Abstract

     Media infiltrates and seeps into nearly every aspect of our daily lives, constantly bombarding consumers with subliminal and overt messages. In advertising, juxtaposition of the familiar and a product allows consumers to draw conclusions about the product subconsciously. The need for advertising stems from a need to distinguish like products from one another, to give one an edge over the other. In Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats, media packages women and meat to give positive connotations to meat consumption. My paper specifically examines how media promotes the dominant discourse of meat-eating via the television show My American Wife!. The dominant discourse relies on the assumption that meat-eating is a given or the norm rather than a conscious choice each time. 

     Using feminist-vegetarian theory proposed by Carol J. Adams and several articles concerning advertising in America and its influence, I will explain how the dominant discourse, reinforced by the media, perpetuates the oppression of women and nonhuman animals. This practice not only exists within the bubble of this novel, but continues to dominate media and advertising to this day.   

Consuming Media: Packaging Women and Animals in Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats