Women and the Animal Rights Movement

by Emily Gaarder

Overview

Animal rights is one of the fastest growing social movements today. Women greatly outnumber men as activists, yet surprisingly, little has been written about the importance and impact of gender on the movement. Women and the Animal Rights Movement combats stereotypes of women activists as mere sentimentalists by exploring the political and moral character of their advocacy on behalf of animals.

Emily Gaarder analyzes the politics of gender in the movement, incorporating in-depth interviews with women and participant observation of animal rights organizations, conferences, and protests to describe struggles over divisions of labor and leadership. Controversies over PETA advertising campaigns that rely on women's sexuality to "sell" animal rights illustrate how female crusaders are asked to prioritize the cause of animals above all else. Gaarder underscores the importance of a paradigm shift in the animal liberation movement, one that seeks a more integrated vision of animal rights that connects universally to other issues—gender, race, economics, and the environment—highlighting that many women activists recognize and are motivated by the connection between the oppression of animals and other social injustices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813549682
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	03/19/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Emily Gaarder is an assistant professor in the sociology/anthropology department at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Connecting Inequalities 1

2 The Road to Animal Activism 19

3 Where the Boys Aren't: The Predominance of Women in Animal Rights Activism 41

4 Risk and Reward: The Impact of Activism on Women's Lives 61

5 Gender Divisions in Labor, Leadership, and Legitimacy 87

6 "The Animals Come First": Using Sex(ism) to Sell Animal Rights 117

7 Connections, Contexts, and Conclusions 148

Sketch of the Women Activists Interviewed 157

Notes 161

Bibliography 167

Index 177

Editorial Reviews

"Gaarder undertakes the important project of historicizing the role of women in animal rights through narratives drawn from in-depth interviews and participant observation. Women and the Animal Rights Movement adds texture to the history of women in the animal advocacy movement."

Feminist Formations

"Based on indepth interviews with women animal rights activists, this eye-opening study provides a valuable grassroots portrait of the movement, showing how it affected the women and how women have shaped it."

The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics and Animals and Women - Josephine Donovan

"Based on indepth interviews with women animal rights activists, this eye-opening study provides a valuable grassroots portrait of the movement, showing how it affected the women and how women have shaped it."

--Josephine Donovan "The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics and Animals and Women" (1/1/2099 12:00:00 AM)

"Emily Gaarder offers a careful analysis of not only the preponderance of women in the animal rights movement, but also how gender has shaped social movements, more broadly."

--Leslie Irvine "author of If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connections with Animals" (1/1/2099 12:00:00 AM)

"Animal advocacy has always been a social movement powered by women--but it has not always been feminist. Gaarder's work uncovers the gendered politics of animal activism, advancing current discussions in Animal Studies and Gender Studies alike." --Greta Gaard "author of Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens" (1/1/2099 12:00:00 AM)

"At the heart of Gaarder's critique is a dual commitment to feminist care theory and to the idea of interlocking oppressions wrought by the long arms of sexism and male dominance. Gaarder give us rich starting points for such crossgenerational feminist conversation."
-- "Signs" (7/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Gaarder undertakes the important project of historicizing the role of women in animal rights through narratives drawn from in-depth interviews and participant observation. Women and the Animal Rights Movement adds texture to the history of women in the animal advocacy movement."
-- "Feminist Formations" (12/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

"Based on indepth interviews with women animal rights activists, this eye-opening study provides a valuable grassroots portrait of the movement, showing how it affected the women and how women have shaped it."

— Josephine Donovan

The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics and Animals and Women

"Emily Gaarder offers a careful analysis of not only the preponderance of women in the animal rights movement, but also how gender has shaped social movements, more broadly."

author of If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connections with Animals - Leslie Irvine

"Animal advocacy has always been a social movement powered by women—but it has not always been feminist. Gaarder's work uncovers the gendered politics of animal activism, advancing current discussions in Animal Studies and Gender Studies alike."

author of Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens - Greta Gaard

"At the heart of Gaarder’s critique is a dual commitment to feminist care theory and to the idea of interlocking oppressions wrought by the long arms of sexism and male dominance. Gaarder give us rich starting points for such crossgenerational feminist conversation."

Signs