Throughout our world today there is an ongoing and controversial debate on whether or not we, as humans, have the right to, or should, eat animals. What gives us power over them to do so? This has been widely argued and contemplated for many generations. For many different cultures and people, eating or not eating meat represents numerous things. Whether the topic of eating animals comes down to our morals or our way of gaining nutrition, there always seems to be a reason for or against meat-eating. One of these explanations finds that the consumption of meat is not only oppression toward animals, but also linked to the oppression of women and how equality and justice are at stake for each.

            With Carol J. Adams’ feminist-vegetarian theory, I will be examining Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats and how the character Jane can be seen either as a representation for or against the dominant discourse of women and meat. Can we as humans really make a stand against the oppression of both women and animals? Or will there always be some sort of distinguishing action dominating one’s importance over the other? I will attempt to show how Jane, caught up in this dilemma, still offers an example of a more equal and just way of life for the two.