Sex role stereotypes hurt both human and non-human animals. In cockfighting, the natural behavior of roosters is perverted in order to force them to act out human ideas about masculinity. The birds are traumatized and then deliberately placed in harm's way so that their handlers can feel like big men. They die in stylized spectacles of masculinity that have nothing to do with natural bird behavior and everything to do with human ideas about gender. Meanwhile, human boys are also traumatized in order to make them conform to cultural ideas of masculinity. Those who do not distort themselves into stereotypes of "masculinity" may find themselves "gay bashed" to death.
-- Pattrice Jones, from "Mothers with Monkeywrenches," Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals , NY, Lantern Books, 2004, pp. 137-156
Pattrice Jones is a codirector of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center ( www.bravebirds.org ) and Consultant & Internet Researcher for United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. www.upc-online.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
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