5 Responses to Misozoony

1. Nikki commented on Aug 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm

   That is awesome! Nice word….think I may use it, if you don’t mind Considering the number of people who dismiss nonhuman animals as meaning little to nothing, I think there should be a word befitting the situation. I’m surprised such a word has taken this long to come about!

   ~ Recent blog post: Veganism and Animal Rights Vilified Yet Again at http://veganverve.wordpress.com ~

2. Eccentric Vegan commented on Aug 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

   Thanks Of course, use it!

   I think it’s absolutely appropriate for descriptions of human-nonhuman interactions.
   For example, to me, these phrases of denial are very similar:
   Misogyny: “I don’t hate women. I love them. I love to screw them.”
   Misozoony: “I don’t hate animals. I love them. They’re tasty.”

3. Bea Elliott commented on Aug 19th, 2008 at 6:50 am

   Good one! I’m actually quite surprised “misozoony” is a first to define “animal hatred”. Maybe this ill-will towards non-human animals is so vicious that a name could not be given to it? (Lest we admit that there could be such an abomination)? Misozoony - It works! Thanks!

4. Nikki commented on Aug 19th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

   Quote: Misogyny: “I don’t hate women. I love them. I love to screw them.”
   Misozoony: “I don’t hate animals. I love them. They’re tasty.”

   Wow…you hit the nail on the head. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have heard both of those statements! It is truly striking how awful and similar they are, and yet too often both are accepted as “humor”.

5. Eccentric Vegan commented on Aug 19th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

   FYI, I just realized the term “misothery” exists. Misothery means hatred of animals and nature.

   Jim Mason said:

   “A. The word misothery (miz OTH uh ree) is coined from two Greek words, misos, ‘hatred’, and ther, ‘wild beast’ or ‘animal’. Thus it means, literally, ‘hatred of animals’. More broadly, it means hatred/contempt/despising of animals/animality/nature. It is very similar in construction, meaning and use to the more familiar word misogyny, which comes from the Greek root words misos and gune, ‘woman’. There are all too many examples of misogyny, of course. [...]

   I coined misothery because I could find no word in the English language to express the similar sort of strong, negative feeling about animals, animality and nature. The word ’speciesism’ is too mild, as it means merely discrimination or inequality of regard. Similarly to ’sexism’ and ‘misogyny’, sexism is discrimination, un-equal treatment; misogyny is strong hatred and contempt for women. ‘Speciesism’ connotes unequal regard for animals; ‘misothery’ connotes vicious, strong, deep hatred and contempt for animals. For example, just look at ‘animal’ in any dictionary: One meaning is ‘an inhuman person; brutish or beastlike person’, someone who is horribly cruel and violent. Other examples of misothery are our traditional attitude toward wolves, rats, snakes, cats, bats and other species who challenge us or threaten us in some way or so we believe. (I say traditional because these attitudes are slowly changing in some places.)”

   Misothery is similar to misozoony, but not quite, because my intent in creating the word misozoony is a bit different than Mr. Mason’s. Misothery is more a hatred of animality than of animals, and seems more similar to hatred of femininity than to hatred of women. Misozoony is a hatred of animals (not necessarily animality) and more closely resembles misogyny, hatred of women.

   It is not misogyny that condemns, others, belittles, and oppresses (perceived) femininity in men. It is a hatred of femininity and an attitude of supremacy. Though related, the hatred of femininity is different from the hatred of women. Similarly, the hatred of animality is different from the hatred of animals.

   However, I suppose the terms could be used virtually interchangably when referring to any hatred to describe human-nonhuman relations.

Respond