Quotessence
Home / Authors / Lisa Kemmerer

Lisa Kemmerer Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllAnimal LiberationVeganismAnymalsActivismCompassionFactory FarmingSocial JusticeSpeciesismAnimals And ReligionIntersectionalityReligion And AnimalsAnimal StudiesReligion And EthicsHuman Animal RelationshipsAnimalsOppressionComparative ReligionScripturesComparative ReligionsVegan

Famous Lisa Kemmerer Quotes

“The same patriarchy that oppresses women oppresses nonhuman animals. Farmed animals and “housewives,” “lab” animals and prostitutes, dancing bears and girls in the sex trade—all have too long been exploited by the same patriarchal hierarchy wherein the comparatively weak are exploited for the benefit of the powerful. Those who are aware of history, of patriarchy and of the feminist movement, tend to understand how difficult it is—and how important—for people to rethink basic behaviors in order to bring about deep and lasting change. We must rethink how we speak, how we spend our time, and what we consume. This is as true for fighting sexism as it is for fighting speciesism—or any other form of domination, exploitation, and oppression. We must change our lives first, and most fundamentally. I hope that readers working to improve the lives of girls and women . . . will realize that they can and must choose not to continue to exploit nonhuman animals while working to liberate girls and women.”

WomenChangeSocial JusticeOppressionGirlsExploitationPatriarchyIntersectionalitySpeciesismActivsim
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“It is a dangerous business to compare sufferings, and generally an unproductive enterprise. Yet compare we must, because most people assume that anymal suffering is somehow lesser—or of less importance—than the suffering of human beings. Why would human suffering be of greater moral or spiritual importance than anymal suffering?”

SufferingSpiritualityCompassionExploitationSpeciesismAnymalsAnimals And ReligionReligion And AnimalsComparisons
Book:Animals and World Religions
Create image

“It is a dangerous business to compare sufferings, and generally an unproductive enterprise. Yet compare we must, because most people assume that anymal suffering is somehow lesser—or of less importance—than the suffering of human beings . Why would human suffering be of greater moral or spiritual importance than anymal suffering? Not one of the world’s largest religious traditions teaches that anymals are of lesser importance, or that their suffering might be overlooked while we remedy problems that are more central to human needs and wants. On the contrary—religious traditions hold human beings accountable for their actions with regard to anymals. Nonetheless, the assumption that it is right for humanity to focus social justice energy first and foremost on human beings persists in at least some religious communities. As a result, people turn a blind eye to factory farming and other horrendously cruel, life-destroying industries, and even continue to support these industries with their consumer dollars.”

SufferingComparisonFactory FarmingReligious TraditionsSpeciesismEthics And MoralityAnymalsIndustriesComparative ReligionsReligious Ethics
Book:Animals and World Religions
Create image

“Both women and nonhuman animals have traditionally been viewed as property—"things” to be owned and controlled by those in power. While the plight of women is linked with that of nonhuman animals through a single system of oppression, through their comparative powerlessness and invisibility, and through sexual exploitation, it is important to elucidate these similarities through concrete examples. Links between women and nonhuman animals are nowhere more apparent than through the vulnerabilities of mothers and their young, and the control of pregnancies and offspring; this particular form of oppression is nowhere more blatant than on factory farms.”

PropertyEggsSexismMothersAnimalsPowerlessnessDairyFactory FarmingSpeciesismFarmed Animals
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“The kill can be likened to male orgasm. Sex is traditionally thought to be over when the man has an orgasm, and the hunt is never so decisively over as it is after a successful kill. As a teacher, I impatiently listened to a young man matter-of-factly defend the importance of hunting because he found the experience “orgasmic.” From his point of view, all that mattered was how exciting and wonderful the experience was for him.”

SexHuntingHuntersVeganismDeerAnimal LiberationOrgasmHuntSpeciesismOrgasmic
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“For most women (as for most men) links between sexism and speciesism are not readily apparent. We have been conditioned not to see exploitation. For example, men generally have no idea how patriarchy affects women—unless they go out of their way to learn. The same is true for women with regard to cows and pigs and chickens and turkeys. Both women and nonhuman animals have traditionally been viewed as property—"things” to be owned and controlled by those in power. While the plight of women is linked with that of nonhuman animals through a single system of oppression, through their comparative powerlessness and invisibility, and through sexual exploitation, it is important to elucidate these similarities through concrete examples. Links between women and nonhuman animals are nowhere more apparent than through the vulnerabilities of mothers and their young, and the control of pregnancies and offspring; this particular form of oppression is nowhere more blatant than on factory farms.”

MotherhoodExploitationVeganismPowerlessnessInvisibilityIntersectionalitySpeciesismSexual ExploitationFactory Farms
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“Ecofeminist analysis is generally much more expansive than environmentalism and feminism. . . . Ecofeminism draws on ecological, socialist, and feminist thought, incorporating a handful of social justice movements, such as feminism, peace activism, labor movements, women’s health care, anti-nuclear, environmental, and animal liberation.”

PeaceEnvironmentEcologyInterconnectednessInterconnectionIntersectionalitySpeciesismEcofeminismInterconnectivity
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“Failing to notice a lack of Latino and African-American representation in congress is a result of systemic oppression – racism. General indifference to the fact that white men dominate large corporations is part of the invisibility of both racism and sexism. A lack of concern about the plight of a “breeding” sow on a factory farm is also a result of normative systematic oppression – speciesism.”

RacismSexismIntersectionalityFactory FarmingSpeciesismSowPigSystemic OppressionInstitutional Oppression
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“The sex trade is also flourishing under the patriarchal objectification of women, paid for by men who are willing and able to own or rent a girl (or sometimes a woman) for sex. Those who are exploited are comparatively powerless, and cannot refuse sexual advances or deny the wishes of those who pay (someone else) for their services. In these situations and many others, men own and control the bodies of women as they own and control the bodies of sows and cows and hens. Sexual exploitation of human females for the benefit of males is mirrored in contemporary animal industries. Men who control animal industries exploit females for their reproductive abilities as if nonhuman animals were objects devoid of will and sensation. Sows are treated as if they were bacon factories and cows are treated as if they were milk machines. Sows, cows, hens, turkeys, and horses are artificially inseminated to bring profits to the men who control their bodies and their lives. Women in the sex trade are similar to factory farmed females . . . . Even comparatively privileged women in relatively fortunate marriages can readily be likened to sows and cows. . . . The reproductive abilities of women and other female animals are controlled and exploited by those in power (usually men) and both are devalued as they age and wear out—when they no longer reproduce. Cows, hens, and women are routinely treated as if they were objects to be manipulated in order to satisfy the desires of powerful men, without regard to female's wishes or feelings.”

EggsChickensSexismCowsPatriarchyDairyFactory FarmingSpeciesismReproductive RightsSexual Exploitation
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“For most women (as for most men) links between sexism and speciesism are not readily apparent. We have been conditioned not to see exploitation. For example, men generally have no idea how patriarchy affects women—unless they go out of their way to learn. The same is true for women with regard to cows and pigs and chickens and turkeys.”

ChickensSexismCowsPigsExploitationPatriarchyTurkeysIntersectionalitySpeciesismInterfacing Oppressions
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“Even with the onset of contemporary animal advocacy, and the unavoidability of at least some knowledge of what goes on in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, most of us choose to look away—even feminists. Collectively, feminists remain largely unaware of the well-documented links between the exploitation of women and girls, and the exploitation of cows, sows, and hens.”

Social JusticeChickensCowsSlaughterHensIntersectionalityFactory FarmingSpeciesismFeministsSows
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“While it is one thing to strive for a cause that fundamentally and primarily benefits you—your freedom and equality (or the freedom and equality of those you know and care about), or for your environment (on which you depend for survival)—it is quite another matter to struggle on behalf of a cause that does not benefit you directly.”

ActivismVeganismAnimal LiberationSpeciesismActivistsHuman Animal RelationshipsAnimal StudiesEthics And AnimalsSocial Justice Causes
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“With regard to farmed animals, we are the ones who are in power. We are the ones who have the power to change our consumer habits. We are the ones who either put our money down for their lives, or boycott animal products.”

PowerSocial JusticeActivismVeganismAnimal LiberationBoycottFactory FarmingSpeciesismAnimal StudiesFarmed Animals
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“I have often wondered how empathetic women have the courage to repeatedly expose themselves to trauma—entering animal labs, factory farms, and slaughterhouses to witness and record insidious treatment of nonhuman animals—while maintaining a semblance of emotional and psychological equilibrium. Authors in this anthology provide an answer: empathic people face misery head-on, not only to bring about much-needed change but as a means of coping. In a world where unconscionable violence and pervasive injustices are the norm, they have come to see activism as the lesser of two miseries. These women have found that their only hope for peace of mind is to walk straight into that pervasive misery and work for change”

ChangeSocial JusticeInjusticeActivismWomen EmpowermentAnimal LiberationAnimal EthicsSpeciesismActivists
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“Many social justice activists--many feminists--continue to work against one form of oppression while feeding the flames of another, without noticing that the blow torch behind the flames must be tuned off before we can have any hope of putting out the resultant fires.”

FeminismRacismSocial JusticeFeministActivismOppressionIntersectionalitySpeciesismFeministsMyopic
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“The U.S. system of justice contains laws whereby nonhuman animals have no legal standing, but are defined as “property,” as wives and enslaved Africans once were. Other animals (including mice, rats, and birds) are excluded from the legal definition of “animal” in the U.S., thereby denying these individuals whatever slight protection might be provided by U.S. animal welfare laws, and allowing science to use these sentient beings in any way researchers see fit, without fear of legal sanction. Other speciesist laws prevent animal advocates from using free speech on behalf of hunted animals, while protecting right-to-life advocates who speak out on behalf of fetuses. Institutionalized support for the systematic oppression of nonhuman animals is also evident in the recent Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, as well as in the mainstream media, both of which – unbelievably – label animal advocates as “terrorists.”

LawPropertyActivismTerroristLiberationAnimal RightsFetusSpeciesismProperty Law
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“Because the oppression of nonhuman individuals is normative, it is largely invisible, and most of us are complicit in one way or another. While social justice activists now widely recognize that the poor, elderly, and non-white racialized minorities are harmed by patriarchy, few are willing to similarly recognize the harm of patriarchal dualisms and hierarchy on nonhuman animals – even ecofeminist theorists. Very few social justice activists have even a rudimentary understanding of speciesism, or of the harmful exploitation that stems from such marginalization and cruel domination of nonhuman animals.”

Social JusticeActivismOppressionAnimal RightsPatriarchyDominationAnimal LiberationIntersectionalitySpeciesismMarginalization
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“Acknowledging and protecting nonhuman individuals places limits on human power, and will put an end to a host of ill-gotten gains – just as emancipation curtailed white power and put an end to the ill-gotten gains of Caucasian-Americans. Consequently, animal activists who push for change are often met with derision and indifference by those who wish to continue their accustomed diet, those who do not want to rethink their leather shoes, toiletries, or treasured forms of entertainment. Feminists and civil rights protesters who asked others to change for the sake of justice – to give up their ill-gotten gains – were and are met with similar insults and raucous rejections.”

ChangeJusticeSocial JusticePrivilegeActivismAnimal RightsAnimal LiberationIntersectionalitySpeciesism
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“It is increasingly difficult for social justice activists to advocate – with a clear conscience – for women, the poor, or immigrants while eating other animals or consuming the nursing milk of cattle. Animal activists are exposing the links that connect the oppression of nonhuman animals with human oppression.”

JusticeSocial JusticeActivismOppressionAnimal LiberationIntersectionalitySpeciesismAnimal Activits
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“working on behalf of social justice – working on behalf of nonhuman animals – requires immersion in the horrors of oppression. For the women who have submitted essays for this anthology, immersion in the ugliness of injustice, in the hope of change, seems preferable to turning away. . . . ... There is a reward for courage and determination in the face of helplessness and trauma: By walking into extreme misery in the hope of exposing injustice and bringing change, these women have moved from helplessness and despair to empowered activism.”

WomenCourageDeterminationBraveryInjusticeTraumaActivismIntersectionalitySpeciesismSocial Justice Warrior
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image

“There is an ugly, unmentioned truth behind a feminist’s tendency to associate women with men, rather than with similarly exploited pigs or cattle: Those who purposefully distance women from other female animals hope to liberate female humans while leaving nonhuman animals in the category of exploitable “other." But it is reprehensible for individuals who are seeking release from oppression to purposefully leave others in the dungeons of exploitation—even to condemn others to such exploitation—in the process of working to extricate themselves. In any event, this selfish approach has not worked, and the reason for this seems somewhat obvious: As long as we foster power-over—whether over pigs or turkeys or women—most human females will remain under the control of men, along with pigs and cows and chickens (who will generally remain yet lower on the rungs of power). In seeking to stand above nonhuman females, women help to maintain a hierarchy through which they are held below men. As long as we support a hierarchy, as long as we support a system which grants some individuals power over other individuals, men will dominate over women. Hierarchies entail power-over, and the power of one individual over another inevitably supports oppression.”

PowerFeministActivismOppressionExploitationPatriarchyHierarchyAnimal LiberationOtherSpeciesism
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“Not only do we harbor patriarchal indifference to uniquely female suffering, but additionally, most of us are ignorant of the horrible cruelty inherent in factory farming. It is easy to buy a bucket of chicken or a carton of vanilla yogurt without even knowing about the females whose sad lives lie behind these unnecessary products. It is easy to forget that mozzarella and cream come from a mother’s munificence—mothers who would have desperately preferred to tend their young, and to live out their lives with a measure of freedom and comfort—or not to be born at all. Most consumers are unaware of the ongoing, intense suffering and billions of premature deaths that lurk behind mayonnaise and cream, cold cuts and egg sandwiches. Even with the onset of contemporary animal advocacy, and the unavoidability of at least some knowledge of what goes on in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, most of us choose to look away—even feminists. Collectively, feminists remain largely unaware of the well-documented links between the exploitation of women and girls, and the exploitation of cows, sows, and hens.”

WomenFeminismActivismEggsMothersPatriarchyDairyIntersectionalityFactory FarmingSpeciesism
Book:Speaking Up for Animals: An Anthology of Women's Voices
Create image

“Activists must not work against one another in their single-minded dedication to one specific cause. Those fighting to protect horses must not eat cattle. We do well to specialize, but we do not do well if we specialize without knowledge of interlocking oppressions—or without the application of that knowledge.”

Social JusticeActivismOppressionVeganismSpeciesismActivistsInterconnectionsSocial Justice CausesInterlocking
Book:Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice
Create image