The Way People Treat Animals - Essay Example

Catharine A. Mackinnon has a very feminist view on the exploitation of animals, she compares the state of animals to the state of women, she thinks that women and animals are both exploited and have more similarities than one. She claims that animals are treated like women and women like animals, this again goes to show the sheer exploitation of both women and animals. She goes on to say that women are as badly treated as animals, she is aghast when she makes this comparison and she is right in many ways, women are still being exploited in some areas of the world and so are animals.

“People dominate animals, men dominate women.” (Animal Rights, P277) The author sheds light upon how women and animals are being dominated in our society. She throws light upon the inequality that prevails in our society. The author brings out an excellent ideology; the suppression of both women and animals is because they are considered inferior, women are exploited because they are considered biologically weaker, animals are exploited because they are considered much inferior to the human race, the exploitation is purely based on the ideology of inferior and superior, a superior being starts believing that it is his right to suppress the inferior, the same has been highlighted by the author.

The author is labeled to be a feminist because she talks about the male ideology and brings out the similarities in animals and women. “Qualities considered human and higher are denied to animals as qualities considered masculine and higher are denied to women.” (Animal Rights, P278) The lesser humanity of women is conceded by men and they call women animal names like chick, bunny, bitch and so on, this again points to the inferior nature of women in the society, animals are lower than humans is also a presumption which with several human beings live with.

The author also talks about the ridiculous ways in which both women and animals are exploited, rats are put in the vagina of women and it is thought that the rat would suffer much more than the women, the author tries to say that the status of women is lower than the status of animals. Misery and exploitation are common amongst women and animals, men find new ways to exploit and dominate both. The author talks about the laws that have been made to protect animals, films showing the crushing of animals have been banned by the government of the US but she says that there are no such laws in place to protect women who are also being exploited sexually by men.

She concludes her argument by saying that women are better off without laws. Elizabeth Anderson has a different take on the same matter, her analysis cannot be called a feminist view, and she does not juxtapose animals with women, the author bases her argument on intrinsic value of animals. The author talks about the animal rights, she says that chimpanzees are believed to have the mental ability of a mentally retarded child, chimpanzees are being used for several experiments, and can mentally retarded children be used for the same experiments?

The author is directly comparing animals with human beings; the point is why we are not using mentally retarded children for experiments who have the same mental makeup as a chimpanzee has? This goes to show double standards in the society, a