Gender and Animals

This session aims to spark conversations around the connections between gender and animals, and talk about how systems of oppression overlap and feed into each other.

Patriarchal systems rely on control and domination to oppress both humans and animals. They operate through similar mechanisms, such as objectification and exploitation, when affecting different groups, while also creating distinct and incomparable challenges for each.

Gender constructs shape how we treat and see animals—for example, how femininity gets tied to care and masculinity to harm.

Heteronormativity, homophobia, reprocentricism, and speciesism—connect and reinforce each other. Heteronormativity enforces harmful myths about animals, such as ignoring same-sex behaviors in non-human species to uphold "natural" heterosexual norms. This has led to the erasure of evidence that could challenge both homophobia and the idea that animals exist solely for reproduction. Similarly, reprocentricism—the belief that reproduction is the purpose of life—affects humans by creating pressures around family and fertility, while also justifying the exploitation of animals through control and dominance over their reproduction. These ideas are intertwined with capitalism, which relies on endless production and reproduction, fueling exploitation of both animals and marginalized human groups.

As the global crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and rising authoritarianism deepen, vulnerable groups bear the brunt of these challenges, making the need to resist these intersecting forces more urgent than ever. This session hopes to inspire action toward a multispecies future that’s fair and just for all species.

I aim to start with a short, interactive presentation, drawing on real-world examples and insights from scholars, advocates, and activists. The main goal of the presentation is to spark a deeper discussion about the topics mentioned above and explore what the goal of multispecies justice means for advocacy. In the discussion, I also aim to have a conversation on the potential barriers that hinder this shift and consider how we might overcome them to build a more inclusive movement.