Katie Prosser: The Harm of the Pornography of Meat
The Pornography of Meat is the “image-based companion” to Carol J. Adams’ theory of the sexual politics of meat – visual images that represent and reflect the animalisation of women, and the sexualisation and feminisation of non-human animals that occurs within Western societies. The supposed harm of the pornography of meat is its role in establishing and reinforcing the “absent referent” of non-human animals and women (where “absent referent” refers to “anything whose original meaning is undercut as it is absorbed into a different hierarchy of meaning” (Adams, 2015)). Adams is often criticised for failing to provide the theory to her views.
My aim, then, is to situate Adams’ work within the feminist philosophical literature on pornography. Using Mari Mikkola’s Makers Intentions Model, I suggest that instances of the pornography of meat be read, not as prototypical pornography, but rather, materials with pornographic features. We can still understand the harm claim of the pornography of meat by situating the notion of the "absent referent" alongside the work of Rae Langton and her theory of makers knowledge.
Additional Information: Ockham will be held on MS Teams during MT20. Please email alexander.read@philosophy.ox.ac.uk if you wish to attend.
