“Meat is the message” takes on a whole new meaning for filmmaker Jane Takagi-Little in Ruth L. Ozeki’s novel My Year of Meats when she is literally thrown into the position of the cows she is filming in a slaughterhouse. The Japanese-American television show she directs is sponsored by a Japanese beef company, BEEF-EX, in order to inspire Japanese households to consume more beef. While a seemingly innocent goal on the surface, the mission quickly shows its moral repercussions when the full suffering of the animals destined for slaughter is exposed to Jane as well as how the meat industry harms the human population, from the malfunctioning stun guns that often fail to give a cow a quick and humane death to the DES chemicals found in cattle feed. However terrible these revelations are, Jane continues to keep filming. This soon causes a great deal of suffering for Jane both biologically and psychologically as she learns what it is like to be the meat she is filming.

        Using feminist-vegetarian theory from Carol J. Adams as well as journalistic evidence from Patrice Jones, Michael Pollan, and Jon Bonné, the following paper will examine the parallels between the slaughter of animals and the physical and sexual objectification of women. It will also examine the implications of guilt in the cases of Jane’s compliancy with the animal abuse she witnesses and how her guilt drastically alters her behavior and opinions.