Where the Boys Aren't: The Predominance of Women in Animal Rights Activism

Abstract

A striking characteristic of the animal rights movement is that women constitute the majority of its activists. This qualitative study of twenty-seven women animal rights activists analyzes how they make sense of their centrality in the movement. The article discusses how cultural discourses regarding sex and gender shape the way women activists interpret their own activism, and the predominance of women in the movement. Their accounts often seek to explain the absence of men more than the presence of women. Women activists explain their large presence in animal rights through biological influences, social learning, and empathy based on common oppressions. As they considered the connection between gender and animal rights activism, women alternatively accepted, rejected, and reformulated dominant ideas about sex and gender. Their complex accounts of the relationship between gender and animal activism highlight the inherently political nature of their choice to become activists.