More Alike Than Different
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Faunalytics.org
October 2020

This paper reviews a broad range of literature to examine the mechanism of dehumanization common to bias against both marginalized human groups and non-human animals.

Photo by Juan Rumimpunu on Unsplash

“Greedy pig.” “Sly like a fox.” Stubborn as a mule.” “Follows like a sheep.” “Slow as a snail.” We use these phrases, often without thinking. They are part of the cultural lexicon, but they are also animal epithets. They dehumanize people by comparing them with non-human animals, and people who do this are more likely to dehumanize and devalue social outgroups such as minorities and immigrants as well.

This paper reviews a broad range of literature to examine the mechanism of dehumanization common to bias against both marginalized human groups and non-human animals. At the heart of dehumanization is how society views non-human animals. Our culture is marked by “speciesism”, or a preference for our species over non-human animals. While we tend to view non-human animals positively, we still believe they lack intelligence, emotional perspective, morality, self-determination, and other “human” traits.

There are painful parallels between speciesism and oppression of outgroups such as minorities and immigrants. These groups rank above non-human animals but are still considered primitive and not fully human. For example, we describe immigrants as “beastly” to imply that they are uncivilized....

Read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE 

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