Politics of Meat-Eating and Violence against Women and Others: An Ecofeminist Reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad
Abstract
This study offers an eco-feminist reading of Margret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and explores it for the oppressive treatment of women, Others and nature. Under the umbrella of eco-feminist philosophy says that the oppression of women and other human others and the domination of nature are critically interconnected and drawing on Carol J. Adam’s politics of meat eating which implies that the violence against women, marginalized other human groups and animals are interlinked because of patriarchal mindset, the study explores how the violence against animals lead to the oppression and victimization of not only of women but also of the lower-class people. Women are treated like animals, tyrannized and butchered to death in a patriarchal society where meat eating is taken as pride. The analysis of the selected text reveals that Penelope and the maids receive brutal treatment from Odysseus, Telemachus and the suitors. The selected text also offers evidence of violence where it is not the male identity but a typical patriarchal mindset which functions to turn human beings into meat/flesh and violence against animals leads to ferocity against women and weak human beings.
Keywords
ecofeminism, value dualism, meat eating, patriarchy, violence, animals, women and low human beings (Others)
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