Customer Reviews

Rape of the Wild: Man's Violence against Animals and the Earth

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Rape of the wild by Andree Collard and Joyce Contrucci is a haunting book. In what some would call a disjointed way (but to my mind effective)it examines our treatment of animals and thus ourselves. It rambles over the history of animal experimentation and the exploitation of animals and leaves only one conclusion: madness. It's a book I can never forget.

Rape of the Wild proved to be very informative. I particularly found the etymological explanations wonderfully insightful. The courage taken to invest emotions in an issue/s so often strived to be kept objective and reasoned, is commendable.

Whilst the authors do their best to give reference to their claims and theories, I found certain statements to be assuming, biased and stereotypical. I would have appreciated if certain statements were balanced or countered with references, thereby challenging and reaffirming the authors' views.

[...]

Rape of the Wild is a bold and much needed attempt at defending that discrimination, regardless of form: racisim, sexism, agesim, speciesim, are one and the same and will require a revolution now if it is to cease to perpetuate.

The bottom line is that this book should be given out at birth to all humans born in the "industrialized" world. Very powerful, and eye-opening (to say the least). My only complaint is that it's not the type of book that I was compelled to read again and again (something I look for in a book).

The late Dr. Andre Collard's book is more timely than ever. She wrote of the horrors done to animals and women by patriarchal science. Bioengineering, chimeras and cloning are more of a reality than ever before. Dr. Collard's book is a wake up call to all concerned people that feminism must oppose the experimentaion on human beings and the pollution of our planet.

Rape of the Wild is enlightening for those who never considered the ramifications of their lifestyles. I know Dr. Contrucci and had the pleasure of discussing this book with her. Everyone who is concerned about preserving life should read it.

My impression of this book started off badly. The first chapter is essentially an effort at rewriting human history. Certainly our history is due for a rewrite. How many people do realize that matriarchal civilizations existed, in which men and women held equal standing, in which the Goddess reigned supreme in the hearts of the people, and poverty was nonexistent? For sure, all of this is true. But she takes this all too far. She suggests that hunting and meat-eating was anathema among those who followed the Goddess, but in fact hunting was widely practiced, and most paintings found at Çatalhöyük involved game, hunting scenes, and erect penises. And although the Goddess reigned supreme there, a minor God was also worshipped. She also appears to claim that Goddess cultures of this sort were our primeval state, and argues that hunting and eating meat are "not natural to the species but are required of men as the conditions of their integration into the 'civilized' (dominant) social order." This is a curious claim, since there is a great deal of evidence that prior to about 8,000 years ago, most people have practiced hunting (as well as gathering) for subsistence, and that most people continued hunting UNTIL the rise of civilization, when animal domestication and agriculture forcefully supplanted the practice. At another point, I winced when the author quoted in great length the false speech given by Chief Sealth, which was in fact written by a white male screenwriter in 1971. (See: [...]). Even worse she remarks "It is a beautiful speech. Even if the style betrays the retouching hand of a white sympathizer, the substance is undoubtedly Seattle's own for it is consistent with all that I have read of Native American writings." Not that I can really blame her on this point, since many people before and since have made the same mistake, but her argument for accepting the speech does show how susceptible we are to finding something authentic simply because it fits with our preconceived stereotypes (in this case of American Indians).

In the second chapter, the author goes on to compare hunting to rape. Although certainly there are metaphorical similarities, and certainly many people do hunt in a way that fits with her analysis. But many others do not. The author takes the most despicable image of a hunter and generalizes all hunters against this model. Her hatred for hunters seems boundless: she confesses having no sympathy for hunters, seeing them as senselessly brutal, piteously immature, akin to irresponsible little boys, as people who kill for fun and profit. She speaks of them as having a hard-on for killing wildlife. But even in our misogynistic patriarchal culture, not all hunters are like that. There are many hunters who do in fact love and respect the animals that they hunt, and do eat their flesh rather than simply collect trophies. She also criticizes the claim that hunters are conservationists, for instance blaming hunters for the removal of predators such as wolves from forests, claiming these hunters then benefit from the need to "cull the herds". But in fact, surveys in Montana and Michigan have found that more hunters favor wolf reintroduction than oppose it. Opposition to wolf reintroduction comes from ranchers, not from hunters.

In contrast to these first two chapters, I enjoyed the last three chapters immensely. The author takes on the subjects of patriarchal science, taking such forms as animal experimentation, reproductive technology, and pesticides. She argues that we need to "put the ecology back into feminism, to feel as our own the plight of the earth and shout it". Otherwise, we're going to lose: "our planet will continue to run its destructive course and annihilate us all in the name of health, happiness, and progress."

Andre Collard's book Rape of the Wild has had a profound impact on me. She was one of the first feminists to expose the horrors of animal exploitation/destruction and their connections to the abuse of women and nature. This book has kept me a dedicated vegetarian. It has kept me using cruelty free household products and shampoos. Ms. Collard's ecofeminism is a cry for all of us to band together and save the planet earth. It is one of the most important books in my life. If you have read the works of Carol Adams read this book. If you are interested in progressive feminist politics read this book.