Speciesism is defined as discrimination in favour of one species, usually the human species, over another, especially in the exploitation or mistreatment of animals by humans. As I’ve discussed in previous posts, my hope is that one day speciesism will be recognised as a form of discrimination, similar to sexism and racism. We seem to have a similar approach to our treatment of animals as we did to our treatment of women 200 years ago and black slaves 300 years ago. The majority of people fail to realise that we do not have the right to mistreat, exploit, captivate, torture, rape and slaughter innocent beings for the simple fact that those beings were not born into the same class (in this case species) as we were.

I’m always puzzled when I see feminists speak passionately about how females aren’t treated as equal to males in todays society, but then will financially support and contribute to the dairy industry and the egg industry. Both, of which are based on the exploitation of female reproductive systems.

Cows raised for milk production are repeatedly impregnated in order for the cows’ body to produce milk (and the next generation). Naturally, a cow can live up to 25 years, but as a result of their continuous exploitation of their bodies, they become ‘worn down’ by the age of 5 – 7 years. It is at this point of their life (a third of their natural lifetime) that they are sent to slaughter. They’re ‘destined’ for this, simply because they are female.

The egg industry is no better than the dairy industry. An egg, of course, is simply the unfertilised egg of a chicken. In the same way that female humans release the lining of the uterus on a monthly basis, chickens release eggs. And we’ve decided to eat them. Naturally, a chicken should lay between 15 – 20 eggs per year. However, through genetic manipulation and intensive breeding, chickens are being forced to lay between 250 – 300 eggs per year, putting extreme stress on their bodies. Again, this is forced upon them simply because they are female.

It makes no sense to me why animals are excluded from the ‘feminist movement’. They can experience loneliness, suffering and pain just as we can. The difference is that they don’t look the same as we do, they have different bodies and they communicate in ways that we don’t understand. As a result, we distance ourselves from them and disconnect from the fact that they are beings too.

If you want to learn more about the meat, dairy and egg industry, I’d recommend reading the related posts below or visiting sites, such as:

Learn More About The Meat, Dairy and Egg Industry On The Vegan Lily:

I’m going to leave you with a video below of a boy explaining why he believes you can’t be a feminist whilst not being vegan.

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-The Vegan Lily