighs? Our bodies are symbolically ripped apart to be digested by the patriarchal institutions that run not only our lives but the food we eat.
Is Carol J. Adams the Andrea Dworkin of vegetarian critical theory? Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.
Review cross-listed here!
stevenyenzer's review
2.0
Adams had me at "feminist-vegetarian" and lost me in subsequent chapters. I love the central idea, but the arguments seemed weak and evidence cherry-picked. I also thought the language was very dense, although that's probably due mostly to my own lack of experience with this type of writing.