Melanie Joy What is Carnism? Carnism is the name I’ve given to the belief system, or ideology, in which it’s considered ethical and appropriate to eat (certain) animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of vegetarianism; while a vegetarian is a person who believes it’s unethical to eat animals and therefore eschews meat, a carnist is a person who believes it’s ethical to eat animals and therefore eats meat. Most people, however, don’t recognize that their choice to eat meat reflects a deeper belief system. They don’t think, for example, about why they love dogs but eat pigs, why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any meat at all. Most of us consider meat eating a given rather than a choice, and when we do think about our consumption of animals, it is through the lens of biology rather than ideology. But meat eaters are not carnivores, which are animals that need meat in order to survive. Nor are they merely omnivores, which, like vegetarians, are animals that are able to survive consuming both plant and animal matter. “Carnivore” and “omnivore” reflect nothing more than a biological predisposition. For humans, eating meat is not a biological necessity (with the exception of those within geographical or economic constraints), but a philosophical choice based on a set of assumptions about animals, the world, and oneself. As long as eating meat is not necessary for survival, it is a choice, and choices always stem from beliefs. Why, then, has carnism not been named until now, when vegetarianism has been recognized as an ideology for centuries? One reason is because it’s simply easier to recognize those ideologies that fall outside the mainstream. A much more important reason, though, is because carnism is a particular kind of ideology: it is a dominant ideology whose tenets run counter to the values of most people. Dominant ideologies are belief systems so widespread and entrenched that their values and practices are considered common sense—“the way things are”—rather than a set of widely held opinions. And dominant ideologies whose tenets are in opposition with the deeper values of most individuals hide themselves in order to ensure the participation of the populace. Without popular support, the system would collapse. Most people’s value system does not condone intensive, extensive, and unnecessary cruelty to animals, and yet carnism requires just such violence. Dominant, violent ideologies such as carnism keep themselves alive by utilizing specific strategies, or defenses, to hide the contradictions between our values and behaviors, allowing us to make exceptions to what we would normally consider ethical. The primary defense of the system is invisibility and the primary way the ideology stays invisible is by remaining unnamed. If we don’t name it, we won’t see it, and if we don’t see it, we can’t talk about it. Invisibility protects the ideology from scrutiny and thus from being challenged. And when it comes to carnism, not only is the ideology conceptually invisible, but so, too, are the animals whose lives and deaths the system depends upon. (see next topic for an overview of carnistic defenses)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 22:57:41 +0000
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