Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial

For readers who are vegan, the phenomenon documented in this new book Meatsplaining: The Animal Agriculture Industry and the Rhetoric of Denial will seem very familiar. It is difficult to live as a vegan without running headlong into the deeply established traditions, habits, and unreflective beliefs that support the consumption of nonhuman animals. The culture of animal consumption is wrapped up in people's identities. Just being a vegan is a threat to these identities because the existence of our movement questions the power that humans violently exercise over nonhuman animals. Conversations about animal agriculture are thus fraught with cultural baggage even before you add in the profit motive driving whole industries to actively undermine and resist any critical reflection. In these conversations, we see a predictable rhetorical pattern that is not just disagreement. Too often those defending animal agriculture rely on obfuscation, denial, gaslighting, and ad hominem attacks. The book...