We recognize that not eating animals stems from a belief system; vegetarianism was named centuries ago and veganism was named in the 1940s. Accordingly, we don't refer to vegetarians or vegans as "plant eaters," as we understand that eating plants reflects an underlying ideology in which consuming animals is considered unethical and inappropriate. Yet, we still refer to those who are not vegetarian or vegan as "meat eaters," as though the act of eating meat were divorced from a belief system, as though vegetarians and vegans are the only ones who bring their beliefs to the dinner table. However, the reason that many people eat pigs but not dogs, for example, is because they do have a belief system when it comes to eating animals.
Why, then, has carnism not been named until now? One reason is because it is simply easier to recognize those ideologies that fall outside the mainstream. A much more important reason, though, is because carnism is a dominant ideology - an ideology so widespread and entrenched that its tenets are considered common sense, "the way things are," rather than a set of widely held opinions. And carnism is also a violent, exploitative ideology; it is organized around intensive, extensive, and unnecessary violence toward, and exploitation of, animals. Even the production of so-called humane meat (and other animal products), a minuscule percentage of the carnistic foods produced in the world today, exploits animals and often involves brutality. The tenets of carnism run counter to the core values of most people who would not willingly support the exploitation of others or condone such violence toward other sentient beings. So carnism, like other violent, exploitative ideologies, must hide itself to ensure the participation of the populace; without popular support, the system would collapse....
Why Eating Animals is a Social Justice Issue
The invisibility of carnism makes eating animals appear to be simply a matter of personal ethics, rather than what it actually is: the inevitable end result of a deeply entrenched, oppressive system. Carnism is structured like other “isms,” such as racism, sexism, and heterosexism, which are organized around the oppression of certain groups of “others.” And while the experience of each set of victims will always be somewhat unique, the ideologies themselves are structurally similar, as the mentality which enables such oppression is the same.
If we fail to pick out the common threads that are woven through all oppressive systems, then, we will simply trade one form of oppression for another. Thus, to create a more humane and just society, we must include carnism in our analysis."
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