Who We Are

Feminists for Animal Rights was co-founded in California in 1982 by Marti Kheel and Tina Frisco. Although the organization is currently not active, we are maintaining this site because we feel that FAR's message is still relevant. The following was FAR’s statement of purpose:

Feminists for Animal Rights is an ecofeminst organization that is dedicated to ending all forms of abuse against women and nonhuman animals. As ecofeminists we recognize that the abuse of women and nature is intimately connected in patriarchal society. As ecofeminist animal advocates we view the exploitation of women and animals* as an expression of a common patriarchal worldview, which manifests itself in both sexism and speciesism. We recognize that violence against women and animals, whether actual or threatened, is a product of this worldview and we work in nonviolent ways to eliminate that reality.

FAR's major focus is consciousness-raising in the feminist community, the animal advocacy movement, and among the general public about the connections between the objectification, exploitation and abuse of women and animals under patriarchy. FAR also works to raise consciousness about the devastating links between cultural and racial injustice and the devaluation and destruction of nature and the earth. FAR views patriarchy as a system of hierarchical domination, a system that works for the powerful against the powerless.

FAR is a network of women striving to live cruelty-free lives. We are dedicated to the promotion of veganism because we subscribe to the feminist precept that the personal is political. We know that it is not enough to claim an abstract respect for animals; we must embody that respect in our daily lives. We advocate veganism because we think it is desirable to work towards the elimination of all products derived from or tested on animals--in our food, clothing, household and other products and supplements.

Animal Advocacy is a Feminist Issue (from the FAR flyer)

In patriarchal society women and animals are….
raped, beaten, hated, enslaved as pets
exploited as wives, sold for money, used
for entertainment, cheap labor, sex experiments...

In patriarchal society women and animals are
considered…
inferior, "cute," childish, uncontrollable,
emotional, impulsive, instinctive, irrational,
evil, property, objects...

In patriarchal society women and animals are
referred to as…
chicks, bitches, pussies, foxes, dogs,
cows, beavers, birds, bunnies, kittens
sows, lambs, shrews, geese, fillies,
bats, crows, heifers, vixens...

Every year in the United States alone…
Billions of animals are enslaved, tortured and murdered in
"animal agriculture," vivisection laboratories, the
entertainment industry, by hunters and fishers,
in traps and on fur farms, and by other modes of
human exploitation

*Our use of the term "animals" is a concession to common usage and is not intended to suggest the idea that humans are not also animals.

*Feminists for Animal Rights (FAR) is a non-profit national organization. Our work is carried out entirely by volunteers with the exception of a part-time Managing Director.