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kserra 's review for:
The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory
by Carol J. Adams
This book raised a lot of interesting ideas, but ultimately, the lack of structure and heavy focus on literary criticism detracted from its fundamental premise that feminists should want to be vegan.
First, Adams argues that discourse about meat is gendered. Definitely true, no questions here. However, the fact that meat-eating is gendered by Western societies does not fundamentally resolve the question of whether to eat meat or not.
Second, Adams argues that feminism and vegetarianism are intertwined, both for historical reasons and because discourse about women and animal meat share key elements, like the "absent referent." There's a few brilliant sections - the part about being a vegetarian at the table is very good. However, the parts that are most focused on why people shouldn't eat animal products often state essentialist, binary, untrue propositions uncritically. (Lots of "man the hunter, woman the gatherer.")
What I found most frustrating about the substance of the book was that Adams doesn't do an amazing job of making her core argument for veganism clear, and that she doesn't address how this fits into broader feminist or ethical thinking. Also, no one cares about Frankenstein.
First, Adams argues that discourse about meat is gendered. Definitely true, no questions here. However, the fact that meat-eating is gendered by Western societies does not fundamentally resolve the question of whether to eat meat or not.
Second, Adams argues that feminism and vegetarianism are intertwined, both for historical reasons and because discourse about women and animal meat share key elements, like the "absent referent." There's a few brilliant sections - the part about being a vegetarian at the table is very good. However, the parts that are most focused on why people shouldn't eat animal products often state essentialist, binary, untrue propositions uncritically. (Lots of "man the hunter, woman the gatherer.")
What I found most frustrating about the substance of the book was that Adams doesn't do an amazing job of making her core argument for veganism clear, and that she doesn't address how this fits into broader feminist or ethical thinking. Also, no one cares about Frankenstein.