Carol J. Adams is the author most recently of Burger and Protest Kitchen, and a self-described “feminist-vegan.”
Our conversation was eye-opening to me in many ways.
I noticed my language in ways I hadn't before. I saw for the first time a chunk of cultural programming that was determining a lot of my attitudes and actions.
And I watched myself tread lightly – and I suspect clumsily – for fear of offending Adams and listeners to the podcast.
Interesting…
Adams' best-known work, The Sexual Politics of Meat, was first published in 1990. In it, she argued that exploiting animals – including eating them – went hand in hand with patriarchal exploitation and disempowerment and abuse of women.
In the #metoo era, in the #whyididntreport era, in the “Grab them by the…” era, Adams' voice is provocative, challenging, and and important.
As someone who encourages people to eat plant-based, as opposed to vegan, I found her moral clarity particularly challenging as I wrestle with means and ends, progress vs absolutism.
I hope my own issues don't get in the way of Adams' message, and that you find value and wisdom and a prophetic passion in her words.
We covered:
- animals as “absent referents” – applying literary theory to politics
- animals as metaphors for feminine victimization (“I felt like a piece of meat”)
- connections between patriarchal attitudes, sexual violence, and meat eating
- famous vegetarian feminists
- ads for meat reinforcing a culture of sexual assault
- the “sexy animals” trope in fast food advertising
- who are you eating? a burger or a woman? (Hardees, Carl's Junior)
- men need to “reup their man card at every meal”
- masculinity defined as being violent
- ethics eclipsed by pleasure (“I can't give up my hamburger”)
- pleasure becomes a response enabled by a privilege
- the “talk radio eye roll”
- why “dominion over the animals” doesn't mean keeping them in a cage
- historians see the hamburger as the greatest thing ever
- the hamburger as another failed modernist solution (like apartment buildings)
- the importance of redefining pleasure
- not changing is harder than changing
- “Why Look at Animals” – John Berger
- “Why Look at Women” – Suzanne Kappler
- misogyny is undergirded by animal agriculture
- from “the animal that…” to “the animal who…”
- the slippery deniability of symbolism
- and much more…
Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.
Links
How Meat and Milk Uphold Misogyny
Sexual Politics of Meat Examples
From the Ground Up documentary website
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– Kim Harrison
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Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
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Wow! What a beautiful conversation! I have spent enough time with western philosophy and critical theory to already appreciate Carol Adam’s kind of analysis, but I didn’t expect to feel so moved by what she had to say and how gracious she was in sharing her insights into our culture’s blind spots around food. Her work seems like something I didn’t realize I had been craving intellectually until I heard her speak about it. I tend to be very pragmatic in my thinking about topics like WFPB diets and human well-being, but I still do have a love for thinking through our thinking behind these things. Like I think I heard you say, it feels a bit too awkward or confrontational to start a conversation about eating plants with something like ‘the unexamined assumptions behind your thinking about what to eat are fundamentally flawed’ – even though that might be 100% correct. I’m going to start with Protest Kitchen and see if I can understand how she takes her readers through that process of thinking that through.
And thanks for being willing to have a guest who may have been a little outside of your wheelhouse! I both identified with some of your uncertainty and respected the way you handled your intellectual vulnerability during the conversation.