Bitch Magazine has a urgent post (here) inspired by the Temple Grandin HBO biopic starring Claire Danes.聽 Here is an excerpt of the review by Brittany Shoot:

I wondered why Grandin accord how out of control factory farming has gotten in the last forty years (thanks in part to her own work?) has continued her job in the same field without reevaluating present conditions. Coming from such an intelligent person her striking shortage of analysis troubled me.

I also tend to be confused by Grandin鈥檚 stated bond with cattle when her actions seem to imply the opposite. As someone who also has deeply empathic bonds with animals鈥攁nd also has a photographic memory鈥擨鈥檓 genuinely bewildered by her capacity to create systems that enable further slaughter while stating that she feels connected to animals. If you feel connected鈥攁nd when your mind can replay life events like vividly as mine can鈥擨 truly don鈥檛 understand how you can live with that scholarship with those mental images of murder by your own hands. Maybe I misunderstand autism despite having worked with autistic adults in the past. Maybe I also misunderstand myself. Anything is possible except I remain troubled nonetheless.

In the past I鈥檝e said that Grandin鈥檚 work might bring people closer to understanding animals as sentient beings deserving of our compassion and protection. But perhaps I was wrong and I鈥檓 definitely unsettled by HBO鈥檚 description of her as an 鈥渁ctivist.鈥?Grandin鈥檚 work may shine a much-needed light on autism鈥攑articularly adults living with autism who remain largely misunderstood in society鈥攂ut must that come at the expense of other lives? Jim Sinclair an animal rights activist who is also autistic has responded to Grandin鈥檚 work in slaughterhouse design with a beautifully simplistic statement: 鈥淚f you love something you don鈥檛 murder it.鈥?* * *

Will ordinary folks think twice about the theory that 鈥渉uman slaughter鈥?is an oxymoron or that Grandin believes quality of life is somehow more important that preserving the life itself? Can her work actually shift perspective or does it simply make allowances for the continued use and needless killing of animals?

Shoot has several recent posts through at Bitch that might be of favour to those interested in the intersection of animal law and feminist theory including 鈥淓copsychology鈥?鈥淚ntro to Ecofeminism鈥?and 鈥淩eclaiming Cow.鈥欌?

-Bridget Crawford

(cross-post from Animal Blawg)