The Sexual Politics of Meat Turns 20

I'm a vegan. I'm not a perfect person, so in the same vein of labeling one's own Buddhism, a lot of vegans I know refer to our decisions and ideals as a "practice." We do the best we can (or at least, the less dogmatic, cranky folks among us see it that way). A vegetarian since I was 12, I came to veganism in a fairly organic way — or at least, I feel it is. For me, it largely stemmed from my own feminist values of compassion and respect for all.

Few books have influenced theory and practice about meat eating and feminism the way Carol J. Adams' The Sexual Politics of Meat has. This spring/summer, Adams and ecofeminist/veg*n feminists far and wide are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the book. Since its release, the book has made all sorts of headlines and popped up continually in pop culture, from being banned from an Oklahoma library (for being "pornographic") to its use as part of a recent plot device on Law & Order: SVU. It also seems to have inspired some strangely misguided bro-dude alternatives. I'll stick to my feminist book list, thanks very much.

To be clear on a particular point, it's important to note that Carol Adams has been accused of transphobia in the past, and not without warrant. I'm not going to get into the baby/bathwater debate — whether we toss out the good along with the bad — but I point it out here because it's important to make an informed decision about Adams' work.

Other books to pick up to supplement Adams? If you're truly looking for feminist or pro-woman vegetarian or vegan books — or books about the intersections of race and veganism, slavery and animal rights, or the economics of animal consumption — look no further than this handy list I put together a while ago.

If you've read it, how do you feel about the book? Did Adams' work inspire you along the way, and will you be picking up an anniversary edition of the modern classic? And do you have any favorite informative ecofeminist reads we're missing?

Photo Credit: striatic