Suzanne Zaccour – Sister “Bitches”: Rape Culture and Animal Exploitation
« The Groupe de recherche sur les humanités juridiques invites you to the April session of its Workshop on Bodies, Identities and Being. Suzanne Zaccour (Law, Oxford) will present “Sister ‘Bitches’: A Reflection on Rape Culture and the Exploitation of Animals.” That work-in-progress will be commented on by Professor Alexandra Popovici (Law, Sherbrooke) followed by interventions from other participants.
𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 here
The Workshop gives young researchers an opportunity to present work-in-progress to peers and receive constructive comments to deepen their reflection.
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𝗔𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁: Feminists’ opposition to sexual violence has too often been conditional on the species of the victim. This continues despite growing literature on the interlocking relationship between sexism (oppression based on sex/gender) and speciesism (oppression based on species membership).
This presentation will show that 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀. To explain how, I will identify 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵𝘀 that reinforce the invisibility of sexual and gendered harms towards women and animals:
1) Real rape: It’s not harm if it’s not spectacular;
2) Naturally unworthy: It’s not harm if it’s in her nature;
3) Barbaric practices: It’s not harm if he’s a “nice guy”;
4) No means yes: It’s not harm if she’s “asking for it”;
5) Mules and pets: It’s not harm if I love her;
6) Crimes of passion: It’s not harm if I “need” to do it.
Unpacking rape culture in animal exploitation exposes 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝗺 and sets the table for a renewed female solidarity across the species divide.
𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆: Suzanne Zaccour is a feminist author and DPhil candidate at Oxford University.
She is the author of the trade book La fabrique du viol (Leméac, 2019). With Michaël Lessard, she authored the feminist grammar book Grammaire non sexiste de la langue française (M éditeur, 2017) and edited the lexicon of sexist words Dictionnaire critique du sexisme linguistique (Somme Toute, 2017). Her academic interests include sexual and domestic violence, family law, gender & language, and animal rights.
Originally from Montreal, she is also a polyglot and circus enthusiast.
Her website
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Website
For any questions, please write to Michaël Lessard. »
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Un événement organisé par Groupe de recherche sur les humanités juridiques et Michaël Lessard