Chicks, Pussies, and Bitches

 When did it become socially acceptable to refer to women as animalistic? When did female dogs begin to describe mean girls? What made chicks suddenly refer to 'hot babes'? When did bunnies lose their innocence to Playboy? When did a kitten turn into a part of the female anatomy? It appears that women and animals are inextricably linked, so it only makes sense that women are more involved in animal liberation. We have explored many different kinds of oppression, between species, amongst species, and such, but we have not explored the gender difference as much. Luke, in Gender and the Exploitation of Animals, explores this comparison more thoroughly. The oppressed have a tendency to stick together and help each other out of sympathy or "the natural empathetic barrier between species (Luke, 181)." Women, being the more innately caring half of the male-female dichotomy, are more likely to sympathize as are their matriarchal tendency. Historically, women are the ones mainly helping other groups who are oppressed participating in many different liberation movements.

 

The sympathetic connection between species can also be viewed as "the crossing of borders between [human] and animal (Derrida, 209)." Women are exploited just as animals are; often objectified for their sexuality. There is a negative correlation between boys who abuse their animals turning into men abusing their spouses. Many ad campaigns, like PETA's, use women as an animal representative, as a fellow earthling, illustrating a hope to end exploitation of animals. Women are characteristically, and realistically often more caring to animals and more devoted to their cause...so then why is a dog still known as a "man's best friend?"