You've raised my consciousness in an empathetic and meaningful way--not just about nonhuman animals but also about vegans in different cultures. Love how your paintings deepen the message. Brava, Ann!
Thank you for being here and reading my post, Renee. I’m happy to hear this piece resonated with you. It was great to see you last Saturday as well. Catch up soon.
Brilliant, heartfelt story intertwined with memories, culture, and fantastical heavenly "non-human animals." I am embarrassed and saddened by humans (and my own) desire to look away from the pain inflicted on innocent animals for our pleasure. It's a paradox that we treat our dogs and cats like our children, but a pig is deemed dirty and stupid -- therefore it is permissible to enjoy them for breakfast. I can't help but rethink my menu choices. And, I'm not ashamed to say that I wouldn't think twice about slumbering next to a pig, like Ann, if Mr. or Ms. Pig accepted my offering of fresh hay and, of course, flowers.
Love your paintings of the pigs. They look so happy! And they do have big ears that flop around when they run!
The first part of this article and the first part of the one about chickens in which you write about how much you enjoyed eating them are difficult to read, but I appreciate your honesty about where you--and most of us--started from when we didn't know what we were doing was wrong. Stories that take this approach are a good form for effective advocacy.
You may enjoy the book "The Skeptical Vegan" by Eric Lindstrom, who now heads Farm Animal Rights Movement; he takes the same approach. He also includes a lot of humor.
Also the book "Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan" by Matthew C. Halteman does the same on both counts: starts with how much he enjoyed eating animals (which felt like a bait and switch considering the title) and describes his transformation to being vegan.
Also, the graphic showing the parts of a pig that people eat, labeled in Vietnamese, reminded me of the cover of the book by Carol J. Adams, "The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory." It shows a woman's body objectified labeled with parts just as cows and pigs are. https://caroljadams.com/ She gave a talk on March 26 that I watched that's now on YouTube entitled "The Sexual Politics of Meat in Authoritarian Times." The link is on her website at https://caroljadams.com/
I’m grateful to have you a resource, David. You always give me more to think about or research more. I just got Raising Hare today for the VSDC’s upcoming book discussion. Thank you for reminding me about A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory. I’m aware but haven’t spent too much time on this topic. I will check out the talk this week.
And you’re right. It was hard to write about what I used to eat, but honesty will foster meaningful conversations for advocacy. Thank you for reading and being here, David.
You've raised my consciousness in an empathetic and meaningful way--not just about nonhuman animals but also about vegans in different cultures. Love how your paintings deepen the message. Brava, Ann!
Thank you for being here and reading my post, Renee. I’m happy to hear this piece resonated with you. It was great to see you last Saturday as well. Catch up soon.
Brilliant, heartfelt story intertwined with memories, culture, and fantastical heavenly "non-human animals." I am embarrassed and saddened by humans (and my own) desire to look away from the pain inflicted on innocent animals for our pleasure. It's a paradox that we treat our dogs and cats like our children, but a pig is deemed dirty and stupid -- therefore it is permissible to enjoy them for breakfast. I can't help but rethink my menu choices. And, I'm not ashamed to say that I wouldn't think twice about slumbering next to a pig, like Ann, if Mr. or Ms. Pig accepted my offering of fresh hay and, of course, flowers.
Thank you, Jen for reading and your lovely comments. I’m learning a lot everyday and we can help each other to do better.
Love your paintings of the pigs. They look so happy! And they do have big ears that flop around when they run!
The first part of this article and the first part of the one about chickens in which you write about how much you enjoyed eating them are difficult to read, but I appreciate your honesty about where you--and most of us--started from when we didn't know what we were doing was wrong. Stories that take this approach are a good form for effective advocacy.
You may enjoy the book "The Skeptical Vegan" by Eric Lindstrom, who now heads Farm Animal Rights Movement; he takes the same approach. He also includes a lot of humor.
Also the book "Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan" by Matthew C. Halteman does the same on both counts: starts with how much he enjoyed eating animals (which felt like a bait and switch considering the title) and describes his transformation to being vegan.
Also, the graphic showing the parts of a pig that people eat, labeled in Vietnamese, reminded me of the cover of the book by Carol J. Adams, "The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory." It shows a woman's body objectified labeled with parts just as cows and pigs are. https://caroljadams.com/ She gave a talk on March 26 that I watched that's now on YouTube entitled "The Sexual Politics of Meat in Authoritarian Times." The link is on her website at https://caroljadams.com/
I’m grateful to have you a resource, David. You always give me more to think about or research more. I just got Raising Hare today for the VSDC’s upcoming book discussion. Thank you for reminding me about A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory. I’m aware but haven’t spent too much time on this topic. I will check out the talk this week.
And you’re right. It was hard to write about what I used to eat, but honesty will foster meaningful conversations for advocacy. Thank you for reading and being here, David.
This was beautiful to read. I loved the part about your pup and the pig having a chat.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and provide a comment, Hyam. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the conversation.