• emptiestplace@lemmy.ml
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          7 months ago

          As someone who has been vegan for 25 years, I really appreciate your choices and empathize with your motivations. If, however, your goal is to make a difference, you might want to avoid alienating your audience before you’ve even said anything.

          • Beaver@lemmy.ca
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            7 months ago

            You wouldn’t call people “it”. It’s about showing respect.

            • ManniSturgis@lemmy.zip
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              7 months ago

              I wouldn’t, but I am calling animals it. Only in English tho, we don’t do that in my native language.

            • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              But you would immediately jump in to correct another adult’s use of language, as if they were a child. Despite this talk of respect.

            • UnearthedUnusual@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              I know a few people who use it/its pronouns. While I agree that treating animals with respect is a good thing, it pronouns are not necessarily a sign of disrespect or objectification.

              • Beaver@lemmy.ca
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                7 months ago

                Well in that case that is different but usually when we say “it” that is used to refer to physical objects like book or treat. Animals being seen as property harms them.

                • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  No, because people can be respectful of animals while using the word “it”.

                  You’re asserting all this extra stuff that the word does not convey, because you’ve unconsciously decided that is the only way to use the word.

                  But as others are telling you, and is true, it is common in English to use “it” for animals. Despite what your lit teacher told you, that does not create disrespect for the animals. People have been caring for animals, people with hearts, people who don’t treat animals the way they would a book, while using the word “it”, for as long as the English language had existed.

                  That thing where you can’t have empathy for an “it”, that a rule in your head.

                  • Beaver@lemmy.ca
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                    7 months ago

                    People have been caring for animals, people with hearts, people who don’t treat animals the way they would a book, while using the word “it”, for as long as the English language had existed.

                    I doubt that when factory farms exist.

                    Humanity kills more than 80 billion land animals and trillions of aquatic animals ever year.

                    https://awellfedworld.org/factory-farms/

    • DrRatso@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      Using “it” for an animal is perfectly reasonable. An argument can be made for using they instead but we even use it for humans occasionally (e.g. Jack checked on the baby, it was sleeping peacefully).