Celebrities, Cows, and Connecting Oppressions

Joaquin Phoenix shines a spotlight on connections that marginalized vegans have been making for decades.

Last night at the Academy Awards, best actor winner Joaquin Phoenix used his acceptance speech to call attention to oppression of the marginalized, stating “whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice”. He called attention to the plight of dairy cows in particular, lamenting that “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable.”

I was glad to see Phoenix — who was raised along with his siblings as an ethical vegan since early childhood — use his time in the international spotlight to focus on the ethical problems with dairy rather than animal flesh. Many ovo-lacto vegetarians are unaware that dairy production results in just as much suffering and death to our bovine friends as raising them for their flesh, if not more so, even on so-called “humane” farms.

Many dairy consumers do not realize that cows do not produce milk unless they are pregnant. Thus these gentle…