“We Adore Each Filthy Chore”
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“We adore each filthy chore”… a quote nearly suitable for Suicide Food.
Below, a scene from the Disney movie “Enchanted.” The scene modernizes and urbanizes the Cinderella scene where woodland creatures help a wannabe princess clean and sew:
The above clip is a humorous example of speciesism, the idea that a living being’s worth is determined by their membership in a particular species.
How funny that blue birds and rabbits should be allowed to act as singing servants in children’s stories, yet pigeons and rats can’t?
But more sad is that none of the nonhumans – in fairytales or real life – have any value at all beyond their utility to humans.
And let’s not forget the woman’s value in these fairytales: she cleans and sews and pines for a prince to rescue her. It’s related, of course! Remember, who is “we”? Who is the “happy working throng”? The woman and the vermin are together in this.
“Enchanted” does a good job of taking these silly old fashioned sexist and speciesist ideas and turning them on their ears. But only if you stop and think about it for a minute.
So, stop and think a bit.
What does it mean that our society only values cows and cats and pigs and dogs for what they can do for us? What does it mean for our future if we don’t overcome these immoral habits and work to be better than that?
What will our society, nay, what will our planet look like if we don’t get past these old fashioned ideas and we don’t stop treating animals like meat before they’re even dead?
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For those readers who can’t watch the video, here are the lyrics:
All right, everyone! Let’s tidy things up!
Come my little friends
As we all sing a happy little working song
Merry little voices clear and strong
Come and roll your sleeves up,
So to speak, and pitch in
Cleaning crud up in the kitchen
As we sing alongTrill a cheery tune in the tub
As we scrub a stubborn mildew stain
Pluck a hairball from the shower drain
To that gay refrain
Of a happy working songWe’ll keep singing without fail
Otherwise we’d spoil it
Hosing down the garbage pail
And scrubbing up the toilet
Ooh!How we all enjoy letting loose with a little
“La-da-dum-dum-dum”
While we’re emptying the vacu-um
It’s such fun to hum
A happy working song
Hmmm
A happy working songOh, how strange a place to be
Till Edward comes for me
My heart is sighingStill, as long as I am here
I guess a new experience
Could be worth trying
Hey! Keep drying!You can do a lot when you’ve got
Such a happy working tune to hum
While you’re sponging up the soapy scum
We adore each filthy chore
That we determine
So friends even though you’re vermin
We’re a happy working throngSinging as we fetch the detergent box
For the smelly shirts and the stinky socks
Sing along
If you can not sing then hum along
As we’re finishing our happy working song!Ahh…
Wasn’t this fun?
Actually, fairy tales are not really that speciesist and sexist in general. Some are, of course, but there are so many fairy tales that promote compassion for animals and women’s rights. Sadly, these aren’t the most popular ones, but that’s selection bias: society has chosen a few fairy tales that are representative of its own values and biases and popularized those few, leaving the rest to obscurity. But, given the many fairy tales featuring animal protagonists (sometimes running away from cruelty, but sometimes just acting as wild animals should) and female protagonists, I don’t think it’s really fair to say that fairy tales are inherently speciesist or sexist.
.-= Simon Rubinstein-Salzedo´s last blog ..Simplicity in design =-.
Simon, I never said “fairy tales are inherently speciesist or sexist.”
And my point isn’t about fairytales, anyway.
My point is that speciesism and sexism are old fashioned.
Here! Here! “speciesism and sexism are old fashioned” – Amen!
.-= Bea Elliott´s last blog ..Silent Night – A Vegan’s Christmas Wish =-.
Back in 1985, Bea Elliott, then my wife, roared with laughter when I jokingly used a made-up term, “specieist.”
But that was before nihilism became all the rage. Now the eco-egalitarians seek equality between humans and the pig, the dog, the microbe.
Now they kill humans to save rabbits.
Now they bomb scienctific and medical labs to save rats.
Now they, in their poor, squalid, empty lives, seek fullfillment by raging against the human mind.
Oh well, everyone ought to have a hobby.
PS. It’s ‘Hear, hear.”
” ‘Hear, hear’ is an expression used as a short, repeated form of hear him, hear him. It represents a listener’s agreement with the point being made by a speaker. It is often incorrectly spelled ‘here here’ “.*
* O’Connell, Pamela LiCalzi (15 January 2004). “Online Diary: Vive la Différence”. The New York Times: p. 2. Retrieved 22 January 2011. “The situation is dire for some phrases. On the Web, “here here” outpolls the correct “hear hear” [according to the website SpellWeb] 153,000 to 42,000.”