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                In Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats, Jane Takagi-Little directs a documentary called My American Wife! for an agri-business called BEEF-EX. The main desirable qualities for the wives of the show are that they are attractive, wholesome, and demonstrate an ability to cook a beef dish for their families. The underlying reality of this company is that the man who calls the shots, John Ueno is an abusive, sexist monster who sexually assaults multiple women while preaching the importance of a wholesome wife. While working under John Ueno’s direction, Jane uncovers the truths of the meat industry such as cannibalism in cows, fecal matter in the feed, and hormones that give men female sex characteristics.

               Through Carol Adams’ feminist-vegetarian theory in The Sexual Politics of Meat and Susan Bordo’s concept of false ideals portrayed by television in Unbearable Weight, I closely examine how My Year of Meats works alongside critical theory to address the reality of the meat industry. I also use Josephine Donovan’s work, "Aestheticizing Animal Cruelty," to address the additional question of whether or not Ozeki’s novel just works to further manipulate animals for the sake of art.