Our western society and lifestyle is to a considerable extent depended on the way we perceive and treat our co-existing non-human species. Industrial farming, vivisection, sports, circuses etcetera are just a few examples of how human use and exploit animal bodies for own gain. A phenomenon that in many ways, is perceived, as natural and normal, and therefore seldom discussed. The thesis purpose is to problematize this phenomenon by examine, what I call “The Speciesism Gaze”, through analysis of posters that promote animal rights, selected online, through the search domain Google. The theoretical framework used, are theories focusing on intersectionality, derived within postcolonial-, eco-critical and new materialist feminism. A brief introduction of animal right movements, its linking to feminism activism and theories derived within affect theory is presented as background for the analysis. As method, I use critical discourse analysis, focusing on intertextuality of the posters context. Asking what discourses emerge, challenging the anthropocentric and androcentric western dualistic hierarchy, whilst displaying mutually reinforced structures of sexism, racism and speciesism? I discuss the western historical and cultural human idea that the human species is separated from nature and animal, and where the “right” human subject standard is perceived as male, white, heterosexual and western in the Anthropocene age. I found that, this standard is displayed, played on, and questioned in the posters selected, in relation to animal materiality, grievability, killability, species necropolitics, sexism and racism. I discuss in my conclusion that oppression based on speciesism is not a power relation discussed in society today to the same extent as expressions of sexism and racism are. It is however an oppression that we all take part in every day and that affect all of us, despite species belonging. In that context, I hope the theorization and meaning of the speciesism gaze will have significance within the field of feminist theorizations and practices.

This dissertation investigates the visual and verbal representations of animals in a selection of commercial picture books for a young readership of preschool children. The picture books selected are part of the Little Golden Book series. The first twelve books in this series were published in the United States in 1942 and are still in print today, while new books are continually being published. Because these popular picture books have had a broad readership from their inception and the books in the series have a uniform aesthetics, a comparative analysis provides insight into mainstream human-animal relationships.  Children’s literature is never innocent, and fraught with power imbalances. Animals become political beings, not only in the sense that they convey a didactic message, but in the sense that each animal representation carries a host of ideas and assumptions about human-animal relations with it. Using a theoretical framework that is grounded in Human Animal Studies (HAS), and more specifically literary animal studies, this dissertation analyzes the representation of human-animal interactions and relationships in different contexts.  Before the advent of HAS, anthropocentric, humanist interpretations of animal presence in children’s literature used to be prevalent. Commercial picture books in particular could benefit from readings that investigate animal presence without immediately resorting to humanist interpretations. One way of doing that is to start by questioning how interspecies difference and hierarchy is constructed in these books, verbally, visually and in the interaction between words and images. Based on this, we can speculate about the consequences this may have for the reader’s conceptualization of human-animal relationships. In children’s literature speciesism and ageism often intersect, for example when young children are compared with (young) animals or when animals are presented as stand-ins for young children. This dissertation explores the mechanisms behind the representation of species difference in commercial picture books.  The aim of this study is to analyze how commercial picture books like the Little Golden Books harbor a potential to shape young readers’ ideas about humanity and animality, species difference and hierarchy and the possibilities of interspecies interactions. The socializing function that is an important component of all children’s books makes that these picture books can shape readers’ attitudes from an early age. When reading children’s books featuring animals, the particular way these animals are represented guides the reader towards an ideology – and in the West, this ideology is predominantly anthropocentric. In Western cultures, children and animals are commonly thought of as natural allies, and as such they are often depicted as opposed to adult culture.  This dissertation identifies the ways in which certain conservative tendencies are activated by these commercial picture books, but also emphasizes that they can be a subversive space where anthropocentrism can be challenged. The case studies developed in this dissertation demonstrate how even so-called ’unsophisticated’ picture books contain interesting strains of animal related ideology worthy of in-depth analysis. The visual and verbal dimensions of these picture books show that these stories are embedded in a cultural context that helps give meaning to the animals. A recurring concern is the function of anthropomorphism and the role it plays in how we value the animals in these books. I am particularly interested in how picture books depict various degrees of anthropomorphism, because it has the potential to challenge species boundaries and disrupt the human-animal dichotomy.

From our earliest days of childhood, our exposure to certain species is confusing and contradictory, with animals like the beloved characters who fill our storybooks moulded into unrecognisable shapes and served up to us in deceptively happy packaging. With a recognition of this cognitive dissonance as a starting point, this report seeks to highlight the inconsistency of teaching children to love and respect animals whilst at the same time to accept the eating and usage of them.  Whilst the topic of animal farming is finally beginning to be taken seriously in conversations about environmental sustainability, its ethical implications for both humans and nonhumans remain massively overlooked. My project aims to bring the conversation about animal rights to the forefront of our moral considerations with childhood education as an entry point.  In collaboration with a primary school class (ages 9-11) and an animal sanctuary, I ran a three-part workshop designed to encourage interspecies thinking and provide a space for students to critically evaluate mainstream attitudes and assumptions towards nonhuman animals and, by extension, to question current norms surrounding animal use and consumption.

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This research and artistic work is focused on the intersection of Art and Activism, and visually communicating the inherent suffering caused by human’s dominion over animals. In communicating suffering and dominion over animals, I aim to show and question the social norms that construct and support these discriminatory attitudes and practices towards non-human animals.  My overarching practice explores the features of illustration and activism and how they can be combined. I explore different mediums and styles, resulting in a variety of artistic expressions. These expressions are then combined with an activistic purpose.

In this thesis, Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman and Michel Faber’s Under the Skin are analysed from the perspective of feminist-vegetarian critical theory. Both texts deal with the idea of feeling like or being meat, but approach this idea from different angles. In The Edible Woman, the connection to feeling like meat is metaphorical and rooted in gender relations, while in Under the Skin, it is literal, related to the idea of being animal. What becomes clear through an analysis of these two texts is that they both deal with the interlocking oppressions of women and animals. In The Edible Woman, protagonist Marian loses her subjectivity and stops eating meat when, as a result of the dynamics of her relationship with her boyfriend (later fiancé), she starts identifying with animals that are hunted or eaten. In Under the Skin, the alien protagonist Isserley, as female, non-human and in her natural form looking like a kind of mammal, represents both women and animals in her objectifying returned gaze on human men. Examining these two texts together highlights the interlocking nature of patriarchy and speciesism, and shows how these oppressions are better understood in relation to each other.

Dans cette thèse, nous partons des grands principes de justice pour démontrer la nécessité d’octroyer aux êtres sensibles nonhumains les droits moraux et légaux les plus fondamentaux. Dans un premier temps, nous nous penchons sur les principes sous-jacents aux droits fondamentaux de la personne : le principe d’égalité voulant que les cas similaires soient traités de manière similaire; la notion de droit fondamental, qui repose sur celle d’intérêt; le principe de l’égale considération des intérêts auquel mène le principe d’égalité; et, enfin, le concept d’intérêt, qui s’applique à tous les êtres sensibles. Cette première partie établit l’exigence d’accorder les droits les plus fondamentaux à tous les êtres possédant les intérêts que ces droits visent à protéger. Cela permet d’étudier trois droits particuliers et les intérêts qui les sous-tendent en examinant d’abord le droit à l'intégrité physique. Nous montrons que de nombreux animaux nonhumains sont des êtres sensibles, que tous les êtres sensibles ont, par définition, intérêt à ne pas souffrir et que, pour cette raison, ils devraient jouir du droit à l’intégrité physique. Le troisième chapitre est consacré au droit à la vie. Nous soutenons qu’il est raisonnable de supposer que tous les êtres sensibles, parce qu’ils peuvent jouir des bonnes choses de la vie, ont un certain intérêt à persévérer dans leur existence, intérêt qui, peu importe son intensité ou sa nature, doit être protégé par l’égal droit de vivre. Notre dernier chapitre se concentre sur le droit à la liberté. Nous montrons que cet intérêt est généralement interprété négativement et ne consiste qu’à pouvoir agir sans subir d’interférence. Nous soutenons que cette acception du concept de liberté nous force à reconnaître l’intérêt à être libre de tous les êtres sensibles et notre devoir de leur accorder un droit à la liberté. Nous ajoutons finalement que l’interprétation républicaine de la liberté nous incite à reconnaître à tous ces animaux un statut égal à celui des humains. Nous terminons cette réflexion en concluant que l'octroi des droits fondamentaux aux animaux sensibles implique que l’exploitation animale institutionalisée soit abandonnée et que les animaux conscients jouissent du statut de personne. / In this thesis, I use well-established principles of justice to demonstrate that there exists no valid moral reason to deny nonhuman sentient beings the most fundamental moral and legal rights. I begin by going over the principles that will inform my discussion of these basic rights. I examine the principle of equality, which requires that similar cases be treated similarly; the notion of fundamental right, which is based on the concept of interest; the principle of equal consideration of interests, which the principle of equality entails; and, finally, the concept of interest, which is applicable to all sentient beings. This first section establishes the necessity of attributing the most fundamental rights to all beings who possess the basic interests these rights are designed to protect. I then delve into an examination of the three most fundamental rights and the interests underlying these. First, I discuss the right to physical integrity, demonstrating that numerous nonhuman animals are sentient beings, and that all sentient beings, by definition, have an interest in not suffering. Second, I examine the right to life. I argue that it is reasonable to assume that every sentient being, because he or she can benefit from the good things in life, has a certain interest in his or her continued existence. This interest, regardless of its intensity or nature, deserves to be protected by an equal right to life. Third, I establish that the interest in being free is generally interpreted negatively; it simply consists of having the ability to act without interference. I argue that based on this conceptualization of liberty, all sentient beings have an interest in being free. I go on to explore the republican interpretation of freedom, suggesting that it provides further grounds for the recognition that nonuhuman sentient beings also have an interest in benefiting from the same moral and legal status as human beings. I conclude that granting the right to physical integrity, life and freedom to all sentient beings implies that we abandon all forms of institutionalized animal exploitation and that we give to all conscious beings the equal status of person.

This thesis demonstrates the ways that nonhuman characters in the literature of Elizabeth Bishop and Gerald Vizenor subvert anthropocentrism, thereby contributing to an ongoing reconsideration of political and ethical approaches to species discourse. Jacques Derrida's work on the philosophical questions regarding nonhuman animals is combined with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's postcolonial perspective on "subaltern speaking" and representation, while Gerald Vizenor's theory of "survivance" provides the theoretical grounding for approaching literary representations of animals within this project. The authors in this study challenge false hierarchical species divisions by constructing fictional spaces that imagine the perspectives of nonhuman beings, consider the importance interspecies relationships, and recontextualize the voices and communication of nonhumans. In providing these counter-narratives, these authors establish a relationship with readers that invites them to reconsider the ramifications of their own ideology of species, reminding them that theory and practice must coexist. / by Tiffany J. Frost. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:10:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Katia Okumura Oliveira.pdf: 8665814 bytes, checksum: 53efb333b42331b3b3bc45963fc93cf6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-19 / The research examines the campaigns for the protection of animals, according to the analysis of their communication contracts. It aims to understand how senders and receivers of texts are built from what appears in the media. And what strategies have been employed to change public perception related to the subject. It starts with the preliminary hypothesis that usually communication used in this area is ineffective in changing behaviors of people who are not yet sensitive to the problem. Generally, animal rights organizations do not have money for ads in traditional media. Thus, the called alternative media are widely used. Such as those events viewed as radical: protest march, boycotts and invasions of public and private establishments. This is one of the strategies used by PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the largest animal rights organization in the world. To address the issue, we will use the theory of John Downing on radical media. In this paper, will be analyzed PETA´s ad campaigns, as well as the impact of their work in Brazilian press from 2004 to 2009. The effects of the campaigns will be studied using Peircean semiotics, supported by Winfried Nöth and Lucia Santaella´s work, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce´s writings. Communication contracts will be analyzed with Patrick Charaudeau´s theory. The relationship between man and animals will be examined from Keith Taylor, who talks about the history of domestication. In order to understand the principles that involves activists´s discourse, it´s been adopted the writings of Peter Singer and Mary Warnock, concerning ethics, belief and ideology. The objective is to assess whether the work of animal protectors to transform discourses, through communication campaigns, are well constructed / A pesquisa examina as campanhas em prol da proteção dos animais, de acordo com a análise dos contratos de comunicação. Busca compreender como os emissores e os receptores dos textos são construídos a partir do que é veiculado na mídia, e quais estratégias têm sido empregadas para alterar a percepção do público em relação ao tema. Parte-se da hipótese preliminar de que, muitas vezes, a comunicação utilizada nesse meio é ineficaz para a mudança de comportamentos das pessoas que ainda não são sensíveis ao problema. Geralmente, as entidades protetoras dos animais não dispõem de verbas para anúncios em mídias tradicionais. Assim, as chamadas mídias alternativas são amplamente empregadas. Entre elas, estão manifestações vistas como radicais: passeatas, boicotes e invasões a estabelecimentos públicos e privados. Essa é uma das estratégias mais utilizadas pelo PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, maior grupo de proteção aos animais do mundo. Para abordar o assunto, será utilizada a teoria de John Downing sobre mídias radicais. Neste trabalho, serão analisadas campanhas publicitárias do PETA, assim como a repercussão de seus movimentos na imprensa brasileira de 2004 a 2009. Os efeitos das campanhas serão estudados a partir da semiótica peirceana, tendo como suporte as obras de Winfried Nöth, de Lúcia Santaella e do próprio Charles Sanders Peirce. Os contratos de comunicação serão levantados a partir da teoria de Patrick Charaudeau. A relação do homem com os animais será analisada a partir de Keith Tomas, que fala sobre a história da domesticação. Para entender os princípios que regem os discursos dos ativistas, adotou-se textos de Peter Singer e Mary Warnock, que destacam ética, crença e ideologia. O objetivo é avaliar se os trabalhos dos protetores dos animais para transformar discursos, por meio de campanhas de comunicação, são bem construídos

Animal welfare is a topic subjected to great controversy, mostly within moral philosophy. The moral issue of human behaviour is often dealt with, alongside whether nonhuman animals are eligible certain rights. In our world, how humans behave towards nonhuman animals have fallen into something of political oblivion, which is the departure-point for this research. The essay’s discourse surrounds nonhuman animals’ political and moral status in Sweden, with the aim of drawing conclusions regarding whether they can be said to possess it. This is done through an analysis of ideas, using dimensions as tools, problematizing the Swedish parliamentary parties' views on animal welfare. A better understanding for nonhuman animals’ situation in Sweden has been provided, showing that there is no animal rights mentality tangible, while speciesist and utilitarian attitudes towards nonhuman animals dominate. The analysis show that nonhuman animals in Sweden possess moral status, as the parties agree that nonhuman animals should be spared from unnecessary suffering, and their welfare seems to count in its own right. However, human interests tend to take precedence in most cases, and in the end, nonhuman animals cannot be considered to possess any political status, despite their unmistakable presence in our society.