Re-ordering our natural sex differences

Vegetarianism is often regarded as an ideology but meat eating is equally ideological. In the industrialized world meat production and consumption are choices based upon the speciesist assumption that humans are superior to other animals and therefore, sacrificing non humans for the human palate is ethical and legitimate. Meat functions to provide the ultimate expression of human superiority over the rest of the biotic community. This attitude of superiority is is connected particularly to the masculine identity. In the majority of cultures, meat is more prestigious than plant based foods, even though evidence suggests that eating too much meat is harmful and not efficient for the human body to metabolize into useful energy and even more harmful to the environment. The low status that accompanies plant foods finds a parallel in the similarly inferior social positioning of women. Women are to be incomplete without man and vegan foods are considered to be a supplement to the important flesh. The higher prestige of meat reflects to residual connections to acts of male dominance. The basic instincts reflected in hunting and animal sacrifice. Just as men exhibit their power over nature they extend their reach to women as well. Men consume women through sex and their sexual "appetite" is aroused by women's bodies in the same way their taste buds are aroused by the taste of meat. It is no wonder then that sex sells on television. Advertisements geared towards men generally connect the search for dominance, sex, and pleasure. It is no wonder many women use the expression" I felt like a piece of meat."
The cycle of objectification, fragmentation and consumption present in the patriarchal society is the fulfillment of oppression. It was a natural path we traveled down since men were dominant as the human species evolved. With the devotion to a patriarchal theology women became the second race to men
Woman was defined and differentiated with reference to man and not
he with reference to her. The male sex comprised the prime measure by which the whole world—including women—were named and judged. Therefore, the world belonged to men. Women were the nonessential “other.”
However it is clear to see that oppression of any group is nonsensical on a biological basis. The male and female sexes of any species are critical to a population. Just as diversity within species is favorable to a population. So why is it that humans choose to oppress what is different and weaker than man if the integrity of the earth depends on each individuals existence? The fact is that diversity among similar and non similar groups should not be a device used to categorize hierarchy. Each unique individual has the potential to contribute to the bio centric community and should not be limited by sexist or speciesist influence.
The biology of humans has determined social order. Therefore,
the cultural oppression women experienced stemmed from women’s
reproductive capacity. The “biological family”—the basic reproductive unit of
male, female, infant. Women throughout history were at the continual mercy of their biological functions in menstruation,menopause, pregnancy, childbirth, wet-nursing, and care of infants—all of which made them dependent on males for physical survival. Second, the dependency of infants upon adults for physical survival restricted the adult female for an extended period of time, a fact compounded by the establishment of an artificial, self-perpetuating mother/child relationship. Finally, she noted that the division of labor was based on the natural reproductive differences between the sexes. Men, for example, had to hunt for food because women could not leave nursing infants. this division of labor had become stereotypically enshrined and self-perpetuating. These characteristics of the biological family caused psychosocial distortions in the human personality, evidenced by the existence of patriarchy.
However we as a species are no longer simply at the will of our biology. Women and men can now equally split the child rearing responsibilities therefore alerting the way we respect one another. Women will still naturally be more nurturing to children based on their biological function. Even so men can become more influenced by both parents rather than males trying to differentiate themselves from their care giving mother and thus perpetuating the cycle of oppression. Patriarchy can only be overcome by re-ordering both culture and the natural sex differences that have determined culture.