Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion Article from All-Creatures.org

Disenfranchised Grief

From Rev. Caol Saunders, wolf and the lamb
October 2022

What sometimes looks like militancy or shaming toward isn’t that at all. Perhaps is just an animal activist's expression of unadulterated, unresolved, unaccepted, invalidated grief. Like every other grieving soul, we just want to be seen, heard and held.

A minister friend of mine recently invited me to an Affinity Group for Disenfranchised Grief. The invitation intrigued me. At the time, I was reeling from a conversation where I felt completely misunderstood. I had never heard the of “disenfranchised grief" before, but intuitively felt it fit me. When I searched the term, this is what I found:

“Disenfranchised grief is grief that is not acknowledged by society, either because it isn’t considered valid or because it needs to remain underground. The loss may not be seen as important by others. The specific type of loss may not be acknowledged or is stigmatized. Some people are not seen as entitled to grieve.”

Pet loss is also an example of disenfranchised grief. People can be judged for mourning their animal companion for too long.

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Read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

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