Feminist But Not Vegan? Rethinking Reproductive Justice
In a society that increasingly champions women's rights and bodily autonomy, it is time to extend that concern beyond our species. The dairy and egg industries are built entirely on the exploitation of the female reproductive system. Cows are forcibly impregnated, their babies stolen, and their milk taken for human consumption. Chickens are selectively bred to lay eggs at an unnatural rate, their bodies pushed far beyond their natural limits. If feminism stands for autonomy, consent, and liberation from violence, then these industries contradict every feminist principle.
It is no coincidence that these industries profit from the constant violation of female bodies. And it is no coincidence that these violations are hidden behind sanitized packaging and advertising that paints a pastoral lie. True intersectional feminism cannot exclude nonhuman animals. Feminism without veganism ends where human privilege begins.
You cannot advocate for reproductive freedom while funding an industry that depends on violating it. Feminism that includes all females, regardless of species, is stronger, more just, and urgently needed. The future of justice is vegan.
Nailed it.
Also the beef industry... about 20% of US beef supply is provided by the dairy industry through male calves and cull cows (dairy cows no long producing milk at a high enough rate).
Sad fact: the US allows up to 1 million pus cells per milliliter of milk (Europe limits it to 400,000 pus cells). Why the pus in milk? High speed mechanized milking causes injuries to the teats leading to infections.
These industries so overburden the dairy cows that they start losing their profitability, and are consequently slaughtered for hamburger, by their fourth birthday (a very small fraction of a cow's normal lifespan).